Chapter 12 - The Night Everything BrokeDante stared at me.
“What?”
“You were there.”
His face changed.
“I don't understand.”
“The ring.”
He looked down.
The black stone.
“What about it?”
“I saw it.”
“When?”
“That night.”
Michael smiled.
“Yes.”
Dante's voice lowered.
“Where?”
“In the hallway.”
Memories returned.
Dante.
Young.
Standing beside my mother.
Holding a gun.
I couldn't breathe.
“You killed her.”
Dante recoiled.
“No.”
“I saw you.”
Michael laughed.
“You see?”
He looked at Dante.
“She remembers.”
Dante looked devastated.
“I didn't kill Isabella.”
“Then why were you there?”
“Because she called me.”
“What?”
“She knew your father wanted her dead.”
I shook my head.
“I don't remember.”
“You weren't supposed to.”
Dante took a step toward me.
“I went there to save her.”
“Then why did I see you with a gun?”
“Because I was going to kill the man who was after her.”
Michael interrupted.
“You arrived too late.”
Dante looked at him.
“You were already there.”
“Yes.”
“You killed her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Michael smiled.
“Because someone paid me.”
“Who?”
Michael's eyes moved toward Dante's father.
The old man smiled.
Dante turned.
“You hired him?”
His father said nothing.
Dante's face became savage.
“You killed my mother.”
“I protected the family.”
“You murdered her.”
“She was going to expose us.”
Dante's gun rose.
His father simply smiled.
“Shoot me.”
Dante's hand trembled.
Then Matteo screamed.
Michael dragged him backward.
“Enough.”
He pulled a lighter from his pocket.
A red flame appeared.
“Everything burns tonight.”
He threw it onto the curtains.
Fire erupted.
Dante moved.
His men rushed forward.
Chaos exploded.
Smoke filled the church.
Michael disappeared.
“Matteo!”
Dante ran.
I followed.
Through flames.
Through falling wood.
Then I saw Matteo.
He was trapped behind a collapsing beam.
Dante rushed toward him.
I screamed.
“Dante!”
He lifted the beam with both hands.
“Take him!”
I grabbed Matteo.
The roof groaned.
Dante shoved us forward.
“Run!”
We escaped seconds before the ceiling crashed behind us.
Outside, rain poured over us.
Matteo clung to me.
Dante fell to his knees.
I rushed toward him.
“Are you hurt?”
He looked up.
“No.”
Then his eyes met mine.
“I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
He touched my face.
“I knew you before Aurelios.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“You were the girl Luca saved.”
I stared.
“You've been looking for me for seven years.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
May you like
His voice broke.
“Because I loved you before you remembered me.”
