Chapter 12 - The Blood HeirI wanted to run.
But there was nowhere to go.
The underground platform shook as gunfire echoed through the tunnels.
Alessandro pressed a hand against his shoulder.
“Nora.”
“What?”
“You need to remember.”
“Remember what?”
“The night of the fire.”
“I already remember.”
“No.”
He looked at Daniel.
“Tell her.”
Daniel nodded.
“When your father disappeared, he left something with you.”
“What?”
“A memory.”
I laughed bitterly.
“I was sixteen.”
“You were thirteen.”
I frowned.
“No.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“You forgot because your mother made you forget.”
“How?”
“Trauma.”
I shook my head.
“That's impossible.”
Daniel pointed toward the vault.
“The symbol. The black circle. The white line.”
He showed me the key.
“You were trained to recognize it.”
“No.”
“You were trained from childhood.”
Memories surfaced.
My father drawing circles on paper.
My mother whispering numbers.
A locked room.
A music box.
A red button.
I suddenly remembered.
My hands began shaking.
“The music box.”
Daniel stared.
“You remember?”
“It played the same song.”
Alessandro closed his eyes.
“Your father encoded the vault location in that melody.”
I looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because I heard it too.”
Then Emma spoke from behind me.
“Mama.”
I turned.
She held Mr. Rabbit.
“Look.”
The toy had opened.
Inside was another photograph.
This one showed me as a teenager.
Standing beside Alessandro.
We were smiling.
My stomach turned.
I remembered him.
Not vaguely.
Completely.
“You erased it.”
Alessandro shook his head.
“Your mother did.”
“Why?”
“To keep Matteo from finding you.”
Matteo stepped forward.
“Enough family therapy.”
He raised his weapon.
“The ledger belongs to me.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
He smiled.
“You don't understand what you're holding.”
I opened the ledger.
A photograph fell out.
My father.
My mother.
Daniel.
Alessandro.
And a fifth person.
Matteo.
All standing together.
On the back was a date.
The day before the fire.
Then I noticed something.
A handwritten note.
THE TRAITOR IS NOT MATTEO.
I looked at Alessandro.
His face changed.
Daniel stared.
Elena whispered:
“Who, then?”
I turned the photograph over.
Underneath the note was one final word.
May you like
ALESSANDRO.
My heart stopped.
