Chapter 7 - THE FALSE KING
Carlo sat in Alessandro’s chair.
Isabella knelt in front of the fireplace with her wrists bound.
Moretti captains stood around the room.
Some looked ashamed.
Others looked relieved.
Carlo raised a glass.
“My nephew has become unstable.”
No one contradicted him.
“He canceled alliances.”
“He insulted senators.”
“He allowed a stranger and her child to compromise this house.”
One captain spoke carefully.
“The child may be his.”
“That makes the situation worse.”
Carlo looked around the room.
“Alessandro has two illegitimate daughters.”
“One raised by enemies.”
“One raised by a maid.”
“He has no wife.”
“No recognized successor.”
“He has brought federal attention to our businesses.”
Isabella lifted her head.
“You brought armed men into our home.”
Carlo smiled.
“Our home.”
“You murdered Elena.”
“I followed your husband’s order.”
“You enjoyed it.”
Carlo leaned down.
“You have enjoyed many things you now pretend to regret.”
The library doors opened.
Ryan Bennett entered wearing a clean suit.
Isabella stared at him.
“You.”
Ryan smiled.
“Mrs. Moretti.”
“You arranged his entry,” she said to Carlo.
“I arranged many things.”
Ryan poured himself a drink.
“Sophia never appreciated what I did for her.”
“You abused her,” Isabella said.
Ryan’s smile faded.
“I kept her alive.”
“You used stolen genetic material.”
“I gave Alessandro an heir.”
Carlo laughed.
“You gave yourself leverage.”
Ryan looked toward the captains.
“Emma is legally mine.”
“No,” Isabella said.
“She carries my name.”
“For now.”
Ryan placed a folder on the table.
“I filed for emergency custody this afternoon.”
Isabella stared at him.
“You expected today’s events.”
“I helped create them.”
Carlo raised his glass.
“To useful men.”
Ryan did not drink.
“What happens when Alessandro returns?”
“He will not.”
A captain near the window looked uneasy.
“No body has been found.”
Carlo smiled.
“Then we will create one.”
Outside the estate, Alessandro guided Sophia, Emma, Lucia, and the wounded Vincent through the forest.
Lucia refused to walk beside him.
She stayed near Sophia instead.
Emma rode on Alessandro’s back.
Her small arms circled his neck.
“You’re heavy,” he told her.
“I’m little.”
“You are carrying a rabbit, a lion, and three rocks.”
“They’re important.”
He almost smiled.
Sophia noticed.
“You can put her down.”
“She is safer here.”
“Your shoulder is bleeding.”
“It is not mine.”
She looked at the blood on his coat.
Marissa’s.
The reminder silenced them.
Lucia stopped near an abandoned stone wall.
“Carlo has a bunker beneath the old greenhouse.”
Alessandro looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“He kept me there when I disobeyed.”
His jaw tightened.
“How often?”
Lucia turned away.
“Enough.”
Sophia watched pain move across Alessandro’s face.
He did not know how to apologize.
Emma had been right about the lion.
He only knew how to become more dangerous.
Vincent stumbled.
Sophia caught him.
“We need a doctor.”
“There is one at the river house,” Alessandro said.
Lucia gave him a suspicious look.
“Who controls it?”
“No one in the family knows it exists.”
“Carlo knows everything.”
“Not this.”
They reached a hidden garage and found an old car.
Alessandro placed Emma in the back seat.
Sophia sat beside her.
Lucia climbed into the front.
Vincent lay across the rear floor.
As Alessandro started the engine, the radio came to life.
A news reporter’s voice filled the car.
“Authorities are responding to reports of a deadly shooting at the Moretti estate.”
Sophia leaned forward.
“How did the media learn so quickly?”
The report continued.
“Sources claim Alessandro Moretti kidnapped a former employee and her young daughter before killing several members of his own security team.”
Sophia’s face changed.
“They are framing you.”
Lucia stared through the windshield.
“Carlo controls two local stations.”
The reporter continued.
“Police are searching for Sophia Bennett and her three-year-old daughter, Emma.”
Ryan’s recorded voice followed.
“My former wife is being held against her will.”
“She has been manipulated by a dangerous criminal.”
“I am begging anyone with information to contact the authorities.”
Sophia’s hands shook.
“He planned everything.”
Alessandro switched off the radio.
“You are not going back to him.”
“A court may order me to.”
“No court can reach you.”
Sophia stared at him.
“That is exactly the kind of statement that makes people believe you are a criminal.”
“I am a criminal.”
Emma looked up.
“What’s a criminal?”
No one answered.
Alessandro looked at her through the mirror.
“Someone who makes bad choices.”
“Do you make bad choices?”
“Yes.”
“A lot?”
Sophia closed her eyes.
Alessandro answered honestly.
“Yes.”
Emma thought about that.
“Then make good ones now.”
Lucia stared at the road.
Sophia looked at Alessandro.
His eyes remained on the mirror.
On Emma.
At the river house, they found the front door open.
Alessandro stopped the car.
“No one gets out.”
He reached beneath the seat for a weapon.
Lucia did the same.
Sophia whispered.
“You said no one knew about this place.”
“They didn’t.”
Alessandro stepped outside.
The river house was dark.
He entered through the side door.
A single lamp came on.
An elderly doctor sat at the kitchen table.
His hands were bound.
Behind him stood an FBI agent.
The agent raised his badge.
“Alessandro Moretti.”
“You are under arrest.”
Sophia entered behind him.
The agent looked directly at her.
“Ms. Bennett, step away from him.”
Then Ryan emerged from the shadows holding a custody order.
And Emma whispered the words Sophia feared most.
May you like
“Daddy found us.”
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