Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Knew My BrotherThe ambulance took Maria Morales to St. Catherine's Medical Center.
Lily refused to release the paper bag containing their soup, even when a nurse offered her a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate.
“Mommy needs this,” she explained.
I promised her that her mother would receive food as soon as the doctors allowed it.
It was a small promise, but she looked at me as if I had offered her the world.
Maria was stabilized after an hour of treatment. She suffered from severe malnutrition, dehydration, and an untreated infection. The physician explained that another day or two without medical attention might have killed her.
I listened without speaking.
A child had been walking through freezing Chicago streets trying to buy dinner, while I had spent the same evening discussing investments with men who worried about losing a few million dollars.
The contrast made me feel something I hadn't experienced in years.
Shame.
When I entered Maria's room, she was awake.
The moment she saw me, her expression hardened.
“Get away from my daughter.”
“Lily asked me for help.”
“You should have walked away.”
“She is six years old. Her mother was unconscious.”
Maria glanced toward the door.
“Did you bring your men?”
“Yes.”
“Then we're already in danger.”
I placed the photograph on her bedside table.
“Explain this.”
Her fingers trembled as she touched the image.
“That was taken the day Alessandro proposed to me.”
My brother had never mentioned a woman named Maria. He had never told me he was planning to marry anyone.
“Why didn't he tell me about you?”
“He wanted to. Your uncle found out about us before he could.”
“Salvatore?”
She nodded.
“Alessandro discovered that Salvatore was selling confidential information about the family business to rival organizations. Your brother was collecting evidence. He intended to expose everything.”
“And you?”
“I was pregnant.”
The word struck me harder than I expected.
“Lily is Alessandro's daughter?”
Maria nodded.
“He never knew. He died before I could tell him.”
I stared at the photograph.
Twenty years earlier, I had buried my brother in a sealed coffin. Salvatore had insisted that the body was too damaged for an open-casket funeral.
I had accepted his explanation because I was twenty-seven, grieving, and struggling to keep our enemies from tearing apart the family.
For years, I had secretly suspected that something about Alessandro's death was wrong.
Now I knew my suspicions had barely scratched the surface.
“Why didn't you come to me?” I asked.
“Because the people who killed Alessandro were watching you. I didn't know which men in your organization were involved.”
“Who killed him?”
“Your uncle ordered it. But someone else carried out the plan.”
“Who?”
Maria looked toward the corridor.
“I don't know for certain. I only know that the man helped Salvatore hide the evidence, and he has been protecting himself ever since.”
My phone rang.
The caller was Matteo Rinaldi, my most trusted lieutenant.
“Dominic,” he said calmly. “I hear you've found yourself a little girl.”
My eyes narrowed.
“Where did you hear that?”
“Chicago is a small city when people know where to listen.”
“What do you want?”
“Bring the child to the old Vescari estate before midnight. Come alone, and I'll explain what happened to your brother.”
The call ended.
Maria clutched my wrist.
“Don't go.”
“Why?”
“Because Matteo was there the night Alessandro died.”
I stared at her.
Matteo had been my brother's closest friend. He had helped carry the coffin and had sworn to avenge Alessandro's death.
Before I could ask another question, every light in the hospital corridor went dark.
A masked man appeared in Maria's doorway, holding a pistol.
Vincent fired first.
The attacker disappeared into the corridor.
I grabbed Lily and shielded her with my body as the hospital erupted in confusion. My security team pursued the intruder, but he escaped through an emergency exit.
Seconds later, my phone vibrated.
A message appeared.
YOU CAN PROTECT THE WOMAN, DOMINIC. YOU CAN PROTECT THE GIRL. BUT YOU CAN'T PROTECT BOTH.
A photograph followed.
It showed Maria and Lily inside the hospital room, taken only minutes earlier.
Someone had been watching them.
Someone who knew our security arrangements.
Then another message arrived.
ASK VINCENT WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR BROTHER'S WATCH.
I slowly turned toward my security chief.
Vincent looked as stunned as I felt.
But my brother's silver watch had indeed disappeared from my office three weeks earlier.
May you like
And Vincent had been the one to return it.
For the first time in twelve years, I found myself wondering whether the man who protected my life was also the man who had helped destroy my family.
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