Chapter 13 - The bunker filled with smoke.Adrienne grabbed Mia.
Sofia pulled Isabella toward the emergency exit.
Tony fired at Anthony.
The bullet struck the wall.
Anthony disappeared.
Adrienne's father lay bleeding on the floor.
Adrienne knelt.
“Where is the second exit?”
His father coughed.
“Behind the wall.”
“Which wall?”
He pointed at the photographs.
“The one with your mother.”
Adrienne pulled the photograph away.
A hidden door opened.
They rushed through.
The tunnel led toward the cemetery's western edge.
But Anthony had anticipated them.
His men waited outside.
Gunfire erupted.
Tony pushed Adrienne behind a stone wall.
“Move!”
Adrienne carried Mia.
Bruno ran beside him.
Sofia stayed close.
Isabella fired back.
For several minutes, the cemetery became a battlefield.
Then silence.
Anthony's men were gone.
Tony looked around.
“They're retreating.”
Adrienne stared toward the road.
A black SUV was disappearing.
“Mia.”
She was gone.
Adrienne turned.
The child was no longer beside him.
His face went white.
“MIa!”
Sofia screamed her name.
Nothing.
Bruno suddenly bolted toward the cemetery gate.
Adrienne followed.
They reached the road.
Bruno stopped.
A strip of Mia's pajama fabric hung from a fence.
Adrienne grabbed it.
There was blood.
Tiny drops.
Not enough to indicate a fatal wound.
“She was here.”
Tony checked the road.
“Tire tracks.”
Adrienne looked at the license plate.
Partially visible.
Moretti Holdings.
Again.
He called the company's headquarters.
“No one answers.”
Then a text appeared on his phone.
COME ALONE.
A location followed.
The Moretti family mansion in Manhattan.
Adrienne looked at Sofia.
“No.”
“I have to go.”
“You'll die.”
“If I don't go, Mia might.”
Sofia grabbed his arm.
“Then I'm coming.”
Adrienne looked at her.
“Stay with Bruno.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“I lost seventeen years.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I'm not losing another hour.”
Adrienne nodded.
They drove into Manhattan.
The mansion was abandoned.
But all the lights were on.
Inside, portraits lined the walls.
Every Moretti ancestor.
At the center hung a painting of three brothers.
Adrienne stopped.
His father.
Anthony.
And a third man.
Adrienne stared.
“Who's that?”
Sofia looked.
“I don't know.”
A voice answered from behind them.
“I do.”
Isabella stepped from the shadows.
She had followed them.
Adrienne turned.
“You lied about staying behind.”
“I had to.”
She pointed at the painting.
“The third man was the original heir.”
Adrienne looked.
“Who?”
Isabella whispered:
“Lucien Moretti.”
“Who is he?”
“My father.”
Adrienne stared.
“Your father?”
“Yes.”
She looked at the painting.
“He was the eldest.”
Adrienne understood.
His father's entire empire had been built on a stolen inheritance.
Anthony had spent twenty-two years restoring the original bloodline.
And now Mia was the final legal heir.
A sound came from upstairs.
Mia.
“Daddy!”
Adrienne ran.
The upper floor had been converted into a private nursery.
Mia sat on a bed.
Anthony stood behind her.
He held a knife.
Adrienne stopped.
Anthony smiled.
“Finally.”
“Let her go.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand enough.”
Anthony looked at Isabella.
“You told him.”
Isabella stepped forward.
“Yes.”
Anthony's smile faded.
“You were never supposed to survive.”
Isabella lifted her weapon.
“You weren't supposed to either.”
Anthony laughed.
“You people still think blood matters.”
He pressed a button.
The nursery doors locked.
A countdown began.
00:59.
Adrienne stared.
“What did you do?”
Anthony smiled.
“The whole building is wired.”
“You'll die too.”
“No.”
He looked at Mia.
“I'll leave.”
The countdown reached 00:40.
Adrienne searched the room.
Bruno began barking.
Not at Anthony.
At the wall.
Adrienne understood.
“Open that panel.”
Tony forced it.
A hidden passage appeared.
Anthony's expression changed.
“You know.”
Adrienne looked at Bruno.
“My dog always knew.”
They rushed through.
Anthony grabbed Mia.
Adrienne lunged.
The clock hit zero.
May you like
The explosion tore through the mansion.
And for one terrible second, Adrienne felt Mia slip from his hands.
