Chapter 4 - The Woman Damiano Planned to Marry
Sophia contacted us three days later.
A video message.
She was sitting in an elegant room.
Her hands were tied.
A bruise marked her cheek.
“Damiano.”
His entire body went still.
“I'm sorry.”
Her voice shook.
“They said I had to do it.”
He stared at the screen.
“Who?”
“Matteo.”
“Where are you?”
“I don't know.”
She looked at the camera.
“Listen to me.”
The video froze.
Damiano cursed.
Rafael traced the signal.
An abandoned hotel in Queens.
We arrived within an hour.
Sophia was gone.
But there was a message on the wall.
YOU SAVED HER ONCE.
CAN YOU SAVE HER AGAIN?
I looked at Damiano.
“What does that mean?”
He didn't answer.
He was thinking about the past.
Then he remembered.
Eight years ago, another woman had saved his life.
Not me.
A second woman.
He had thought she was part of the ambush.
But my mother had mentioned her.
“Your father had another protector.”
“Who?”
Damiano whispered:
“Sophia.”
I stared.
“You knew her before?”
“No.”
The evidence said otherwise.
She had been present the night he was shot.
She had helped arrange transportation.
She had been near the alley.
Then she disappeared.
Later, she returned as his fiancée.
The pattern was impossible to ignore.
“She saved you too.”
Damiano nodded.
“Then married you.”
“Yes.”
“And betrayed you.”
He stared at the wall.
“Unless she was trying to protect you.”
We found Sophia that evening.
She was in an abandoned chapel.
Alone.
Exhausted.
When she saw Damiano, she fell into his arms.
“I didn't know where else to go.”
He caught her.
Then pushed her away.
“You lied to me.”
“I know.”
“You knew about Emma.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about Isabella.”
She looked at me.
“Yes.”
“You worked for Matteo.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
She began crying.
“He had my brother.”
“Your brother?”
She nodded.
“They kidnapped him when he was fourteen.”
“How old is he now?”
“Twenty-three.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Matteo uses him to control you.”
“Yes.”
“Why the bomb?”
“I didn't build it.”
“Who did?”
“Marco Bellini.”
The guard who had been near Emma.
The man with the sad eyes.
“Marco?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He works directly for Matteo.”
“Did you know about the peace meeting?”
“Yes.”
“Did you leak it?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Who did?”
She looked at me.
“Your mother's lawyer.”
I froze.
Damiano's eyes narrowed.
“Elliot Vane.”
The attorney who had managed my mother's estate.
The key.
The doll.
The hidden server.
Everything pointed toward one man.
Elliot.
Sophia reached into her coat.
She removed a flash drive.
“Your mother left this.”
I stared.
“She gave it to me.”
“Why?”
“Because she trusted me.”
“And you betrayed her.”
Sophia cried.
“I was trying to keep everyone alive.”
Damiano took the drive.
“Where is Matteo's base?”
“Under the old Mercer theater.”
Damiano froze.
“That building burned.”
“Not all of it.”
Sophia grabbed his sleeve.
“He knows about Lily.”
“I know.”
“He knows about the inheritance.”
“I know.”
“He's coming tonight.”
Damiano looked toward me.
“Then we stop waiting.”
We returned to the mansion.
The five dons were already gathered.
Damiano explained everything.
Carlo stood.
“You claim Matteo intends to seize a child's inheritance.”
“Yes.”
Another don frowned.
“Then why not kill him?”
Damiano looked at Emma asleep upstairs.
“Because I want the truth.”
He turned to me.
“And because my daughter deserves to grow up knowing why her father fought for her.”
Carlo nodded.
“You have our support.”
One by one, the others agreed.
The historic peace agreement became something else.
An alliance.
Not for territory.
Not for money.
For protection.
Damiano stood before the five men.
“No one touches the girl.”
They nodded.
“Anyone who tries answers to all six families.”
May you like
His voice was quiet.
“Tonight, we end this.”
