Chapter 12 - The Boy Named LucaVincent couldn't move.
Luca stared at him.
The boy was small.
Dark hair.
Brown eyes.
A tiny scar above his eyebrow.
Vincent knew instantly.
No DNA test was necessary.
No document.
Nothing.
Luca was his.
The boy looked at him with quiet uncertainty.
“Are you Daddy?”
Vincent's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
The security chief laughed.
“How touching.”
Dominic raised his weapon.
“Put the boy down.”
“Stay back.”
The man pressed a gun against Luca's side.
Vincent's voice changed.
“Don't.”
He stepped forward.
“No sudden movements.”
The man smiled.
“You've always been sentimental.”
“What's your name?”
“Marco.”
“Marco.”
Vincent kept his eyes on Luca.
“Let him go.”
“You know I can't.”
“Then tell me what you want.”
“The ledger.”
Vincent frowned.
“You already have access to my father's records.”
“Not the complete version.”
Vincent's wrist suddenly felt heavy.
His father's watch.
The ledger.
Marco smiled.
“There.”
Vincent understood.
“You knew.”
“Charles knows too.”
“So this is his plan.”
Marco laughed.
“Charles thinks he controls everyone.”
“Doesn't he?”
“No.”
Marco's smile widened.
“He works for someone else.”
Vincent stared.
“Who?”
Marco leaned closer.
“Ask Sofia.”
Vincent's chest tightened.
Marco turned toward a side corridor.
“She is waiting.”
“You said she wasn't here.”
“I said you couldn't find her.”
He began walking.
Vincent followed.
They entered a hidden room.
Sofia was there.
Alive.
Thin.
Exhausted.
Her wrists were bruised.
But she was standing.
Vincent stopped.
Sofia looked at him.
For three seconds, neither spoke.
Then Vincent whispered:
“You're alive.”
Sofia smiled through tears.
“So are you.”
He crossed the room.
She threw her arms around him.
Vincent held her as if letting go would make her disappear again.
“I looked for you.”
“I know.”
“I thought you hated me.”
“I never hated you.”
“I was angry.”
“I know.”
He pulled back.
“Why didn't you come home?”
Sofia glanced at Luca.
“For him.”
Vincent looked at their son.
Marco stepped back.
Dominic moved.
The room seemed to shift.
Sofia whispered:
“Vince, there's something you need to know.”
“Tell me.”
“Charles isn't the one who arranged my disappearance.”
Vincent froze.
“Then who?”
Sofia looked toward Marco.
“He was following orders.”
“Whose?”
She hesitated.
Then:
“Mine.”
Vincent stared.
“What?”
Sofia's eyes filled with tears.
“I made the plan.”
Vincent stepped back.
“You?”
“I needed everyone to believe I was dead.”
“Why?”
“Because I discovered something.”
“What?”
“That the person inside your family who was selling information to Charles…”
She looked at him.
“…was me.”
Silence.
Vincent stared at his wife.
“No.”
“I leaked information.”
“Why?”
“To expose them.”
“You put yourself in danger.”
“Yes.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You abandoned me.”
“Yes.”
Vincent's voice broke.
“You made me bury you in my mind for three years.”
“I know.”
He looked away.
Sofia whispered:
“I had no choice.”
Vincent turned.
“You always had a choice.”
Before she could answer, Marco's phone rang.
He listened.
His expression changed.
“What's wrong?” Sofia asked.
Marco lowered the phone.
“Charles knows we're here.”
Dominic looked toward the corridor.
“How?”
Marco stared at Vincent.
“He saw you enter.”
“Then we leave.”
“No.”
Marco shook his head.
“He's bringing the entire security team.”
Vincent tightened his grip around Luca.
“Then let him come.”
Sofia looked at him.
“Vince…”
He looked at his wife.
“I spent three years thinking I had lost both of you.”
His eyes hardened.
“I'm not losing either again.”
The doors above exploded.
Gunfire filled the church.
Marco shoved Luca toward Vincent.
“Take him!”
Vincent caught the boy.
Dominic fired back.
Sofia ducked behind the stone wall.
Isabella screamed:
“There's another entrance!”
They ran.
But halfway down the tunnel, the lights went out.
Then a voice echoed from the darkness.
Charles.
May you like
“You should have stayed dead, Sofia.”
And a gunshot followed.
