Chapter 11 - THE PRICE OF A CHILD
Elena didn’t scream.
That scared Aleandro more than anything.
She simply stood there.
Perfectly still.
Then she looked at him.
“Bring me my daughter.”
“Elena—”
“Bring. Me. My. Daughter.”
“We will.”
“No.”
She stepped closer until they were inches apart.
“You listen to me. I don’t care about your father. I don’t care about Raffaele. I don’t care about your empire, your enemies, your money, or your dead family drama.”
Her voice shook now.
“I care about one thing.”
Aleandro said nothing.
“If anything happens to Sofia, I will spend the rest of my life making sure you remember that I walked into your house to clean floors and lost my child because of you.”
The words hit harder than any bullet.
Aleandro nodded.
“You’re right.”
Raffaele looked at Marco.
“Who has the estate?”
“Lucia.”
Aleandro’s head snapped around.
Marco continued.
“She’s alive. Two guards dead. Sofia gone.”
Aleandro called Lucia.
She answered on the second ring.
“Aleandro…”
She was crying.
That alone was terrifying.
“What happened?”
“They came through the service tunnels.”
“How did they know about them?”
“I don’t know.”
“You know who took her?”
Lucia hesitated.
“Carlo called.”
Elena grabbed the phone.
“Give it to me.”
Aleandro handed it over.
“Lucia. What did he say?”
“He wants the documents and the tape.”
“When?”
“Midnight.”
“Where?”
“The old Moretti cannery in Red Hook.”
Elena ended the call.
Aleandro stared at her.
“You’re staying behind.”
She slapped him.
Again.
Raffaele raised an eyebrow.
Marco muttered, “Runs in the family.”
Elena pointed at Aleandro.
“Don’t ever say that to me again.”
“He wants you there.”
“Then I’m going.”
“No.”
“My daughter is calling for me right now.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know my child.”
Her voice broke.
“She hates dark rooms.”
Aleandro looked away.
“She sleeps with a hallway light because when she wakes up and can’t see me, she panics.”
Elena wiped her face angrily.
“So don’t stand there and tell me I’m staying safe while my baby is alone with men who murdered my mother.”
Aleandro took a slow breath.
“Fine.”
Marco stared.
“Boss.”
“She comes.”
“That’s insane.”
“She comes.”
Raffaele smiled faintly.
“Isabella would be proud.”
Elena turned on him.
“My mother would punch every man in this room.”
Raffaele nodded.
“That too.”
They prepared quickly.
Weapons.
Vehicles.
Maps of the cannery.
Aleandro gave Elena a small earpiece.
“You stay beside me.”
“I stay wherever Sofia is.”
“If shooting starts, you get down.”
“If Sofia runs, I run.”
“Elena.”
She looked at him.
He stopped.
Then nodded.
“Okay.”
At 11:43 p.m., three Moretti vehicles entered Brooklyn.
Rain covered the streets.
The abandoned cannery stood near the river like a dead animal.
No lights.
No movement.
Then one spotlight snapped on.
Sofia stood beneath it.
Alone.
Her hands were tied.
Her mouth was taped.
Elena opened the SUV door.
Aleandro caught her arm.
“Wait.”
Sofia looked toward the vehicles.
Her eyes filled with tears.
Then a man stepped out behind her.
Carlo Vescari.
Gray suit.
Silver cane.
He placed one hand on Sofia’s shoulder.
“Bring me the tape,” he called.
Elena shook with rage.
May you like
Carlo smiled.
“Or Aleandro gets to lose his daughter twice.”
