Chapter 6 - THE FIRST DAUGHTER
“Put Emma down,” the young woman said.
Sophia held the child tighter.
Vincent stepped between them.
“Lucia.”
The girl’s gun moved toward him.
“You brought her here.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
Sophia stared at the girl.
The resemblance to Alessandro was unmistakable.
The same eyes.
The same controlled expression.
The same dangerous stillness.
“You’re Elena’s daughter,” Sophia whispered.
Lucia looked at her.
“My mother’s name was Elena.”
Vincent lowered his weapon.
“Alessandro knows you survived.”
Lucia’s expression cracked.
“How?”
“Carlo told him.”
“He was not supposed to.”
“You were working with Carlo?” Sophia asked.
Lucia laughed bitterly.
“I was owned by Carlo.”
Emma peeked over Sophia’s shoulder.
“Are you my sister?”
Lucia froze.
Emma looked at her with open curiosity.
“You have the same eyes as the flower man.”
For the first time, Lucia’s gun lowered slightly.
“The flower man?”
“My papa.”
Sophia looked at Emma.
She had never called Alessandro that before.
Lucia noticed too.
“You accepted him quickly.”
Emma shrugged.
“He saved Mama.”
Lucia’s face became hard again.
“Men like Alessandro Moretti do not save people.”
“They decide who gets to survive.”
Vincent took one step closer.
“Your father searched for you.”
“He searched for a body.”
“He believed you died.”
“Because you helped Carlo lie.”
Vincent closed his eyes.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You delivered me to him.”
“I took you from the warehouse before the fire spread.”
“Then Carlo found us.”
“You could have taken me to my father.”
“Your grandfather controlled every road, every hospital, every police station.”
“I believed Alessandro would be killed if the truth came out.”
Lucia’s eyes filled with rage.
“So you let Carlo raise me as a weapon.”
Sophia looked toward the chapel windows.
“We have to leave.”
“The sniper may be coming.”
Lucia’s gaze returned to Emma.
“She is the target.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she is Alessandro’s legal heir.”
Lucia laughed once.
“Legal heir?”
“Is that what they call children in this family?”
Sophia’s voice softened.
“I call her my daughter.”
“You hid her.”
“I protected her.”
“That is what Vincent says.”
The words struck Sophia.
Before she could answer, the chapel doors opened.
Marissa entered holding a rifle.
Blood stained her sleeve.
Lucia spun around.
Marissa fired.
Vincent shoved Lucia aside.
The bullet struck him in the shoulder.
Sophia dropped behind a pew with Emma.
Lucia fired twice.
Marissa ducked behind a stone column.
“You ruined everything!” Marissa shouted.
Lucia pressed against the pew.
“You were supposed to miss.”
Marissa laughed.
“That was before Carlo changed the agreement.”
Sophia looked at Lucia.
“You knew about the sniper.”
Lucia’s face revealed guilt.
“I believed it was a warning.”
“You allowed someone to fire at a three-year-old?”
“I was told the bullets would strike the windows.”
Emma started crying.
Sophia’s anger exploded.
“You do not gamble with a child’s life.”
Lucia flinched.
Marissa fired again.
Stone shattered above their heads.
Vincent reached for his fallen gun.
Marissa stepped from behind the column and aimed at him.
Lucia shot first.
The bullet struck Marissa’s rifle.
It flew from her hands.
Sophia ran forward and kicked it away.
Marissa pulled a knife.
Lucia aimed at her chest.
“Do not move.”
Marissa smiled.
“You won’t shoot me.”
“You raised me.”
“I trained you.”
“You sold me.”
“You were useful.”
Lucia’s hand shook.
Marissa lunged.
The chapel doors burst open.
Alessandro fired.
Marissa fell.
He crossed the room, kicked the knife away, and checked the others.
Then he saw Lucia.
Everything inside him stopped.
She stared back at him.
No one spoke.
Alessandro’s eyes moved over her face.
Her hair.
Her age.
The small scar near her chin.
Elena had possessed the same scar.
“Lucia,” he whispered.
Her expression hardened.
“You do not get to say my name.”
Alessandro lowered his gun.
“I thought you were dead.”
“That was convenient.”
“I searched for you.”
“You searched for proof of a murder.”
“I would have torn the city apart if I knew.”
“You already tore the city apart.”
She gestured toward the armed men behind him.
“You became exactly what they wanted.”
Alessandro looked at Vincent.
The elderly steward was bleeding heavily.
“You knew.”
Vincent nodded.
“I am sorry.”
Alessandro struck him.
Vincent fell against a pew.
Sophia stepped forward.
“Stop.”
Alessandro turned on her.
“He hid my daughter for eighteen years.”
“And beating him will not give those years back.”
Lucia watched Sophia stand between them.
Then she looked at Emma.
The child had crawled from behind the pew.
Emma walked toward Lucia and held out the wooden lion.
“He needs a family.”
Lucia stared at the toy.
Her face tightened.
She lowered her weapon.
Then the chapel bell began to ring.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Vincent looked toward the tower.
“No one rings that bell.”
Alessandro understood the signal.
The old chapel bell was connected to the emergency system beneath the estate.
Three rings meant the main house had fallen.
Carlo had taken control.
A fourth bell rang.
Vincent’s face drained of color.
Four rings meant Isabella had been captured.
May you like
And according to Moretti tradition, control of the family now belonged to the man holding its queen.
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