Chapter 4 - The Man Who Protected Me Was the Traitor
Victor's confession changed the room.
No one moved.
Lily sat beside Marco, holding the stuffed rabbit against her chest.
I stared at Victor.
“You've been in contact with Sofia.”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Twenty years.”
I reached for my weapon.
Marco stepped forward.
“Boss.”
I raised a hand.
Victor did not resist.
“Why?”
“Because Sofia asked me to watch you.”
“Watch me?”
“She was afraid of what you'd become.”
The words hurt more than any bullet.
“You've been spying on me?”
“Protecting you.”
“From what?”
“Yourself.”
I almost laughed.
Instead, I walked around the table.
Victor continued.
“The night your family disappeared, your father had hidden something. Not money. Not weapons. A list.”
“What list?”
“Names of powerful men who had bought judges, police chiefs, politicians, and shipping companies.”
I stared at him.
“My father was keeping records.”
“Yes.”
“And Bellini wanted them.”
“Yes.”
“Then what does that have to do with Sofia?”
“Everything.”
Victor explained that the ledger in Room 317 was only one part of the archive.
My father had divided the records into three pieces.
One hidden in Sicily.
One hidden in America.
One carried by Sofia.
Carlo never found the third.
For thirty years, the Bellinis searched for it.
Victor had joined me because Sofia had asked him to.
He had spent two decades guiding me away from traps.
“Why didn't you tell me she was alive?”
“She made me promise.”
I stared at him.
“She thought you would destroy yourself trying to find her.”
“And now?”
“She changed her mind.”
“Why?”
Victor looked at Lily.
“Because Lily was discovered.”
A phone rang.
Mine.
An unknown number.
I answered.
A man's voice spoke.
“Dante Romano.”
“Who is this?”
“Someone who has your sister.”
My entire body went cold.
“What do you want?”
“To correct a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“You survived.”
The line went dead.
Marco was already moving.
“Track it.”
We traced the call to an abandoned railway station.
I took twenty men.
We found no Sofia.
Instead, we found a body.
Marcus Hale.
His throat had been cut.
Pinned to his coat was a note.
One for the boy who ran.
Another for the girl who survived.
A final line had been written beneath it.
The little one will be next.
I returned to the warehouse.
Lily was gone.
The guards had been unconscious for four minutes.
The cameras had been disabled from inside.
Someone had used my own security code.
Victor looked at me.
“I know who took her.”
“Who?”
He whispered one name.
“Adrian Romano.”
I stared at him.
“My father had no brother.”
“He wasn't your father's brother.”
“Then who?”
“Your father's illegitimate son.”
I felt dizzy.
“That's impossible.”
Victor shook his head.
“Your father had a second family.”
We found Adrian's location by midnight.
An estate outside the city.
I arrived alone.
The front door was open.
Inside, portraits covered the walls.
One of them showed my father.
Beside him stood a teenage boy.
Adrian.
He looked like me.
Same eyes.
Same jaw.
Same scar beneath the left eyebrow.
I stepped into the study.
A man emerged from the shadows.
He was older than I expected.
About forty-five.
“Hello, brother.”
I raised my gun.
“Where is Lily?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“Not here.”
“What do you want?”
He smiled bitterly.
“The same thing you wanted.”
“I don't know you.”
“You wanted answers.”
He pointed to the wall.
Behind a painting was a safe.
Inside were letters from my father.
My father's handwriting.
To Adrian.
I never knew how to love you.
Your mother deserves better than secrecy.
If Dante survives, protect him.
If Sofia survives, protect her.
If all three of you survive, remember that blood matters more than power.
I read the letter twice.
Adrian watched me.
“Your father didn't abandon us.”
“Then why did he keep you hidden?”
“Because Carlo Bellini knew about me.”
I lowered my weapon slightly.
“Where is Lily?”
“She's with Sofia.”
My heart stopped.
“She is alive?”
“Yes.”
“Take me to her.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Not yet.”
I stepped closer.
“You're in no position to bargain.”
“You're wrong.”
He held up a remote control.
The screens behind him came alive.
Lily appeared on camera.
She was sitting beside a woman.
Long dark hair.
Gray sweater.
Tears in her eyes.
My sister.
Sofia.
Thirty years vanished.
I was six again.
Standing beside my mother's bed.
Holding Sofia's tiny hand.
Then I was forty-two.
Looking at her through a screen.
Sofia lifted her face.
“Dante.”
My voice broke.
“Sofia.”
She smiled through tears.
“You grew up.”
“You disappeared.”
“I know.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I had to.”
“Why?”
“Because they were watching you.”
“Who?”
She looked toward Adrian.
“The people who destroyed our family are not gone.”
I gripped the edge of the desk.
“Then tell me everything.”
Sofia shook her head.
“Not until Lily is safe.”
“She is safe with you.”
“No.”
My blood ran cold.
“Why?”
Sofia's eyes moved toward the camera.
“Because they already know where we are.”
The screen went black.
A loud explosion shook the house.
Adrian grabbed my arm.
“Down!”
Windows shattered.
Gunfire erupted outside.
Men in armored vehicles surrounded the estate.
I saw their insignia.
The same symbol from my father's old documents.
The bird holding a key.
Adrian looked at me.
“They found us.”
May you like
I reloaded my weapon.
“Then tonight they learn the family is still alive.”
