Chapter 4 - The Man Behind the Entire War
The DeLuca family patriarch had been presumed dead for ten years.
He wasn't.
He lived under a false identity in New York.
His name was Vincent DeLuca.
He had created the original organization.
Roman had spent years dismantling it.
Adrian had spent years hiding from it.
And Nora's mother had discovered the truth.
Vincent wasn't simply after money.
He wanted control of Maisie's trust.
Why?
Because the trust contained evidence proving Vincent had arranged several murders.
Including Nora's mother's disappearance.
They found Vincent's location.
Roman prepared to go.
Nora insisted on joining him.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“It's too dangerous.”
“So is staying home.”
He stared.
She smiled.
“You're not the only one capable of being stubborn.”
Adrian laughed.
“She gets that from her mother.”
Roman looked at him.
“I noticed.”
They traveled to New York.
Vincent was waiting.
He smiled when he saw Nora.
“You look like Evelyn.”
“My mother.”
“Yes.”
“She hated you.”
“She misunderstood me.”
“You killed her.”
“I gave her a choice.”
Nora stepped forward.
“What choice?”
“She could disappear or she could watch you die.”
Nora froze.
“You threatened me.”
“Only because she loved you.”
Roman raised his gun.
Vincent smiled.
“You're exactly like your father.”
“No.”
Roman lowered it.
“I'm exactly who he should have become.”
Vincent laughed.
Then alarms sounded.
Police.
Federal agents.
Someone had leaked information.
Vincent fled through a secret tunnel.
Roman followed.
Nora and Adrian stayed behind.
But before Vincent escaped, he left one file.
Nora opened it.
Inside was evidence.
Her mother had not been killed.
She had gone into hiding.
She was alive.
Living in Maine.
Nora felt dizzy.
“I need to find her.”
Roman returned.
He saw the file.
“We will.”
Nora looked at him.
“You said you promised my mother.”
“Yes.”
“Then keep the promise.”
“I will.”
They found Evelyn two days later.
She was seventy.
Gray-haired.
Tired.
Alive.
When Nora saw her, she couldn't move.
Evelyn cried.
“My baby.”
Nora stepped forward.
“You let me believe you were gone.”
“I know.”
“You watched from a distance.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about Maisie.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about Roman.”
“Yes.”
Nora's voice broke.
“Why?”
“Because I needed you to survive.”
Evelyn revealed the final truth.
Vincent had tried to kill Nora when she was sixteen.
Her mother saved her.
Then disappeared.
Roman had been tasked with protecting the family.
He had been twenty-six.
He had found Nora sleeping in a bus station.
He had arranged for her to stay with Evelyn.
He had paid her tuition.
He had quietly protected her for years.
Nora stared at him.
“You did all that?”
Roman nodded.
“I promised your mother.”
“Why didn't you ever tell me?”
“Because knowing would have put you in danger.”
Nora looked at her daughter.
Then at the man who had been protecting them for years.
The truth was almost too much.
But there was something else.
Evelyn opened a box.
Inside was the original trust document.
The guardian clause named Nora.
The secondary guardian named Roman.
And the beneficiary—
Maisie.
Nora stared.
Roman was not merely protecting her daughter.
He was legally responsible for her.
She whispered:
“You were always supposed to be there.”
Roman looked down.
May you like
“Yes.”
---
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