Chapter 7 - Raffaele Took My Daughter and Forced the Mafia King to Choose Between His Empire and My Family
I had never felt fear like that.
Not when I learned Daniel was alive.
Not when I discovered my family had been part of the Moretti bloodline.
Not even when I saw Raffaele.
Nothing compared to hearing Emma cry through a radio.
“Mommy?”
“Emma, baby, I'm here.”
“She says you have to come.”
Raffaele's voice returned.
“If you want your daughter alive, come to the old Moretti warehouse.”
Alessandro took the radio.
“If you touch her—”
“You'll what?”
A pause.
“You'll kill me?”
Raffaele laughed.
“You've killed enough men to know that threats don't impress me.”
Alessandro's eyes burned.
“Name your terms.”
“One.”
“What?”
“Lena.”
I stepped forward.
“No.”
Alessandro looked at me.
“I'm not giving you to him.”
I shook my head.
“He'll kill Emma.”
“He won't.”
“You don't know that.”
“I know men like him.”
Daniel interrupted.
“He'll kill both of you.”
Alessandro stared.
“Then we go together.”
Raffaele gave the location.
Old Moretti Warehouse Seven.
The building had been abandoned for years.
But when we arrived, lights glowed inside.
Men surrounded it.
Alessandro looked at me.
“Stay behind me.”
“I won't.”
“You're impossible.”
“So are you.”
Daniel stayed with Matteo.
We entered.
The warehouse was huge.
Emma sat in a chair.
Her blue rabbit was beside her.
Raffaele stood behind her.
He smiled.
“There she is.”
I wanted to run.
Raffaele raised a gun.
“Don't.”
Emma looked at me.
“Mommy.”
“I'm here.”
Raffaele smiled.
“You'll give me the ledger.”
“I don't have it.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“I do.”
Raffaele turned.
“You survived.”
“Yes.”
“You should have stayed dead.”
Daniel answered:
“You should have.”
Raffaele laughed.
“You think you're heroes.”
Alessandro stepped forward.
“No.”
He looked at the men surrounding us.
“We're the people who are ending this.”
Raffaele shook his head.
“You don't understand the families.”
He gestured toward a screen.
Images appeared.
Judges.
Politicians.
Business leaders.
Mafia bosses.
All connected.
“The Moretti empire isn't a family.”
He smiled.
“It's a system.”
Then he showed one final image.
My mother.
Alive.
I screamed.
“Where is she?”
Raffaele smiled.
“She's waiting for you.”
My heart broke.
“She isn't dead?”
“No.”
“Where?”
“Beneath this city.”
Alessandro's expression changed.
“You've been keeping her?”
“For twenty years.”
“Why?”
“She knows where the original fortune is.”
Daniel shook his head.
“There is no fortune.”
Raffaele laughed.
“There always was.”
He turned toward me.
“Your mother hid everything.”
“She hid from you.”
“Yes.”
“Then why tell me?”
“Because the empire recognizes your blood.”
I didn't understand.
Raffaele pointed to the blue rabbit.
“The symbol on that toy is not a Black Falcon mark.”
Alessandro frowned.
“Then what is it?”
“The seal of the First House.”
Daniel went pale.
“What First House?”
Raffaele smiled.
“The family that existed before the Morettis.”
The room fell silent.
He looked at me.
“Your family.”
I stared.
“My family?”
“The Bennett name was fabricated.”
“My whole identity?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother wanted you to live.”
Emma suddenly interrupted.
“Mommy.”
I looked at her.
She was holding the rabbit.
“Mr. Bunny says Daddy is lying.”
Everyone froze.
Daniel looked at the rabbit.
“What?”
Emma squeezed it.
“He says Daddy knew.”
My blood went cold.
I looked at Daniel.
“What did you know?”
He couldn't meet my eyes.
“Lena…”
“Tell me.”
He closed his eyes.
“Your mother didn't ask me to protect you.”
“She asked me to protect Emma.”
Silence.
“Why?”
Daniel's voice broke.
“Because you were already under protection.”
“What?”
“She knew Alessandro would find you.”
I stared at him.
“How?”
“Because your mother had met him.”
Alessandro frowned.
“When?”
Daniel answered:
“When you were nineteen.”
Alessandro froze.
“My father’s funeral.”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“She told you to stay away from Lena.”
Alessandro stared at me.
“I don't remember her.”
“She wiped your memory.”
My entire world became impossible.
Then Raffaele laughed.
“Enough.”
He raised his gun.
“Now give me the ledger.”
Alessandro stepped forward.
“No.”
Raffaele fired.
Alessandro pulled me down.
Matteo returned fire.
The warehouse erupted.
Men scattered.
Daniel reached Emma.
Sofia rushed toward us.
Raffaele disappeared into a side corridor.
We freed Emma.
Then the building exploded.
Part of the ceiling collapsed.
I heard Alessandro shouting.
“Lena!”
I turned.
He was trapped beneath a beam.
I ran toward him.
“Alessandro!”
“Get out!”
“No!”
Emma was crying.
I pulled at the debris.
Daniel helped.
Matteo joined.
Finally, we freed him.
He was bleeding.
I knelt beside him.
“You're hurt.”
“I'll live.”
“Promise?”
He touched my cheek.
“I promise.”
A low rumble echoed.
Raffaele's voice came through the speakers.
“You think this is over?”
The screen turned on.
My mother appeared.
Older.
Alive.
And chained in a dark room.
“Lena.”
I froze.
“Mom?”
She looked directly at the camera.
“Don't come for me.”
Raffaele appeared behind her.
“Too late.”
Then the screen went black.
Alessandro stood.
“We're going underground.”
Daniel nodded.
“We end it there.”
May you like
Emma clutched the blue rabbit.
“Mr. Bunny knows the way.”
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