Chapter 2 - Marin Learned She Had a Twin Brother—And the Mafia Family Had Spent Twenty-One Years Searching for HimMarin didn't believe him.
She sat across from Rafe in a private office at Castellano headquarters while rain rolled down the windows.
Nico stood near the door.
On the table lay an old birth record.
Two names.
Two children.
Same date.
Same mother.
Marin's fingers trembled.
“That's impossible.”
Rafe pushed the document toward her.
“Read it.”
She did.
Twin A.
Female.
Twin B.
Male.
Mother: Lucia Sullivan.
Father: Gabriel Castellano.
Marin looked up sharply.
“No.”
Rafe didn't speak.
“Your father?”
“My father's name is Gabriel Castellano.”
“My mother married someone named Daniel Sullivan.”
“That man wasn't your biological father.”
Marin's world tilted.
She pushed the paper away.
“You expect me to believe my father was a mafia boss?”
Rafe shook his head.
“No.”
He paused.
“My father wasn't born a mafia boss.”
“What was he?”
“A young man who loved a woman he wasn't allowed to marry.”
“Lucia.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Rafe took a breath.
“Twenty-one years ago, Gabriel was supposed to inherit the Castellano organization.”
Marin listened.
“My grandfather wanted him to marry another family's daughter.”
“He refused.”
“Because of Lucia.”
Rafe nodded.
“The families went to war.”
Marin stared.
“Over a marriage?”
“Over control.”
He opened another file.
There were photographs.
Lucia.
Young.
Beautiful.
Standing beside Gabriel.
A second image showed a heavily pregnant woman.
Marin's hand rose to her mouth.
“That was my mother?”
“Yes.”
Then Rafe showed her the final photograph.
Gabriel holding two newborn infants.
A tiny girl.
A tiny boy.
Marin stared at the baby girl.
At the tiny crescent birthmark beneath her eyebrow.
Her own.
“Where is the boy?”
Rafe's face darkened.
“We don't know.”
Marin whispered:
“You lost my brother?”
“No.”
“We?”
“My father believed he was dead.”
“What really happened?”
Rafe looked at Nico.
Nico placed another file on the table.
“The hospital records were altered.”
Marin opened them.
One baby discharged.
One listed as deceased.
But the death certificate had no physician signature.
No burial record.
No cemetery.
No body.
Marin looked up.
“He wasn't dead.”
“No.”
“Someone took him.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Rafe's jaw tightened.
“That is what we've been trying to discover.”
Marin laughed bitterly.
“Twenty-one years?”
“Yes.”
“And now you find me by accident?”
“No.”
Rafe leaned forward.
“We didn't find you by accident.”
Marin stared.
“What do you mean?”
“Someone contacted us six months ago.”
“Who?”
“An anonymous source.”
“What did they say?”
“That one of the twins was alive.”
Marin's heart raced.
“They knew me?”
“They gave us your name.”
She sat back.
“Then why wait six months?”
“Because we didn't trust the information.”
“And now?”
Rafe looked at her.
“Now I've heard you sing the lullaby.”
Marin's skin prickled.
“You think that proves something?”
“It was the song my mother used to sing to my father.”
Marin swallowed.
“Where did I learn it?”
“We don't know.”
She remembered Nell.
The old woman's trembling hands.
The same lullaby.
Always at night.
Never explained.
Marin whispered:
“She sang it to me.”
Rafe stared.
“Nell knew who you were.”
Marin felt betrayed.
“She raised me.”
“She saved you.”
“From who?”
Rafe answered softly:
“From us.”
Marin closed her eyes.
Then she heard something.
A faint vibration from inside the handbag she had carried from home.
She opened it.
A small recording device fell out.
Nico rushed over.
“Don't touch it.”
Too late.
It activated.
Nell's voice filled the room.
“If you're hearing this, Marin, I failed to protect you.”
Marin froze.
“Nell?”
The recording continued.
“You were never supposed to know about Gabriel.”
Rafe stood.
Nico looked stunned.
The voice trembled.
“Your mother did not die because of the Castellanos.”
Marin stared.
“She was murdered by someone inside the family.”
Rafe's expression changed.
“Nell knew.”
The recording continued.
“Gabriel loved Lucia until the end.”
A pause.
“But your uncle didn't.”
Rafe looked at Marin.
“My uncle?”
“Your uncle ordered the twins separated.”
Marin's breath caught.
“Why?”
Nell answered through the recording.
“Because one child was meant to inherit the Castellano empire.”
Marin whispered:
“And the other?”
Silence.
Then:
“The other was insurance.”
The recording ended.
Nobody moved.
Then Nico spoke.
“The uncle is dead.”
Rafe shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“My uncle is alive.”
Marin looked at him.
“And he knows about me?”
Rafe didn't answer.
His phone rang.
He listened.
Then his face became expressionless.
“What happened?”
Nico asked.
Rafe lowered the phone.
“Someone broke into the old Castellano mausoleum.”
Marin's stomach tightened.
“Why?”
Rafe looked at her.
“The grave of my father's first wife was opened.”
Marin frowned.
“And?”
“There was nothing inside.”
“Wasn't she buried there?”
“Yes.”
“Then why open it?”
Rafe answered:
“Because someone had hidden something underneath the coffin.”
“What?”
He looked at Nico.
Nico's face had gone pale.
“A second set of birth records.”
Marin stood.
“About me?”
“No.”
Rafe's eyes met hers.
“About your brother.”
The file contained one photograph.
A newborn boy.
On his wrist was a hospital bracelet.
And written on it was a name.
Luca Castellano.
Rafe stared at the photograph.
May you like
Then at Marin.
“Your twin brother has been alive this entire time.”
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