Chapter 13 - THE FINAL LIE INSIDE THE ROMANO HOUSE
The message appeared on every phone in the room.
Everyone saw it.
Everyone understood it.
Leo was gone.
Again.
For a moment, Alessio didn’t move.
He just stared at the picture.
His son’s empty crib.
The same crib where his nightmare had started.
The same crib where I had pulled a tiny blue bead from his throat and saved his life.
Then something inside him broke.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just quietly.
Because powerful men could survive enemies.
They could survive betrayal.
They could survive losing money, influence, and power.
But losing a child was different.
“Lock every exit.”
His voice was barely above a whisper.
Then it became a command.
“NOW.”
The mansion exploded into movement.
Guards ran through the halls.
Security systems activated.
Phones rang.
Doors slammed.
But I noticed something.
Alessio wasn’t searching randomly.
He was thinking.
“The person who took him didn’t run.”
He looked at me.
“What?”
I pointed toward the monitor.
“They sent this picture immediately.”
“So?”
“So they wanted us to know.”
I stepped closer.
“This isn’t a kidnapping.”
Alessio’s eyes sharpened.
“It’s a trap.”
Exactly.
Someone wanted him angry.
Someone wanted him reckless.
Someone wanted him to make a mistake.
Dominic rushed in.
“Boss, we found movement.”
“Where?”
“The old family chapel.”
Everyone froze.
The chapel.
The place Alessio’s wife was buried.
The place nobody entered.
The place where all the old family secrets were kept.
Alessio grabbed his gun.
I followed.
He stopped.
“You’re not coming.”
I stared at him.
“You need me.”
“I need to protect Leo.”
“And I’m the reason he’s alive right now.”
The words hit him.
Because they were true.
After a moment, he handed me a bulletproof vest.
“Stay behind me.”
I put it on.
“Same rule.”
He looked confused.
“What rule?”
“No matter how dangerous things get…”
I looked at him.
“We save the baby first.”
For the first time, Alessio nodded.
Not as a boss.
Not as a man with power.
As a father.
When we reached the chapel, the door was already open.
Inside, candles burned.
And in the center of the room…
was Leo.
Alive.
Safe.
Sleeping.
Beside him stood a woman.
The same woman from the security footage.
Alessio raised his gun.
“Move away from my son.”
The woman turned slowly.
She smiled.
“After all these years…”
Her eyes moved to Leo.
“You still don’t understand.”
Alessio’s voice became cold.
“Who are you?”
The woman looked at me.
Then at him.
“My name is Sofia.”
A pause.
“And I was your wife’s closest friend.”
Alessio froze.
Because Sofia had disappeared the night his wife died.
Everyone thought she was dead.
But she wasn’t.
She was alive.
And she had been watching the Romano family from the shadows.
“You tried to kill my son.”
Sofia shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at Leo.
“I tried to save him.”
Nobody believed her.
Nobody.
Then she pulled out a folder.
“The real enemy is not me.”
She placed it on the table.
“It’s the person you trusted most.”
Alessio opened it.
His face changed.
Because inside was proof.
Proof that someone had been controlling Leo’s life since the day he was born.
May you like
And the name at the top of the documents…
was someone Alessio never expected.
