Chapter 4 - The Woman in the PhotographElena Romano Had Been Running From Someone
Sophia forgot to breathe.
The old man's words echoed inside the garage.
She's alive.
Her mother.
Impossible.
She had watched the coffin.
She had stood beside it when she was seven.
She remembered the smell of flowers.
The priest.
The cold hands beneath the white cloth.
She remembered Matteo nowhere near the cemetery.
"No."
The word left her before she could stop it.
The old man studied her.
"You're taller than she was."
"Who are you?"
"Vittorio."
Matteo stepped forward.
"You should be dead."
Vittorio smiled.
"So should you."
The two men stared at one another.
Sophia looked between them.
"You know him?"
"I knew him."
"Then explain."
Matteo's voice was controlled.
"Get in the car."
"No."
"Sophia."
"No."
She pointed at Vittorio.
"Tell me about my mother."
Vittorio sighed.
"She loved you."
"I know."
"She killed for you."
Sophia went still.
"My mother never hurt anyone."
Vittorio's eyes softened.
"That is what she wanted you to believe."
Matteo closed his eyes.
"Enough."
Vittorio ignored him.
"When you were seven, men came looking for Elena."
"Who?"
"The Bellandi family."
Sophia looked at Matteo.
His jaw clenched.
"Not me," he said.
"Your family."
"My father."
Vittorio nodded.
"Your mother discovered something."
"What?"
"Accounts."
Sophia frowned.
"Money?"
"Much more."
Vittorio opened the envelope.
Inside were photocopies of financial records, photographs and handwritten pages.
He handed Sophia a photograph.
She recognized the building.
The hospital.
The same one where Luca was lying.
Her face went pale.
"Why is this here?"
"Because your brother wasn't the target."
Sophia looked up.
"What?"
"Your brother was bait."
Matteo took the papers from her.
His eyes scanned them.
Then he cursed under his breath.
"What?"
He handed one page back.
A list of names.
Dates.
Payments.
At the bottom:
ROMANO, LUCA.
Sophia's hands shook.
"Why would someone put Luca on a list?"
Matteo looked at her.
"Because someone knew he would survive."
"What does that mean?"
"Someone wanted him to remember something."
Sophia stared at him.
"He's unconscious."
"He won't be forever."
Vittorio stepped closer.
"Your brother saw the accident."
"Everyone says there were no witnesses."
"There weren't."
"Then how could he see it?"
Vittorio looked at Matteo.
"Because he was already in the car."
Sophia's heart stopped.
"What?"
Matteo said nothing.
Vittorio continued.
"Your brother wasn't crossing the road."
"What are you saying?"
"He was running."
"From whom?"
Vittorio glanced toward the garage entrance.
"From a man wearing a Bellandi ring."
Sophia turned to Matteo.
"You said your family wasn't involved."
"My family may have been."
"May have been?"
"I wasn't there."
"Your men were."
Matteo stepped closer.
"Listen to me."
"No."
"Sophia."
"I trusted you for five minutes."
"Then don't trust me."
His voice was quiet.
"Trust the evidence."
He reached into his jacket and removed another photograph.
A street camera image.
Luca.
Standing outside a warehouse.
Three hours before the accident.
Beside him stood a man Sophia recognized.
A man who had been inside Matteo's penthouse that morning.
His security chief.
Enrico.
Sophia stared.
"What is he doing with my brother?"
Matteo looked at the photograph.
Something terrible settled behind his eyes.
Then the garage lights went out.
Total darkness.
A gunshot cracked.
Vittorio screamed.
Matteo grabbed Sophia and pulled her down.
Another gunshot.
Then another.
When the emergency lights flickered back on, Vittorio was gone.
And Enrico was lying dead beside the SUV.
On his chest was a folded photograph.
Sophia picked it up.
It showed her mother.
Alive.
Standing in a train station.
May you like
Holding the hand of a little boy.
A boy who looked exactly like Luca.
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