Chapter 5 - The Night They Came for Lily
The attack began at 11:47 p.m.
The mansion lights went out.
Glass shattered downstairs.
Guns fired.
Lily woke screaming.
Isabella reached her first.
I reached them seconds later.
“Take her through the east hall.”
“No,” Isabella said.
“They'll come through the west.”
She nodded.
We moved.
Lily clung to me.
“Daddy.”
“I've got you.”
“I'm scared.”
“I know.”
A bullet struck the wall beside us.
I pushed both of them behind a stone pillar.
Rafael fired back.
“Move!”
We ran.
The attackers weren't targeting me.
They were heading directly for the nursery.
That was the point.
Someone wanted Lily.
I carried her through a hidden passage beneath the stairs.
Isabella followed.
We reached the underground safe room.
The door locked.
For twenty seconds, there was silence.
Then Lily whispered:
“Are we safe?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Isabella.
She knew I was lying.
The room had one emergency exit.
If they breached the corridor, we would have to run.
Then a voice came through the intercom.
“Alessandro.”
Matteo.
I stepped closer.
“What?”
“Give me the girl.”
“No.”
“You don't understand what she represents.”
“My daughter.”
“Your bloodline.”
I stared.
“Why do you want her?”
“Because your father hid something in her.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“The final key.”
Isabella froze.
I looked at her.
“What is he talking about?”
She lowered her eyes.
“I don't know.”
Matteo laughed.
“You always knew.”
Isabella shook her head.
“No.”
“You found it when she was born.”
Her face changed.
“What?”
I stared at her.
“Isabella?”
She looked terrified.
“I didn't know.”
“What did you find?”
She touched Lily's necklace.
A small gold star.
“I found this.”
I removed it.
There was a hidden compartment.
Inside was a tiny strip of paper.
Coordinates.
My father's handwriting.
I stared.
“My father hid something in Lily's necklace.”
Matteo laughed again.
“You see?”
I stepped toward the speaker.
“You want the coordinates.”
“Yes.”
“What are they?”
“My father wrote them for you.”
I looked at Isabella.
She whispered:
“Don't give them to him.”
“I won't.”
The safe room door shook.
Someone was forcing it open.
Lily started crying.
I wrapped my arms around her.
“Listen to me.”
She nodded.
“Whatever happens, you stay with Mommy.”
“No.”
“You're brave.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“I'm brave with you.”
I almost smiled.
Then I saw the door begin to bend.
A steel lock cracked.
I gave Isabella the necklace.
“Take Lily through the emergency tunnel.”
She grabbed it.
“What about you?”
“I'll stop them.”
“No.”
“Go.”
She stared at me.
“I lost you once.”
“You won't again.”
That stopped her.
She took Lily's hand.
They disappeared through the tunnel.
I turned toward the door.
Three men entered.
Then six.
I fought them.
One after another.
Not because I was the Wolf.
Because I was a father.
When the last man fell, I ran after my family.
The tunnel opened into the old carriage house.
Isabella and Lily were gone.
My heart stopped.
Then I heard Lily laughing.
She sat inside a vehicle with Rafael.
“I found the secret car.”
I nearly collapsed.
Isabella stepped out.
She looked at me.
“You're bleeding.”
“I'm fine.”
“You always say that.”
She reached up and touched my cheek.
“I thought I'd lost you again.”
I covered her hand with mine.
“You won't.”
We returned to the mansion.
Sofia was there.
She had arrived with a message.
“My brother is alive.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Matteo sent me a location.”
“Where?”
“An abandoned church in Queens.”
I looked at Rafael.
“Trap?”
“Probably.”
Sofia shook her head.
“He wants all of us there.”
“Why?”
“He says the ledger isn't complete.”
“What's missing?”
“The name of the man who helped him.”
I looked at her.
“Who?”
She hesitated.
Then whispered:
“Your lawyer.”
My lawyer.
Samuel Grant.
A man who had handled my businesses for thirteen years.
A man who knew every account.
Every property.
Every secret.
I stared.
“Samuel.”
Sofia nodded.
“He is Matteo's partner.”
The next morning, Samuel disappeared.
And on my desk, I found a single photograph.
It showed Isabella eight years earlier.
Standing beside me in the alley.
A pregnant woman.
A bloodied man.
A hidden witness.
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On the back, five words were written.
SHE WAS NEVER MEANT TO SURVIVE.
