Chapter 4 - The GunshotBeatrice hit the floor.
Leo grabbed her and pulled her behind a concrete pillar.
Mateo fired toward the muzzle flash.
Victoria screamed.
The gun dropped.
Then footsteps thundered through the tunnel.
Someone was running.
Leo chased him.
But before he could reach the exit, a second man appeared from the abandoned shop.
Leo fired.
The man vanished into the alley.
Mateo returned with Victoria.
She was trembling.
“Leo…”
“Where's the boy?”
She stared at him.
“What boy?”
“The child in the photograph.”
Victoria's expression collapsed.
“I don't know where he is.”
“You knew.”
“I knew about him.”
“Who is he?”
Victoria swallowed.
“Daniel.”
Leo went still.
The name hit him like a physical blow.
Daniel.
The name his wife had chosen for the son they had lost.
“You told me he died.”
“I was told he died.”
“By whom?”
“Maria.”
Leo stepped closer.
“My wife was alive?”
Victoria nodded.
“For years.”
Beatrice felt the world shift.
“Then why did she let Leo believe she was dead?”
Victoria looked at her.
“Because your husband wasn't the target.”
She pointed toward Lily's photograph.
“She was.”
Nobody moved.
Victoria began crying.
“The people who killed Maria didn't want Leo dead.”
Leo stared at her.
“What did they want?”
Victoria whispered:
“The Rossi children.”
That was when another shot came from above.
The ceiling exploded.
Stone crashed down.
Mateo pulled Leo backward.
The abandoned shop was being attacked.
A man shouted from outside.
“Take the girl!”
Leo's blood turned cold.
“Lily!”
He ran.
Beatrice ran behind him.
Two men burst through the rear entrance.
Leo raised his gun.
One went down.
The other fired.
Mateo tackled him.
Beatrice grabbed Lily, pulling her behind a stack of crates.
The little girl screamed.
“Daddy!”
“I've got you.”
Leo covered them.
His men stormed the building.
Within seconds, silence returned.
But someone had escaped.
And the attacker had left behind a black envelope.
Leo opened it.
Inside was a single ultrasound photograph.
Lily.
Before she was born.
Written beneath it:
SHE WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO SURVIVE.
Leo's hand tightened around the paper.
Then he noticed something strange.
A second message.
ASK BEATRICE ABOUT HER MOTHER.
Beatrice froze.
“What?”
Leo looked at her.
“What does your mother have to do with this?”
“I don't know.”
Victoria laughed bitterly.
“You really don't?”
Beatrice turned.
Victoria looked almost sorry for her.
“Your mother worked for Maria Rossi.”
Beatrice's breath stopped.
“No.”
“She wasn't a housekeeper.”
“What was she?”
Victoria's answer came quietly.
“She was Maria's protector.”
Beatrice shook her head.
“My mother died when I was twelve.”
“She disappeared.”
“That isn't true.”
Victoria stepped closer.
“Your mother didn't die.”
Beatrice felt the floor tilt.
Leo stared at Victoria.
“Where is she?”
Victoria smiled.
“I don't know.”
Then she whispered:
“But someone has been paying me to keep Beatrice close to Lily for years.”
Beatrice's face went pale.
Leo's voice became deadly.
“Who?”
Victoria looked directly at him.
“You already know his name.”
Leo's eyes narrowed.
May you like
Victoria said it.
“Your brother.”
