Chapter 12 - THE LETTER BENEATH THE FLOOR
The helicopter landed in a clearing surrounded by pine trees.
Snow had begun falling over the Adirondacks.
The Voss estate stood beyond the tree line.
Its stone walls were black with age.
No lights showed in the windows.
Marco distributed weapons.
Emma refused one.
“You may need it,” he said.
“I need both hands free.”
“For signing?”
“For Sophie.”
Rafe stepped from the helicopter with visible pain.
Marco looked at him.
“You stay here.”
Rafe continued walking.
“I have stayed behind enough.”
Isabella remained beside the pilot under guard.
Before Emma left, Isabella called her name.
“Gabriel has men inside the walls.”
“Not beside them.”
Emma frowned.
“Passageways?”
“Service tunnels.”
“They connect the wine cellar to the family chapel.”
Marco looked toward the eastern edge of the estate.
A small stone chapel stood among the trees.
They moved through the forest.
Sophie remained between Emma and Rafe.
No one spoke.
The snow swallowed every footstep.
Inside the house, Luca sat across from Gabriel.
The chains had been removed.
The doors remained locked.
A bottle of whiskey rested between them.
Gabriel poured two glasses.
Luca did not touch his.
“You killed my mother.”
Gabriel lifted his drink.
“I saved her from a traitor’s death.”
“You murdered your sister.”
“I prevented her from destroying everything our family built.”
Luca looked at the portrait.
Evelyn Voss appeared young.
Too young to have carried the fear hidden in her eyes.
“Did my father know?”
“He suspected.”
“Did Vincent?”
“Vincent knew enough to remain useful.”
Gabriel sat down.
“Antonio was never strong.”
“He needed men like us.”
“Then he produced you.”
Luca looked at him.
“You mean he produced an heir you could control.”
Gabriel smiled.
“You are more intelligent than your father.”
“My father is dead.”
“Because he tried to confess.”
Luca’s expression did not change.
Gabriel leaned forward.
“Vincent poisoned him at my instruction.”
The truth did not shock Luca anymore.
There had been too much of it.
Too many dead people speaking through the mouths of killers.
“You sent the photograph.”
“Yes.”
“You took me from federal custody.”
“Yes.”
“You ordered the attack at the bakery.”
Gabriel paused.
“No.”
Luca watched him.
Gabriel continued.
“That was Vincent.”
“He panicked when he realized Sophie had Elena’s notebook.”
“The crash was not authorized.”
“Then why were you watching her?”
“Because she is Evelyn’s blood.”
“She is Elena’s blood.”
Luca’s voice sharpened.
“She belongs to herself.”
Gabriel laughed.
“That is Elena speaking.”
“No.”
“That is what Elena taught me after death.”
Gabriel’s smile faded.
He slid the wolf ring across the table.
“Wear it.”
“No.”
“You have not heard the offer.”
“I know the price.”
“Power?”
“Obedience.”
Gabriel looked impressed.
“The Moretti businesses that remain will be restored.”
“Your charges will disappear.”
“Rafe will receive a pardon.”
“Emma Hale will be protected.”
Luca’s eyes hardened at Emma’s name.
“And Sophie?”
“She will inherit a world that kneels before her.”
Luca pushed the ring back.
“My daughter needs a world where she does not have to fear being heard.”
Gabriel sighed.
“You have chosen sentiment.”
“I have chosen her.”
A screen activated on the wall.
Security footage showed the forest outside.
Emma, Sophie, Marco, and Rafe moved toward the chapel.
Luca stood.
Gabriel smiled.
“I knew Emma would come.”
“Call your men off.”
“No.”
“She has been useful.”
“But usefulness is not loyalty.”
Luca crossed the table.
Gabriel drew a gun.
“Sit down.”
Luca looked at the screen.
Sophie disappeared inside the chapel.
Emma followed.
He sat.
Beneath the chapel, Marco found the entrance behind a stone altar.
The tunnel smelled of earth and mold.
Rafe led them through it.
His flashlight shook in his hand.
Emma noticed.
“You are bleeding again.”
“I know.”
“You could collapse.”
“Then step over me.”
Sophie turned toward him.
Her hands moved.
No one gets left.
Rafe stopped.
The words affected him more than pain.
He nodded.
The tunnel ended beneath a wooden hatch.
Sophie pointed upward.
Mama came this way.
Emma lifted the hatch.
They entered a nursery preserved beneath white sheets.
A cradle stood near the window.
Faded blue wallpaper covered the room.
Sophie crossed to a loose floorboard.
She knelt and pressed her fingers into the gap.
Emma helped lift it.
Beneath the wood lay a sealed metal box.
Inside was a letter.
The envelope read:
FOR LUCA, WHEN HE IS READY TO CHOOSE HIS OWN NAME.
There was also a cassette tape.
Marco found an old recorder in the cabinet.
Emma pressed play.
A woman’s voice filled the nursery.
Luca’s mother.
“My son.”
“If you hear this, Gabriel has returned.”
“He will tell you blood is destiny.”
“He will tell you power is protection.”
“He told me the same things.”
A baby cried softly in the background.
Luca.
Evelyn continued.
“I gave you the Moretti name because it was safer than mine.”
“But neither name owns you.”
“Your father did terrible things.”
“My brother did worse.”
“You are not innocent because you did not know.”
“You are free because you can choose what happens after knowing.”
Sophie’s eyes filled with tears.
Emma held the letter.
Evelyn’s voice softened.
“There is one final ledger.”
“It contains every living member of the Wolves.”
“Gabriel keeps it inside the ring.”
Rafe looked at Emma.
“The wolf ring.”
The recording continued.
“The ring opens only with my son’s blood.”
“Gabriel cannot destroy the council without Luca.”
“He also cannot fully control it without him.”
Marco understood.
“That is why Luca is alive.”
A floorboard creaked in the hallway.
Emma turned.
Three armed men stood in the nursery doorway.
Gabriel’s soldiers.
“Put down the tape.”
Marco raised his gun.
The first shot shattered the recorder.
Sophie dropped behind the cradle.
Emma covered her.
Gunfire filled the room.
Marco struck one attacker in the shoulder.
Rafe tackled another through the doorway.
The third man aimed toward Sophie.
Emma threw the metal box.
It struck his wrist.
The shot hit the ceiling.
Marco fired.
The man fell.
Rafe struggled with the second attacker in the hall.
The soldier drove a knife into Rafe’s side.
Rafe grunted.
He broke the man’s neck against the doorframe.
Then he leaned against the wall.
Blood poured through his fingers.
Sophie ran to him.
He dropped to one knee.
Her hands moved frantically.
You said you were not dying.
Rafe tried to smile.
“I have been wrong before.”
Emma pressed cloth against the wound.
Marco grabbed the letter.
“We need to reach Luca.”
An alarm began sounding through the estate.
Gabriel’s voice came over the speakers.
“Bring Sophie to the great hall.”
“Or Luca dies in five minutes.”
Sophie stood.
Emma grabbed her hand.
“No.”
Sophie looked at her.
Her movements were steady.
He always comes for me.
Now I go for him.
Emma saw Elena in her face.
Not because Sophie was fearless.
Because she was terrified and moved anyway.
They entered the great hall four minutes later.
Luca stood beneath the portrait of his mother.
Gabriel held a gun against his chest.
Dozens of armed men surrounded the room.
Gabriel smiled at Sophie.
“There she is.”
Luca’s face went white.
“Emma, get her out.”
Emma held up Evelyn’s letter.
“We found the ledger.”
Gabriel’s eyes changed.
Luca looked at the wolf ring on the table.
Emma continued.
“It is inside the ring.”
Every soldier in the room looked toward Gabriel.
The ring contained their names.
Their families.
Their crimes.
Their fear shifted.
Gabriel saw it happen.
He picked up the ring.
Then he pressed the gun against Luca’s heart.
“No one moves.”
Sophie stepped forward.
Her hands moved.
Gabriel did not understand.
Luca did.
Mama said wolves attack when they smell fear.
She looked at the armed men.
Then she signed one more sentence.
So show them his.
Luca smiled.
Gabriel did not.
May you like
Because for the first time, every wolf in the room was looking at him like prey.
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