Chapter 5 - The Man Who Should Have Been DeadLuca caught Mara before she hit the floor.
“MARa!”
Blood spread across her shoulder.
Not the chest.
Still alive.
Marco dragged her behind cover.
“Sniper!”
Luca looked through the window.
Three floors across.
A silhouette.
Gone.
“Find him.”
Marco nodded and ran.
Mara grabbed Luca's sleeve.
“Listen.”
“You're bleeding.”
“Listen!”
Her voice shook.
“Adrian didn't hire Isabella.”
Luca stared.
“Then who did?”
Mara's eyes filled with fear.
“Adrian is being hunted too.”
“By whom?”
She looked toward the black case.
“Your father's old organization.”
Luca opened it.
Inside were files.
Photographs.
Blood test results.
Names.
And one envelope.
His name was written on it.
LUCA BELLINI
He opened it.
The letter was short.
My son,
If you are reading this, then I am already gone.
You will hate me.
You should.
Luca's jaw tightened.
There are two truths I could never tell you.
The first is that your heart was never the only danger.
The second is that your brother survived.
Adrian was born with the same disease that killed the men in our family. I believed distance would save him.
I was wrong.
He grew up believing you abandoned him.
I allowed him to believe it.
That was my greatest sin.
Luca stopped reading.
The final sentence was written in darker ink.
Do not let Adrian find Emma before you do.
Luca's blood went cold.
Marco returned.
“Shooter got away.”
He noticed the letter.
“What is it?”
Luca handed it to him.
Marco read it.
“He warned you.”
“No.”
Luca's eyes hardened.
“He warned me too late.”
A phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
Luca answered.
“Where is my daughter?”
A man's voice spoke.
“You're looking for the wrong enemy.”
“Who are you?”
“You really don't recognize me?”
The voice was deep.
Tired.
But familiar.
Luca's face changed.
“Adrian?”
Silence.
Then:
“Hello, brother.”
Marco stared at him.
Luca stepped away.
“Where is Emma?”
“Alive.”
“Give her to me.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because they're coming.”
“Who?”
“The same people who killed our father.”
Luca froze.
“My father died in a heart attack.”
Adrian laughed softly.
“That’s the story they gave you?”
“What are you saying?”
“I didn't want to believe it either.”
A pause.
Then:
“Your father was murdered.”
Luca's blood turned to ice.
“Who killed him?”
Adrian said one sentence.
“You did.”
The line went dead.
Luca stood completely still.
Marco stared at him.
“What did he mean?”
Luca couldn't answer.
Because deep inside his memory, an old image had suddenly surfaced.
He was fourteen.
Standing outside his father's office.
Hearing shouting.
Then a gunshot.
His father's body on the floor.
And his own hands…
Covered in blood.
Luca staggered backward.
Mara, barely conscious, whispered:
“You remembered.”
He looked at her.
“What did I do?”
May you like
Mara closed her eyes.
“You weren't supposed to remember yet.”
