Chapter 7 - The Woman in the HotelSophia woke in a room with no windows.

The first thing she noticed was the smell.

Bleach.

Metal.

Rain.

Her hands were tied behind a chair.

A lamp hung overhead.

Across from her sat Gabriel Rosi.

He was wearing the same charcoal suit he had worn at Dante's house that morning.

No blood.

No sign of panic.

As if kidnapping a woman was simply another appointment.

Sophia looked at him.

"You'll never get her."

Gabriel smiled.

"You already gave me the box."

"Then why am I still alive?"

"Because I need you to tell Dante the truth."

Sophia laughed.

"You don't want the truth."

"No."

Gabriel leaned forward.

"I want him angry."

He placed a phone on the table.

On the screen was Lily.

She was asleep in a car.

Sophia's face broke.

"Where is she?"

"With Dante."

"Keep away from her."

"That's not my decision anymore."

Sophia stared at him.

"What do you want?"

Gabriel stood.

"The ledger."

"There is no ledger."

"There is."

"You burned it."

"Your husband thought so."

Sophia looked down.

Gabriel crouched beside her.

"Your husband was very brave."

"Don't."

"He died because he believed evidence could protect people."

Sophia's eyes hardened.

"It did."

Gabriel smiled.

"Then why are you still afraid?"

He reached into his pocket and placed a photograph on the table.

A hospital room.

A newborn.

Sophia standing beside the bed.

Another woman lying unconscious.

Isabella.

Sophia closed her eyes.

"She's alive."

Gabriel watched her.

"Yes."

"Where?"

"You tell me."

Sophia looked up.

"You already know."

"Not everything."

He sat again.

"Isabella had one secret she never shared."

Sophia said nothing.

"She had a second child."

Sophia's breath caught.

Gabriel smiled.

"Interesting, isn't it?"

She realized what he was saying.

"No."

"Yes."

"You can't know."

"I know enough."

Sophia pulled against the restraints.

"Leave her out of this."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because Lily isn't the weapon."

He leaned closer.

"She's the proof."

Sophia's face went still.

"Proof of what?"

Gabriel whispered.

"Who Dante really is."

Across the city, Dante was walking through a hotel lobby with Matteo beside him.

Nico followed behind.

They had found the hotel through an old payment trail.

Room 611.

Dante opened the door.

Empty.

A chair.

A table.

A single lamp.

And Sophia's necklace.

Dante picked it up.

Still warm.

Someone had been there moments earlier.

Then the television turned on.

Gabriel appeared on screen.

"Congratulations."

Dante raised his weapon.

"You've wasted enough of my time."

"Not yet."

Gabriel pressed a button.

A video appeared.

Sophia.

Tied to a chair.

Dante's jaw tightened.

"Where is she?"

Gabriel smiled.

"Ask Matteo what happened on the night Isabella disappeared."

Dante turned.

Matteo's face had gone white.

"What did you do?"

Matteo closed his eyes.

"I failed."

"That isn't an answer."

"I was supposed to take Isabella and her daughter out of the country."

"And?"

"I was intercepted."

"By whom?"

Matteo said nothing.

Dante stepped toward him.

"By whom?"

Matteo looked at the screen.

"Your father."

Sophia's video paused.

Gabriel leaned toward the camera.

"Your father didn't kill Isabella."

Dante frowned.

"Then who did?"

Gabriel said:

"You did."

The screen went black.

Dante turned.

"That's impossible."

Matteo looked at him.

"It happened before you were born."

"So what does he mean?"

Matteo didn't answer.

Nico picked up the remote.

The television flickered again.

A new image appeared.

A hospital record.

Date: nineteen ninety-eight.

Patient: Dante Belucchi.

Procedure: Memory suppression protocol.

Dante stared at the screen.

"What's that?"

Matteo whispered:

"They erased your memories."

Dante looked at him.

"Of what?"

Matteo's face broke.

"Of the night your sister disappeared."

Then the phone in Dante's pocket rang.

An unknown number.

He answered.

A woman's voice whispered:

"Dante?"

He knew that voice.

Even after nine years.

"Sophia."

"Listen to me."

Her breathing was ragged.

"Lily is not the only child they took."

A crash.

A scream.

Then silence.

Dante shouted into the phone.

"Sophia!"

Nothing.

Only one final sound.

A child's voice.

Not Lily's.

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Whispering:

"Uncle Dante."