Chapter 11 - The Man I Thought Would Never FallFor the first time, Dante needed me

Dante hit the floor.

I dropped beside him.

"Open your eyes."

He didn't respond.

Blood soaked through his shirt.

Matteo tore it open.

A small dart was embedded near his ribs.

"Poison."

My hands shook.

"Can you remove it?"

"Not safely."

The timer continued.

03:41.

"We need out."

My mother searched the shelves.

"There has to be another door."

I remembered Victor's words.

The old bakery.

I looked at the floor.

"Wait."

I ran to the center.

The mosaic tiles formed a crescent.

I pressed my pendant against it.

Nothing.

Then Sophia's little key.

I didn't have it.

Lucia did.

She handed it to me.

I inserted it.

A section of floor opened.

A tunnel.

We dragged Dante through.

The explosion hit seconds later.

The entire vault collapsed behind us.

We stumbled through the tunnel.

When we finally surfaced, Dante was barely conscious.

I sat beside him.

"Stay with me."

His eyes opened.

"You saved me."

"You'd better not die."

He almost smiled.

"Bossy."

"Yes."

His fingers found mine.

"Elina."

"What?"

"If I don't make it—"

"Don't."

"I need you to protect Sophia."

I squeezed his hand.

"You protect her yourself."

His eyes closed again.

"No."

My heart stopped.

Then a doctor rushed in.

Two hours later, Dante woke.

The poison had been neutralized.

Not cured.

Neutralized.

He had one chance.

The antidote was controlled by a private physician loyal to Tony.

We needed him alive.

That meant finding Tony.

The search led us to a warehouse by the river.

Dante insisted on going.

"You just survived."

"I know."

"You're insane."

"Also true."

We found Tony's car.

Empty.

Inside was another message.

ONE FAMILY.

ONE HEIR.

ONE LAST BETRAYAL.

Then my mother screamed.

She had found a second photograph.

It showed Tony standing beside her.

But not twenty years ago.

Yesterday.

With Lucia between them.

Alive.

My mother whispered:

"She was working with him."

I looked at Lucia.

"What?"

Lucia's face collapsed.

"I had no choice."

Dante stared at his wife.

"You knew."

"I was trying to get Sophia back."

"You used Elina?"

"No."

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew you'd kill everyone before listening."

Silence.

Lucia looked at me.

"I was wrong."

Then she revealed the final secret.

Tony hadn't kidnapped her.

She had gone to him.

Because she discovered who was funding the entire operation.

Not Tony.

Not Victor.

Not Dante's enemies.

Someone inside Dante's own household.

Someone who had access to Sophia.

Someone who had been feeding information to Tony for years.

Dante's face turned cold.

"Who?"

Lucia looked toward the warehouse door.

A woman stepped inside.

She was dressed in white.

Elegant.

Calm.

She smiled at Dante.

"Hello, nephew."

Dante froze.

I recognized her from the photograph.

The woman everyone believed dead.

His aunt.

And beside her stood Tony.

She looked at me.

"Finally."

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