Chapter 6 - The Betrayal Hidden Inside the Costa Family
Damian survived.
Barely.
The bullet had missed his heart by less than an inch.
I spent eleven hours beside him.
Eleven hours watching the monitor.
Eleven hours remembering his hand around mine.
Eleven hours thinking about all the reasons I should walk away.
And every hour, I stayed.
When he woke, the first thing he did was look for me.
"You stayed."
"Obviously."
"Why?"
"Because you're my patient."
He smiled faintly.
"Liar."
I rolled my eyes.
"You're impossible."
"Probably."
He tried to sit up.
I pushed him down.
"Don't."
"I'm the boss."
"Not in this room."
He laughed.
For a moment, everything felt normal.
Then Sofia entered.
"We found Isabella."
"Alive?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"Police custody."
Damian looked at me.
"She's talking."
My stomach tightened.
"What did she say?"
Sofia hesitated.
"She says Matteo wasn't the one ordering the attacks."
"Who was?"
Sofia placed a file on the table.
"Someone inside this bunker."
My blood ran cold.
Again.
The betrayal was closer than we'd thought.
We reviewed security footage.
One face appeared.
A man named Gabriel Costa.
Damian's cousin.
His closest lieutenant.
The man who had sat in the penthouse beside him the night Lucas was shot.
Damian stared at the screen.
"Gabriel."
Sofia nodded.
"He's been diverting money for years."
"To Matteo?"
"No."
She placed another file on the table.
"To the Falcones."
The room went silent.
Gabriel had been working both sides.
But there was more.
Payments to Bell.
Payments to police.
Payments to a private laboratory.
And one final payment.
Apex MedTec.
My employer.
I stared at it.
"No."
Sofia looked at me.
"Your private medical contract."
My hands went numb.
Apex had been paying me for months.
But someone had used my records.
My schedule.
My movements.
Someone knew where I would be.
Gabriel had arranged the private calls.
Which meant the message that brought me into Damian's building had never been random.
It had been designed.
Someone knew I would be there.
Someone wanted me near Lucas.
Someone wanted me to discover the poison.
Someone wanted me to become important enough for Damian to protect.
I looked at him.
"This was planned."
He didn't deny it.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because whoever is behind it wants us together."
I stared at him.
"Why?"
"Because you have something they need."
"The ledger."
"No."
He looked at me.
"You."
I felt cold.
"What?"
"Your father didn't just hide the ledger."
"He hid the access code inside your memory."
I shook my head.
"I don't know any code."
"You do."
He explained.
When I was eight, my father taught me a children's rhyme.
Three birds on the wire.
Seven stars in the sky.
Nine steps home.
I had never thought about it.
Until now.
Three.
Seven.
Nine.
The sequence from the watch.
The code wasn't in an object.
It was in me.
Matteo knew that.
That's why he wanted me alive.
That's why the Falcones chased me.
That's why Gabriel had brought me into the building.
They needed the code.
We found the ledger's final compartment.
Inside was a key.
And beneath it, a photograph.
My father.
Damian's father.
Matteo.
And a woman I didn't know.
Sofia stared at it.
"That's my mother."
I looked at her.
"Your mother?"
She nodded slowly.
"My mother died when I was five."
Damian looked at the picture.
Then at Sofia.
"She worked for Matteo."
"No."
Sofia took the photograph.
"She worked against him."
Another secret.
Another betrayal.
The truth was becoming impossible to separate from lies.
Then we heard a noise outside.
Footsteps.
The bunker doors opened.
Gabriel stood there.
Gun in hand.
"Damian."
Damian stepped forward.
"You should have run."
Gabriel smiled.
"Where?"
Behind him, men entered.
Too many.
Sofia reached for her weapon.
Gabriel raised his gun.
"Don't."
He looked at me.
"Amelia."
I stepped back.
"Why?"
He sighed.
"Because your father was supposed to give us the code."
"He refused."
"Yes."
"And you killed him?"
Gabriel shook his head.
"No."
"Then who?"
He looked at Damian.
"Ask him."
I turned.
Damian's face became unreadable.
Gabriel continued.
"Your father died because Damian chose the organization over him."
I stared at Damian.
"Is that true?"
He didn't answer.
My heart cracked.
"Damian."
He finally spoke.
"Your father asked me to take the blame."
"Why?"
"Because he knew Matteo would come after me."
"So you lied?"
"Yes."
"To me?"
"Yes."
Tears burned my eyes.
"You let me believe my father was a gambling addict."
"Yes."
"You let me hate him."
"I wanted you alive."
I shook my head.
"You don't get to decide which lies are acceptable."
He looked devastated.
But I didn't care.
Not then.
Gabriel lowered his gun.
"Matteo is waiting."
A voice came through the speaker.
My name.
"Amelia."
Matteo.
"You have one hour."
"Come to the old theater on Clark."
"Bring the ledger."
"And come alone."
Damian stepped forward.
"I'll be there."
Matteo laughed.
"You'll do exactly what I expected."
The line went dead.
Gabriel smiled.
Then shot the lights.
Darkness.
Gunfire.
Screams.
I ran.
But someone grabbed me from behind.
A cloth covered my mouth.
May you like
The last thing I heard was Damian shouting my name.
Then everything went black.
