Chapter 12 - SOPHIA’S ORIGINAL SIN
Alessandro closed the office door.
Lucia remained inside.
Sophia did not object.
Lucia deserved the truth too.
“Two years ago,” Sophia began, “I discovered Ryan’s payments to the fertility doctor.”
“The money came through a company controlled by Carlo.”
“I believed Carlo had arranged Emma’s conception.”
“He did,” Lucia said.
Sophia nodded.
“I went to his club carrying a knife.”
Alessandro’s expression remained unreadable.
“What stopped you?”
“I saw a girl leaving his private office.”
Lucia became still.
“She was bruised.”
“She looked terrified.”
Sophia looked at her.
“It was you.”
Lucia stared at the floor.
“You followed me?”
“I tried.”
“You disappeared into a car.”
“I spent months trying to identify you.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought you might be another woman Carlo was using.”
Lucia laughed bitterly.
“You were correct.”
Sophia continued.
“I contacted Agent Cole anonymously.”
“That is why there were photographs of me near the FBI office.”
Alessandro understood.
“Carlo altered them to suggest you were informing on me.”
“Yes.”
Lucia looked at Sophia.
“You tried to help me.”
“I failed.”
“You did not even know me.”
“I knew fear.”
The two women held each other’s gaze.
Something changed between them.
Lucia’s anger did not disappear.
But isolation loosened its grip.
Alessandro placed the photograph on the desk.
“Ryan has access to Carlo’s records.”
“He may have copies of everything.”
Sophia looked at him.
“Why would Carlo trust Ryan?”
“He didn’t.”
Lucia answered.
“He used Ryan because Ryan was easy to control.”
“Debt.”
“Jealousy.”
“Pride.”
A phone rang.
It was Agent Cole.
Ryan had escaped during transfer.
A transport vehicle had been struck at an intersection.
Two officers were injured.
Ryan disappeared.
Sophia immediately ran to Emma’s room.
The bed was empty.
The window was open.
A stuffed rabbit lay on the floor.
Sophia screamed.
Alessandro searched the security footage.
A nanny carried Emma through the garden.
The nanny removed her wig near the gate.
Marissa.
Sophia stared at the screen.
“She survived.”
Lucia’s face went pale.
“Marissa wore body armor at the chapel.”
“She knew Carlo would abandon her.”
A message appeared on Alessandro’s phone.
It showed Emma sitting in a dark room.
Ryan stood behind her.
Marissa held the camera.
Ryan spoke.
“Bring the original birth certificate.”
“Bring the recordings.”
“And bring Sophia.”
“No police.”
“No agents.”
“Or Emma learns what darkness really feels like.”
The video ended.
Sophia began shaking.
Alessandro reached for her.
She stepped away.
“No.”
“I need to think.”
“We do not have time.”
“You are not going alone.”
“He asked for me.”
“He wants the evidence.”
“He wants to destroy both.”
Lucia checked the background of the video.
“Brick walls.”
“Industrial pipes.”
“A train horn.”
Alessandro recognized the location.
“The old Moretti textile mill.”
Sophia reached for a gun.
Alessandro stopped her.
“You are not trained.”
“I am her mother.”
“So is that your answer to every danger?”
“Yes.”
He released the gun.
“Then stay behind me.”
“No.”
She looked into his eyes.
“We go together.”
At the mill, Ryan waited on the upper floor.
Emma sat inside a glass office.
Marissa stood beside her.
Explosive charges lined the support columns.
Lucia whispered.
“They plan to destroy the building.”
Alessandro saw Carlo’s missing ledgers stacked near the furnace.
Ryan wanted the evidence burned.
Sophia stepped into the open.
“I’m here.”
Ryan appeared on the metal walkway.
“You always did make things difficult.”
“Let Emma go.”
“Give me the birth certificate.”
Lucia remained hidden in the shadows.
Sophia lifted the document.
Ryan smiled.
“Bring it up.”
Alessandro grabbed her arm.
“It is a trap.”
“Of course it is.”
Sophia walked up the stairs.
Ryan took the certificate.
Then he tore it in half.
“You think paper makes him her father?”
“No,” Sophia said.
“Love does.”
Ryan slapped her.
Alessandro moved.
Marissa pressed a detonator.
“Another step and the child dies.”
Alessandro stopped.
Ryan grabbed Sophia by the throat.
“You made me look weak.”
“You are weak.”
“I gave you everything.”
“You gave me fear.”
Emma pounded on the glass.
“Leave my mama alone!”
Ryan looked toward the child.
For one second, his grip loosened.
Sophia drove her knee into him.
He fell backward.
Marissa pressed the detonator.
Nothing happened.
Lucia stepped from the shadows holding the disconnected receiver.
“You taught me wiring.”
Marissa fired at her.
Lucia ducked.
Alessandro charged up the stairs.
Ryan grabbed Sophia and pulled her toward the railing.
“If I cannot have my family, neither can he.”
He lost his footing.
Sophia caught the railing.
Ryan did not.
She caught his wrist.
He dangled above the factory floor.
Ryan stared up at her.
“Help me.”
Sophia struggled to hold him.
Alessandro reached them.
Ryan looked at him.
“You want me dead.”
Alessandro’s face was cold.
“Yes.”
Emma watched through the glass.
“No bad choices,” she cried.
Alessandro grabbed Ryan’s other arm.
Together, he and Sophia pulled him to safety.
Ryan collapsed.
Federal agents stormed the building.
Marissa was arrested.
Emma was freed.
Ryan lay handcuffed on the floor, staring at Alessandro.
“You should have let me fall.”
Alessandro looked toward Emma.
“No.”
May you like
“I made a promise.”
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