Chapter 5 - Blood Under the Family NameThe first attacker died beneath the staircase.
The second reached the gallery.
The third never made it past the kitchen.
Alessandro moved through the mansion with terrifying efficiency.
Years of peace vanished in minutes.
Gunfire cracked through halls designed for weddings and funerals.
Rosa crouched behind the study wall while Luca pressed a pistol into her hand.
“Do you know how to use this?”
“No.”
“Point away from Lily.”
Her face changed.
“Where is she?”
Alessandro stopped.
Lily.
Mrs. Whitcomb had taken her upstairs.
The nursery corridor.
Too far.
Alessandro ran.
Marco followed.
Smoke drifted from the east wing.
“Boss, wait.”
Alessandro ignored him.
He climbed the stairs two at a time.
At the top, a security guard lay bleeding beside a broken lamp.
Mrs. Whitcomb was unconscious.
The guest nursery door stood open.
Alessandro entered.
Empty.
His heart stopped.
“Lily!”
He knew she could not hear him.
The stupidity of shouting made rage hit harder.
He searched the bathroom.
Closet.
Behind curtains.
Nothing.
Then he noticed Hopper.
The rabbit lay on the floor.
One fabric ear had been torn.
Alessandro picked it up.
A small bloody fingerprint stained the fur.
“No.”
Marco arrived.
“They took her?”
Alessandro turned.
If Marco had not known him for twenty years, the look in Alessandro’s eyes might have made him run.
“Lock the grounds.”
“They’re already locked.”
“Then nobody leaves alive unless I say so.”
Downstairs, Rosa saw Hopper in Alessandro’s hand.
She collapsed.
“No!”
Luca caught her.
“They took my baby!”
“We’ll find her.”
“You said that about Miguel!”
Luca flinched.
Rosa shoved him away.
“Don’t touch me.”
Alessandro crouched.
“Rosa.”
She looked at him.
“They took her because of you.”
The accusation landed cleanly.
“Yes.”
“You brought this into my life.”
“Yes.”
“My husband.”
“I don’t know yet.”
“My daughter!”
“I know.”
“You promised her!”
Alessandro closed his eyes for half a second.
“I know.”
Rosa struck his chest with both fists.
“You promised!”
He let her.
When her strength broke, he held her wrists.
“I will bring her back.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not.”
The security team found the exit route seven minutes later.
A laundry truck.
One of Salvatore’s men had bribed a kitchen employee and hidden inside before the gates locked.
Camera footage showed Lily being carried through the service corridor.
She did not scream.
She fought.
She bit the man’s hand.
Kicked him.
Dropped one shoe.
Left clues.
Alessandro watched the footage.
Three years old.
Deaf.
Terrified.
Still fighting.
Something inside him changed.
“They want the documents,” Luca said.
“What documents?”
“The ones Miguel found.”
“We don’t have them.”
“Salvatore doesn’t know that.”
Rosa wiped her face.
“Maybe I do.”
Everyone turned.
“What?” Alessandro asked.
Rosa stared at Hopper.
“Miguel left something.”
She took the rabbit.
Opened a seam beneath its fabric neck.
Inside was a brass key.
Luca stared.
“How long has that been there?”
“I didn’t know.”
Rosa turned the key over.
A number was engraved.
Alessandro recognized it.
“Grand Central storage lockers.”
Luca nodded.
“Old private boxes. Before renovations.”
Rosa looked at him.
“Miguel bought Hopper the week before he disappeared.”
The room went silent.
“He hid the key inside Lily’s toy,” Alessandro said.
“Because nobody would search a toddler’s rabbit,” Luca answered.
Alessandro looked at Marco.
“Car.”
At 3:40 a.m., they reached a private storage facility near Midtown used by old families and wealthy clients.
Locker 317 opened.
Inside sat a metal box.
Rosa’s hands shook.
She opened it.
Ledgers.
Photographs.
USB drives.
A sealed envelope.
And one handwritten letter.
Rosa recognized Miguel’s writing.
Her breath broke.
She opened it.
Rosa,
If you are reading this, something happened to me.
Do not trust the construction company.
Do not trust Salvatore Moretti.
And whatever you do, do not tell Mr. Romano where this box is.
Everyone looked at Luca.
He went pale.
Rosa stepped back.
“You liar.”
Luca stared at the letter.
“I never knew about this.”
Miguel’s message continued.
Mr. Romano helped me once. I thought he was protecting us. Now I believe he is protecting someone else.
Alessandro looked at Luca.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Rosa kept reading.
The records prove Vittorio Moretti survived the night the family announced his death. They also prove money was moved through Luca Romano’s accounts.
Luca cursed.
“That’s impossible.”
Alessandro’s eyes became ice.
“Is it?”
“I never moved Vittorio’s money.”
“Your accounts.”
“Someone used them.”
“Convenient.”
Rosa continued.
If I disappear, protect Lily.
She is the only good thing I ever did.
Rosa began crying silently.
Then she saw the final line.
One more thing.
If Alessandro Moretti ever finds this letter, tell him his mother did not die in the car accident.
He stopped breathing.
“What?”
Rosa looked up.
Alessandro took the letter.
Read it himself.
His mother, Elena Moretti, had died when he was twelve.
Car accident.
Drunk driver.
Closed highway.
He remembered the funeral.
Black umbrellas.
His father refusing to cry.
Salvatore holding his shoulder.
Miguel’s letter continued.
The crash was ordered.
The name of the man who arranged it appears in Ledger Four.
Alessandro tore open the ledger.
He found coded payments.
Dates.
Shell companies.
Then one name.
S. MORETTI.
Salvatore.
Alessandro’s hands shook.
Luca whispered.
“I didn’t know.”
Alessandro looked at him.
“You knew my father was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Miguel had evidence.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Salvatore was involved.”
“Yes.”
“But you didn’t know about my mother?”
“No.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“You shouldn’t.”
The honesty stopped him.
Luca continued.
“But right now Lily is with Salvatore.”
Rosa looked up.
“How do you know?”
“Because this isn’t about revenge.”
He pointed at the ledgers.
“It’s about erasing history.”
Alessandro stared at the documents.
“We trade the box.”
“No,” Luca said.
Rosa snapped.
“My daughter is worth more than paper!”
“I agree.”
“Then why no?”
“Because if we hand over everything, Salvatore kills Lily anyway.”
Rosa’s face whitened.
Luca looked at Alessandro.
“You know I’m right.”
Alessandro hated that he did.
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Salvatore’s warm, familiar voice filled the line.
“Nephew.”
Alessandro gripped the phone.
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
“If you hurt her—”
“You sound emotional.”
“Where is Lily?”
“I want the box.”
“You have one hour.”
Salvatore chuckled.
“No, Alessandro.”
A video arrived.
Lily sat inside a dark room.
Her hands were tied.
Someone stood behind her.
Vivian.
The red dress was gone.
She wore black.
And she was smiling.
Salvatore continued.
“You have thirty minutes.”
Alessandro stared at the screen.
Then Vivian crouched in front of Lily.
She knew some sign language.
Enough to form three words.
Your mother dies.
Lily’s face crumpled.
Rosa screamed.
Alessandro ended the call.
He looked at Luca.
“Get me a fake box.”
Luca nodded.
“And the real one?”
May you like
Alessandro closed Ledger Four.
“We use it to burn the Moretti family to the ground.”
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