Chapter 4 - THE MAN IN THE DARK
I froze.
The guard pushed me behind him.
“Who’s there?”
Silence.
Then footsteps.
Slow.
Controlled.
The guard raised his weapon.
A shadow moved near the end of the hallway.
“Stop.”
The figure kept coming.
The guard fired.
The muzzle flash lit the corridor.
The man disappeared behind a corner.
“Move.”
We ran.
My daughter cried against my chest.
The safe-room door was twenty feet away.
Then someone grabbed me from behind.
I screamed.
A hand clamped over my mouth.
The guard turned.
Another attacker tackled him.
They crashed into the wall.
I drove my elbow backward.
The man behind me grunted.
I twisted free.
His mask slipped.
I saw his face.
Derek.
My blood turned to ice.
“What the hell?”
“Give me the baby.”
I backed away.
“You’re insane.”
“Emma, listen to me.”
“You broke into this house?”
“I’m trying to get you out.”
“With armed men?”
“You don’t understand who Moretti is.”
The guard and the other attacker struggled behind us.
Derek reached for me.
I slapped his hand away.
“Don’t touch her.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“You wanted a DNA test.”
“I was scared.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You were cruel.”
He lowered his voice.
“I made a mistake.”
“And this is your apology?”
“There are people coming for you.”
“People you brought?”
“No.”
He looked terrified.
“People much worse than me.”
Before I could respond, Luca appeared at the far end of the corridor.
Blood ran from a cut above his eyebrow.
His gun was raised.
“Step away from them.”
Derek slowly lifted his hands.
“Tell her.”
Luca’s expression hardened.
“Tell me what?”
Derek laughed nervously.
“You really didn’t tell her?”
“Derek.”
“Tell her who Sofia really was.”
My heart pounded.
Luca said nothing.
Derek looked at me.
“Sofia wasn’t just your sister.”
“What are you talking about?”
“She was a Moretti.”
I stared at Luca.
“What does that mean?”
Derek swallowed.
“Her mother was married to Luca’s father.”
The hallway went silent.
I looked between them.
“You’re saying my sister was related to him?”
Luca lowered the gun slightly.
“My father had another family.”
I felt nauseous.
“And Sofia?”
“Was his stepdaughter.”
Derek smiled.
“But that isn’t the real secret.”
Luca’s voice became lethal.
“Stop talking.”
Derek looked at me.
“The child Sofia had wasn’t Luca’s.”
Luca’s face changed.
That was enough.
I whispered, “Whose was it?”
May you like
Derek pointed toward the baby in my arms.
“Ask him why your daughter’s blood type matters.”
