Chapter 5 - The Dead Rossi Uncle Returned—and He Knew Exactly Who Norah WasWe escaped through a tunnel beneath the church.
Lorenzo knew every turn.
I didn't ask how.
I was too busy running.
Behind us, gunshots echoed through the stone passage.
We emerged in an underground garage.
A black SUV waited.
Lorenzo shoved open the door.
“Inside.”
We climbed in.
The driver was one of Lorenzo’s most trusted guards, Marcus Bell.
He looked relieved.
“Sir.”
“Go.”
The SUV accelerated.
I looked back.
No one followed.
Lorenzo sat beside me.
His shirt was torn at the shoulder.
Blood stained the fabric.
“You're hurt.”
“Not badly.”
“You're bleeding.”
“I noticed.”
I pulled a cloth from my bag.
“Hold still.”
He looked at me.
“You're giving orders now?”
“You're bleeding on the seat.”
For the first time that night, he laughed.
Softly.
Briefly.
It surprised me.
I pressed the cloth against his shoulder.
His eyes remained on my face.
“You're not what I thought.”
“What did you think?”
“A quiet servant.”
“That was the point.”
“Who taught you?”
“My father.”
“To disappear?”
“To survive.”
Silence.
Then he said:
“Massimo Rossi disappeared after killing three men inside a warehouse.”
I frowned.
“Your family said he died.”
“My father said he died.”
“Did you believe him?”
“I was eighteen.”
“And now?”
“Now I know my father lied about many things.”
I looked down.
“So did mine.”
Marcus spoke from the front.
“Sir, we're being followed.”
Lorenzo's eyes sharpened.
“How many?”
“Two vehicles.”
“Take route seven.”
Marcus hesitated.
“That's exposed.”
“I know.”
The SUV turned sharply.
A car followed.
Then another.
Gunfire struck the rear window.
I ducked.
Lorenzo fired through the open rear panel.
The car swerved.
“Marcus!”
“I've got it!”
The SUV jumped a curb and disappeared into an underground service road.
Minutes later, we stopped beneath an office building.
Lorenzo led me inside.
The building belonged to Rossi Holdings.
But few people knew there was a second floor beneath the parking garage.
A private operations room.
Screens covered the walls.
Security feeds.
Financial accounts.
City maps.
Names.
I suddenly understood how deeply Lorenzo controlled the city.
He pointed to a chair.
“Sit.”
I sat.
He opened the Sullivan Archive.
“Your father wasn't only a security contractor.”
I waited.
“He was an internal investigator.”
My mouth went dry.
“Investigating what?”
“My father.”
Lorenzo turned the screen.
Your father discovered Matteo Rossi was secretly diverting money from the organization.
“Why?”
“To build something independent.”
“An empire inside the empire.”
“Yes.”
I looked at the documents.
“Massimo?”
“Massimo helped him.”
“And then?”
“My father discovered the betrayal.”
“What happened?”
“Massimo supposedly killed my father.”
I looked at him.
“But your father survived.”
Lorenzo nodded.
“He disappeared.”
“For fourteen years.”
“Until now.”
A phone rang.
Marcus answered.
Then looked at us.
“We found a location.”
Lorenzo stood.
“Where?”
“A warehouse under the old waterfront district.”
“Massimo?”
“No.”
Marcus placed a photograph on the desk.
“Thomas Gable.”
I stared.
Thomas was alive.
“He contacted someone an hour ago.”
Lorenzo picked up the photograph.
“What did he say?”
Marcus hesitated.
“He said the maid has the archive.”
My heart sank.
Thomas knew.
Then another piece of information appeared.
“There's more.”
“What?”
“Thomas mentioned a girl named Lily Sullivan.”
My blood ran cold.
Lorenzo looked at me.
May you like
All humor disappeared.
“She's been taken.”
Related Stories
