Chapter 4 - THE MAN WHO KNEW HER NAMEThey escaped through the hospital basement.
Rainwater flooded the concrete floor.
Dante held a gun in one hand and Sienna's wrist in the other.
“Who is Damian?”
“Someone I thought was dead.”
“That's not an answer.”
“It is the only one you need.”
A bullet struck the wall.
Rocco fired back.
“Move!”
They reached the garage.
Three vehicles waited.
Dante pushed Sienna into the armored SUV.
Caterina followed.
Rocco slammed the door.
The convoy accelerated.
Nobody spoke for several minutes.
Finally Dante turned to Sienna.
“Who is Damian?”
She stared at him.
“Damian Cross.”
“Relation?”
“Trainer.”
Dante frowned.
“He trained children?”
“He trained me.”
“What did he teach you?”
Sienna looked away.
“How to survive.”
Dante watched her.
“What else?”
She whispered:
“How to kill.”
Silence filled the vehicle.
Caterina closed her eyes.
“I knew this day would come.”
Dante looked at her.
“You knew?”
“I prayed it wouldn't.”
The convoy entered an underground tunnel.
Then all three cars stopped.
Rocco looked ahead.
A truck blocked the road.
“Ambush.”
Dante immediately drew his weapon.
“Reverse.”
The tunnel entrance behind them suddenly closed.
Metal doors slammed down.
They were trapped.
A speaker crackled.
Damian's voice filled the tunnel.
“Dante Russo.”
Dante stared into the darkness.
“You've inherited your father's arrogance.”
“Come out.”
“Still giving orders.”
A light switched on.
A figure stood on the other side of the truck.
Tall.
Black coat.
Gray hair.
A scar across one eye.
Sienna's breathing stopped.
Damian smiled.
“Hello, Elena.”
Dante looked at her.
She had gone completely still.
Damian raised his arms.
“No need for violence.”
Dante laughed.
“You brought a truck into a tunnel.”
“I brought an invitation.”
“To what?”
Damian looked at Sienna.
“Her past.”
Sienna stepped forward.
Dante grabbed her arm.
“No.”
She looked at him.
“He won't stop.”
“Neither will I.”
Damian smiled.
“That's exactly why she chose you.”
Dante's eyes narrowed.
“She didn't choose anything.”
“Oh?”
Damian glanced toward Caterina.
“Ask your mother.”
Dante turned.
Caterina looked terrified.
Damian spoke again.
“Tell him why Elena was placed inside your home.”
Sienna whispered:
“No.”
Damian continued.
“Tell him the real purpose.”
Caterina's voice broke.
“She was there to protect you.”
Dante stared.
“What?”
Sienna looked at Caterina.
“You promised.”
Caterina nodded.
“I did.”
Dante looked between them.
“Protect me from what?”
Caterina couldn't speak.
Damian answered.
“Your father.”
Dante's face hardened.
“You're lying.”
“Ask your mother what happened on March 4, 2012.”
Rocco frowned.
“What happened?”
Damian smiled.
“Lorenzo Russo tried to have his own son killed.”
Dante froze.
Sienna's eyes filled with tears.
Dante turned to her.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my father tried to kill me.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you weren't ready.”
He stepped closer.
“Who saved me?”
Sienna whispered:
“Your mother.”
Caterina finally spoke.
“Your father believed you were too soft.”
Dante looked at her.
“He wanted me dead.”
“He wanted you obedient.”
“What changed?”
Caterina looked at Sienna.
“She did.”
Dante suddenly understood.
Six months.
A quiet companion.
A carefully planted employee.
A woman who had never missed a single day beside Caterina.
She had not been there to spy.
She had been there because someone knew Dante Russo was walking toward a grave his father had prepared years ago.
A shot exploded.
Damian vanished.
Dante pulled Sienna down.
Rocco fired.
Then the truck exploded.
Fire filled the tunnel.
Concrete rained from above.
Dante grabbed Caterina.
Rocco dragged Sienna.
They ran.
Outside, emergency crews arrived.
The convoy survived.
But Damian was gone.
Again.
That night, back at the penthouse, Dante locked every door.
Then he walked into his father's old study.
The room had been sealed since Lorenzo's death.
He smashed the desk apart.
Hidden beneath the wood was a metal safe.
Inside was a single file.
On the cover:
ELENA VALE.
Dante opened it.
The first page contained a photograph of Sienna at eight years old.
The second showed her at twelve.
The third at sixteen.
The final page was dated six months before she entered the Russo penthouse.
Across the page, in his father's handwriting, were eight words:
WHEN SHE ARRIVES, NEVER LET DANTE LOVE HER.
Dante's face went blank.
Behind him, someone whispered:
“Too late.”
He turned.
Sienna stood in the doorway.
Crying.
Because she had just seen the file.
May you like
And she knew the part Dante hadn't yet discovered.
She was never supposed to fall in love with him either.
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