Chapter 7 - Someone Inside My Security Team Stole My Son
I have faced assassins.
I have survived shootouts.
I have walked into rooms knowing everyone inside wanted me dead.
Nothing compared to seeing my son's empty crib.
For ten minutes, I could not think.
Then Nina grabbed my arm.
"Lorenzo."
I looked at her.
"We need to follow the plan."
"What plan?"
"Your wife knew this could happen."
She pulled out a folded note.
Isabella had left instructions.
They led us to a hidden tunnel beneath the mansion.
The tunnel connected to the original wine cellar.
Someone had used it recently.
Fresh footprints.
I followed them.
Marco followed behind.
Mercer stayed with Nina.
We reached the old garage.
A black SUV was leaving.
I fired at the tires.
The vehicle crashed.
Three men escaped.
One carried Leo.
I ran.
The gunfire echoed through the street.
I chased them into an abandoned warehouse.
One man was waiting inside.
He removed his mask.
Matteo.
My chief security officer.
I stared at him.
"You."
He held Leo.
The baby was crying weakly.
"Stay back."
My entire body shook.
"Give me my son."
Matteo pointed a gun toward the ceiling.
"I didn't want this."
"Then put him down."
"You don't understand."
"Explain while you hand him to me."
He looked at Leo.
"Victor has my daughter."
Silence.
"He kidnapped her six months ago."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because he said he'd kill her."
I took one step forward.
"Where is she?"
"Mexico."
"Who has her?"
"Victor."
Marco stepped beside me.
"Where is Victor?"
Matteo shook his head.
"He never shows himself."
"Then why take Leo?"
"Because Victor wanted leverage."
I lowered my weapon.
"You should have come to me."
Matteo started crying.
"I knew what you would do."
"I would have helped."
"You're Lorenzo Rossi."
"Yes."
"You destroy people."
I looked at my son.
"I destroy people who hurt my family."
Matteo slowly lowered his gun.
Then a shot came from the shadows.
Matteo dropped.
I caught Leo.
Nina screamed.
Marco fired toward the attacker.
The man escaped.
Matteo was dying.
I knelt beside him.
"Tell me where Victor is."
He whispered one word.
"Church."
Then he died.
We found his daughter two days later.
Alive.
Victor had left her in a motel.
It was another message.
He wanted me to know he could reach anyone.
But he had made one mistake.
The church.
We found a hidden chamber beneath an abandoned church outside Newark.
Inside were photographs.
Files.
Recordings.
And a wall covered with maps.
At the center was one photograph.
Isabella.
Alive.
I stumbled backward.
No.
It couldn't be.
Nina stared.
"That's impossible."
The photograph was dated seven days after her funeral.
She was sitting in a chair.
Bruises on her face.
But alive.
I reached for the image.
Then an audio recording began.
Isabella's voice.
"Lorenzo, if you ever see this, it means Victor failed to stop me."
I froze.
She continued.
"I escaped the warehouse."
My heart nearly stopped.
"But I couldn't return to you because the house was compromised."
She explained that she had been hiding for days.
She had planned to expose Victor.
Then Victor found her.
The recording ended abruptly.
A second file started.
Victor's voice.
"She died later."
I punched the wall.
Nina grabbed my arm.
"There is another file."
It played.
Isabella whispered:
"I need Lorenzo to believe I am dead."
The recording ended.
I stared at the screen.
My wife had chosen to disappear.
But why?
Why would she let me grieve?
Why would she let Leo believe he had lost his mother?
Then I saw the final photograph.
Isabella standing outside a hospital.
Holding a baby.
Not Leo.
Another baby.
I looked at Nina.
"Who is that child?"
She stared at the image.
"I don't know."
Marco stepped closer.
Then his face went white.
"I do."
"Who?"
"My father's first child."
I looked at him.
"That's impossible."
He shook his head.
"Our father had a daughter."
"Where is she?"
Marco whispered:
"Dead."
The room fell silent.
Nina looked at the photograph again.
Then she said:
"Not dead."
Everyone turned toward her.
"I know that baby."
"How?"
"Rachel showed me this picture years ago."
"Who is the baby?"
Nina swallowed.
"Isabella's child."
I felt like the floor had disappeared.
"My wife had another child?"
"Before Leo."
"When?"
"Years ago."
"Who is the father?"
Nina looked at Marco.
He closed his eyes.
May you like
And whispered:
"Our brother."
