Chapter 8 - The Night the Mansion BurnedGlass rained across the ballroom.
Marco tackled Alessandro to the floor.
Emma screamed.
Gunfire ripped through the walls.
Alessandro rolled, covering Emma with his body.
“Rosa!”
“I have her!”
Smoke filled the room.
Richard disappeared.
Isabella dragged Sophia behind the piano.
“Keep down!”
Alessandro looked toward the windows.
Men in black moved through the courtyard.
Moretti security.
But these men wore no Moretti insignia.
“Who are they?”
Isabella answered.
“People who want Emma.”
“Why?”
“Because she controls the inheritance.”
Alessandro stared.
“What inheritance?”
Isabella looked at him.
“The original Moretti trust.”
He understood.
A fortune greater than the empire.
A trust established by their grandfather.
But why would a six-year-old control it?
Isabella pulled a document from her coat.
“Your father never told you the truth. He built the criminal empire after he lost control of the legitimate family fortune.”
Alessandro stared.
“He was trying to reclaim it.”
“No.”
Isabella shook her head.
“He was trying to prevent anyone from finding it.”
“Where?”
She pointed at Emma.
“Inside her name.”
Alessandro stared.
The estate shook from another explosion.
Marco shouted.
“We need to move!”
They rushed through a hidden passage.
Richard appeared at the other end.
He held a gun.
“Give me the girl.”
Alessandro stepped in front of Emma.
“No.”
Richard smiled.
“You still think this is about money.”
“Then what is it about?”
Richard’s eyes moved toward Isabella.
“Her father.”
Alessandro froze.
Richard continued.
“The man Isabella loved was not some stranger.”
Isabella looked furious.
“Richard.”
“Tell him.”
She said nothing.
Richard laughed.
“Tell your brother who Emma’s father is.”
Alessandro looked at Isabella.
“Who?”
Isabella’s eyes filled with tears.
“Alessandro…”
“Who?”
A gunshot thundered.
Richard fired at Isabella.
Alessandro shoved her aside.
The bullet struck the wall.
Marco fired back.
Richard disappeared.
Sophia grabbed Emma.
“Please.”
Alessandro looked at her.
“Please what?”
Sophia whispered:
“Don’t let them take her.”
“Who are they?”
Sophia’s eyes closed.
“The people who killed Isabella’s husband.”
Alessandro stared.
“What?”
Sophia opened her eyes again.
“Emma’s father was alive.”
A long silence followed.
Then she said the name.
“Luca Moretti.”
Alessandro’s face drained of color.
Luca Moretti was their brother.
The man everyone believed had died before Emma was born.
But according to Sophia…
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He had been Emma’s father.
And he had been murdered because of her.
