Chapter 7 - The ChapelLeo ignored every order.
He brought Mateo.
He brought six men.
And he brought Beatrice.
Adrian objected.
“She is the key.”
Leo looked at him.
“Then she stays with me.”
The chapel stood beyond the western fields, abandoned beneath twisted trees.
Its roof had partially collapsed.
Inside, moonlight touched broken stone.
Beatrice held Lily's photograph against her chest.
She couldn't stop thinking about her mother.
About the bracelet.
About all the years she had believed she had been ordinary.
She wasn't.
Not according to Adrian.
Leo touched the chapel floor.
“Here.”
A stone shifted.
Beneath it was a steel hatch.
They opened it.
Stairs descended into darkness.
At the bottom was a massive vault.
Inside were shelves filled with files.
Photographs.
Ledgers.
Names.
And at the center stood a wooden box.
Leo opened it.
Inside was a handwritten letter from his father.
Leo, if you are reading this, Maria failed to convince you.
Leo's hands tightened.
He continued.
The Rossi family was never built on violence. It was built on information. Your mother hated this life. Maria wanted to destroy it. When she discovered what I had hidden, I gave her one choice: run, or become part of it.
Beatrice looked over his shoulder.
There was more.
The child was never the secret. Beatrice was.
Beatrice's heart stopped.
“What?”
Leo read silently.
Then aloud:
“Your mother came to me twenty-eight years ago with a child who was not hers.”
Beatrice stepped backward.
“No.”
Leo continued.
“She said the child had been targeted by men connected to a political syndicate. She begged me to hide her identity.”
Beatrice's mother had lied.
The entire time.
Leo stared at her.
“Your mother raised you because she wasn't your biological mother.”
Beatrice felt as if the air had vanished.
“Then who am I?”
A voice came from the darkness.
“Mine.”
Everyone turned.
A man emerged.
Older.
Elegant.
Cold.
He looked at Beatrice with tears in his eyes.
Leo raised his gun.
“Who are you?”
The man answered:
“Your father's worst mistake.”
Then he looked at Beatrice.
“I am your father.”
Beatrice's world shattered.
The stranger stepped closer.
“My name is Gabriel Vale.”
Leo lowered his weapon slightly.
“Vale.”
Thomas Vale's surname.
Gabriel smiled.
“Yes.”
Then the chapel exploded.
The ceiling collapsed.
Leo grabbed Beatrice.
Mateo shouted.
Men stormed from hidden doors.
Gunfire erupted.
Leo pushed Beatrice behind the vault wall.
“Stay here.”
“No!”
He turned.
“Beatrice.”
“I won't let you go alone.”
Leo stared at her.
For one second, the fear in his eyes was visible.
Not fear of dying.
Fear of losing her.
Then the lights went out.
A hand grabbed Beatrice from behind.
She screamed.
Leo spun.
Too late.
The attacker dragged her into the darkness.
She heard Leo shouting her name.
Then a gunshot.
Then another.
Then silence.
Beatrice woke in a moving vehicle.
Her hands were tied.
Someone sat across from her.
Victoria.
Blood streaked her face.
She laughed softly.
“You have no idea who you really are.”
Beatrice stared.
“What do you want?”
Victoria leaned closer.
“I want you to remember.”
“Remember what?”
May you like
Victoria whispered:
“Your real name.”
