Chapter 10 - MariaLeo wanted to go alone.
Beatrice refused.
“No.”
“You stay.”
“No.”
“It's dangerous.”
“So is leaving Lily without us.”
Leo stared at her.
“You're not a soldier.”
Beatrice nodded.
“No.”
Then she stepped closer.
“But neither was Lily when Victoria locked her in the cellar.”
That silenced him.
They drove before dawn.
Mateo followed at a distance.
The address led to an abandoned church outside the city.
Inside, candles burned.
Maria stood at the altar.
Leo stopped.
Neither moved.
For six years, he had dreamed of this moment.
Sometimes she was alive.
Sometimes she died again.
Sometimes he reached for her.
Sometimes he could not remember her face.
Now she stood in front of him.
Older.
Scarred.
Alive.
“Leo.”
His jaw trembled.
“Why?”
Maria began crying.
“I tried to come back.”
“You let me bury you.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
“I had two children to protect.”
Leo's eyes moved to Beatrice.
Maria did too.
Her breath caught.
“My little Elena.”
Beatrice froze.
“That's my name.”
Maria nodded.
“I named you Elena.”
“Why did you leave me?”
“I didn't.”
Maria looked broken.
“I watched you from a distance.”
Beatrice's eyes filled.
“My mother told me she was my mother.”
“She was.”
“She wasn't.”
“She became your mother.”
Beatrice didn't understand.
Maria stepped closer.
“She raised you. She loved you. She died protecting you.”
Beatrice whispered:
“From whom?”
Maria looked at Leo.
“From your father.”
Leo's expression hardened.
“What did he do?”
“He wanted the key.”
“The vault.”
Maria nodded.
“Your father discovered a network larger than the Rossi empire.”
She looked toward Beatrice.
“The key wasn't money.”
“Then what?”
“Names.”
“Whose?”
“People powerful enough to destroy governments.”
Leo stepped forward.
“Why would my father hide it?”
“Because he became part of it.”
Silence.
Maria continued.
“Gabriel wanted the network for himself. Adrian wanted it destroyed. Your father wanted control.”
Leo's voice was quiet.
“And you?”
“I wanted my children alive.”
Beatrice whispered:
“Then why did you stay away?”
Maria looked at her.
“Because someone was watching you.”
She reached into her coat.
She pulled out a photograph.
Beatrice recognized the face.
Her stomach dropped.
The woman beside Maria was Victoria.
But the man beside them was not Adrian.
Not Gabriel.
Not Leo.
It was someone else.
A man Beatrice had seen every day since entering the Rossi estate.
The head butler.
Mr. Harrison.
Maria whispered:
“He has been working for your father since before you were born.”
Leo's face went cold.
“Where is Harrison now?”
Maria looked toward the church doors.
“Inside your house.”
Leo's phone rang.
Mateo.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“There's been a breach at the estate.”
Leo tightened his grip.
“Who?”
Mateo hesitated.
“Mr. Harrison.”
Maria closed her eyes.
“He has Lily.”
Leo ran.
Behind him, Maria shouted:
“Leo!”
He turned.
Maria's face was filled with terror.
“Don't let him take her to the vault.”
“Why?”
“Because once the door opens…”
May you like
She swallowed.
“Everyone in Chicago dies.”
