Chapter 6 - Locker 114 Held the Secret That Could Destroy the DeLuca Empire
Locker 114 was buried beneath an old train station.
The storage facility had been closed for years.
Dust covered the doors.
Old signs hung crooked from the ceiling.
Matteo brought four men.
Alina insisted on coming.
"You are staying in the car," he said.
"No."
"Alina."
"No."
He sighed.
"You argue with me too much."
"You lie too much."
A brief smile appeared.
"Fair."
They entered.
The locker opened with a key Sofia had hidden inside Leo's blanket.
Inside was a metal case.
Matteo lifted it.
Alina held her breath.
They opened it together.
There were passports.
Bank records.
Photographs.
Video tapes.
And a ledger.
Hundreds of names.
Hundreds of payments.
Every transaction documented.
Anton had been trafficking women and children through fake charities and adoption agencies.
But then Matteo found something unexpected.
His own name.
He stared.
Alina leaned closer.
"What does it say?"
He read.
"Payment received."
"For what?"
He kept reading.
"Protection."
His hands shook.
Alina looked at him.
"You didn't do this."
The ledger contained false entries designed to frame him.
At the bottom of the page was Anton's signature.
But one signature was different.
A second name.
"Isabella."
Matteo stepped back.
"I thought you said she was forced."
"She was," Vivian said from behind them.
Alina turned.
Vivian held another envelope.
"Not always."
Matteo looked at her.
"Explain."
"Your mother helped Anton for years before she finally turned against him."
Silence.
"She wasn't innocent," Vivian continued. "She was trapped. But she also made choices."
Alina felt sick.
Matteo closed his eyes.
"Where is she?"
"At the hospital."
They rushed back.
Isabella was awake.
She looked at Matteo.
"I knew you'd find the ledger."
"Why?"
"Because Sofia trusted you."
"You lied to me."
"Yes."
"You let me think my father was dead."
"Yes."
"You watched me raise a child while knowing he might be hunted."
"I was trying to protect you."
Matteo's voice broke.
"You don't get to call that protection."
Isabella's eyes filled.
"No. I don't."
Alina stood by the window.
"And Sofia?"
Isabella looked at her.
"Your sister is alive."
The world stopped.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"You've known all this time."
"I knew she survived the fire."
Alina's breath caught.
"What fire?"
"The night she disappeared."
Isabella revealed that Sofia had been badly injured but escaped through a safe house.
She had spent years moving from place to place.
She never contacted Alina because Anton was still watching.
"Where is she now?"
"Somewhere in the mountains."
"Which mountains?"
Isabella shook her head.
"She used a code."
"What code?"
"Blue Moon."
Alina's mind flashed to Leo's bracelet.
Blue moon.
The bracelet.
The blanket.
The storage locker.
Everything was connected.
Matteo suddenly turned.
"The baby."
Leo was in the next room with Maria.
Matteo rushed there.
The crib was empty.
Alina screamed.
"Leo!"
Panic exploded through the hospital.
Guards ran through the corridors.
Doors slammed.
Alina's world narrowed.
"Find him!"
Matteo's voice thundered.
Minutes later, a nurse was found unconscious in a supply room.
A note lay beside her.
Bring Alina Valdez to the river.
Come alone.
Or the baby dies.
Alina's blood turned to ice.
"No."
Matteo grabbed the note.
"You are not going."
"They took Leo."
"I'll get him."
"I am going."
"Absolutely not."
"He was reaching for me when this started."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"He needs me."
Matteo looked at her.
Then he understood.
Leo wasn't just attracted to her.
He trusted her.
And Anton knew it.
They met at the river.
A warehouse waited beneath an abandoned bridge.
Alina walked inside.
Anton held Leo.
The baby was crying.
"Give him to me."
Anton laughed.
"You really came."
"You said you'd kill him."
"I don't want the baby."
"What do you want?"
"You."
"Why?"
"Because Sofia is still hiding something."
Alina's heart raced.
"What?"
"She hid the final evidence."
"I already gave Matteo the ledger."
"That isn't the evidence."
Anton smiled.
"The real secret is inside you."
Alina stared.
"What are you talking about?"
Anton stepped closer.
"Ask your mother about the twin."
Alina froze.
The false birth certificate.
The maternity record.
Twin birth.
No.
She looked at Leo.
Then at Anton.
"What twin?"
Anton smiled.
"Your sister didn't have one."
"You did."
May you like
Alina's heart stopped.
"You were never supposed to survive."
