Chapter 4 - The Girl With Two MothersDante read the sentence until the words stopped looking real.
Nico stood beside the shattered window, scanning the road.
Lucia was on the floor, bleeding from a shallow cut on her cheek.
Lily was silent.
Too silent.
Dante crouched in front of her.
"Lily."
Her eyes rose.
"Who is your mother?"
She whispered, "Mommy."
"What's her name?"
"Sophia."
"Who is your real mother?"
Lily looked frightened.
"I don't know."
Dante hated the question the moment he asked it.
He hated himself more when Lily started shaking.
"It's okay."
She shook her head.
"Mommy said never answer questions about before."
"Before what?"
"Before the white room."
Dante glanced at Lucia.
Her expression changed.
"What white room?" he asked.
Lily hugged the music box.
"The room where they made me."
No one spoke.
Nico slowly turned.
Dante's voice became very quiet.
"Who made you?"
Lily looked at the ceiling.
"The doctor."
"What doctor?"
"I don't know his name."
"What happened there?"
She began crying.
"Mommy said I was brave."
Dante pulled her close.
He didn't care that his expensive jacket was getting soaked with tears.
"You're safe now."
Behind him, Lucia whispered:
"No child is safe in this family."
Dante looked back.
Lucia's face had become gray.
"You know."
Lucia nodded.
"Not everything."
"Enough."
"Tell me."
"The Marino family was connected to Matteo."
"How?"
"Sophia's husband was one of his accountants."
Dante froze.
"So the ledger..."
"Was his."
"Then why would Sophia have it?"
"Because after your father killed her husband, she found Matteo's files."
"And the girl?"
Lucia looked at Lily.
"She was in one of those files."
Dante stood.
"Why?"
Lucia didn't answer.
"Mother."
"Because someone had created a child as insurance."
Dante stared.
"Insurance against what?"
"Against a war."
The word hung there.
Lily's breathing became uneven.
Nico suddenly spoke.
"Sir."
Dante turned.
Nico held up a phone.
"We traced the shooter."
"And?"
"He was using a burner linked to an old Belucchi number."
"Whose?"
Nico hesitated.
"Your father's."
Dante felt the room narrow.
"Impossible."
"The number was reactivated yesterday."
"Who activated it?"
"We don't know."
Dante took the phone.
A message had arrived.
YOU HAVE SIX HOURS.
Then another.
OPEN THE BOX.
Then a third.
OR SOPHIA DIES.
Dante looked at the music box.
"Whoever did this wants us to open it."
Nico nodded.
"Maybe."
"What are you saying?"
"The box may be a trap."
Dante looked at the scratches around the latch.
Someone had already tried to force it.
"Then why give it to Lily?"
Nico studied him.
"Because whoever created the trap knew she would make it to you."
Dante looked at the child.
That was the part he couldn't accept.
Someone had planned her arrival.
Someone knew she would come through those doors.
Someone knew exactly where Dante would be.
And someone knew he would protect her.
Dante picked up the music box.
He inserted the tiny brass key again.
This time he turned it fully.
A panel inside slid open.
A hidden compartment revealed a roll of microfilm and a second photograph.
The photograph showed Sophia holding a newborn baby.
On the back:
LILY MARINO, FILE 17-B.
Dante's heart hammered.
Nico leaned in.
"What's on the film?"
Dante didn't answer.
He found an old projector in his father's study.
Five minutes later, grainy footage flickered across the wall.
A laboratory.
White walls.
Steel tables.
A woman in a hospital gown.
Sophia.
Pregnant.
A doctor standing beside her.
And behind the glass, watching, was Matteo.
Then the film showed a second person entering.
Enzo Belucchi.
Dante's father.
The two brothers stood on opposite sides of the glass.
Enzo pointed to Sophia's stomach.
Matteo shook his head.
They argued.
Then Enzo said something the film could not capture.
Sophia looked terrified.
The scene changed.
A newborn baby was placed into Sophia's arms.
She cried.
Enzo walked in.
He reached for the child.
Sophia refused.
Matteo appeared behind him.
And for the first time, Dante saw the third man from the photograph.
Not Matteo.
Someone else.
Someone Dante recognized instantly.
Nico's gun was already in his hand.
"Dante."
The recording paused.
The face filled the wall.
Nico stared.
"No."
Dante's voice was almost a whisper.
"Yes."
The man was the current Belucchi attorney.
The man who had handled Dante's father's will.
The man who had been beside Dante at the funeral.
The man who had remained loyal for nine years.
Gabriel Rosi.
The footage resumed.
Gabriel leaned toward the newborn.
And said something clearly.
This time there was sound.
"One day, this child will belong to me."
The screen went black.
At that exact moment, Dante's phone rang.
Gabriel was calling.
Dante answered.
"Where are you?"
Gabriel's voice was calm.
"With the woman you're trying to save."
Dante's blood went cold.
"Let me speak to Sophia."
A pause.
Then Sophia's voice came through.
"Dante, don't open the box."
A muffled struggle.
Then Gabriel returned.
"And now you know why."
The call ended.
Dante looked at the frozen screen.
Nico waited.
Dante turned to him.
"We have six hours."
Nico nodded.
"For what?"
Dante looked at Lily.
"To find out why everyone is terrified of a four-year-old girl."
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Outside, thunder shook the windows.
And somewhere in the city, Sophia Marino screamed.
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