Chapter 12 - SOPHIA
Sophia had lived sixteen years without knowing Dominic Moretti was her father.
She had been told her father died.
She had believed it.
Now she sat across from him in a small diner outside Boston.
Dominic didn't know what to say.
Sophia didn't either.
Lily sat beside her.
"You look like me."
Sophia smiled.
"You look like me."
Dominic stared at both girls.
For the first time, the Moretti family didn't look like an empire.
It looked like two children who had been robbed of their childhood.
Sophia asked:
"Why didn't you find me?"
Dominic swallowed.
"I didn't know you existed."
She looked away.
"You didn't look."
"I would have."
"But you didn't."
He had no defense.
Lily touched Sophia's hand.
"Do you like pancakes?"
Sophia laughed.
"Yes."
Lily smiled.
"Then we're sisters."
Dominic looked down.
He almost cried.
But the reunion lasted only twenty minutes.
A black SUV pulled into the parking lot.
Dominic saw it.
"Down."
Everyone ducked.
Bullets shattered the diner windows.
Dominic shielded the girls.
Detective Collins returned fire.
Sophia screamed.
Lily grabbed her hand.
"Don't let go!"
They ran through the kitchen.
Out the back.
Into an alley.
Dominic followed.
A van waited.
Sophia was grabbed.
"Lily!"
Dominic caught Lily.
The van disappeared.
Sophia was gone.
Dominic stood in the rain.
He had found one daughter.
And lost another.
Then his phone rang.
Antonio.
"Family reunions are beautiful."
Dominic closed his eyes.
"What do you want?"
"The trust."
"You'll never get it."
"Then Sophia dies."
Dominic's voice became cold.
"You don't understand."
"What?"
"I have nothing left to lose."
Antonio laughed.
May you like
"That's what you think."
Then he hung up.
