Chapter 15 - THE FATHER WITHOUT A FACE
Three days later, they landed in Sicily.
Adrian had not slept.
Neither had Sarah.
Lily slept through most of the flight, curled against Adrian's side.
The moment they stepped onto the private airstrip, Adrian felt something change.
This wasn't New York.
This was his father's world.
Stone walls.
Ancient buildings.
Armed men.
Dark cars.
And secrets older than Adrian himself.
Giovanni Moretti's estate sat above the sea.
Adrian remembered it from childhood.
He remembered running through the gardens.
He remembered his mother's voice.
He remembered his father teaching him how to shoot.
He remembered Matteo.
A boy he had once believed was imaginary.
A brother he had forgotten.
Adrian stepped through the front doors.
The house was silent.
Too silent.
Then Giovanni appeared at the top of the staircase.
Alive.
Older.
Using a cane.
Adrian stared at him.
For several seconds, father and son simply looked at each other.
Then Giovanni said:
"You came."
Adrian's voice was cold.
"You lied to me."
"Yes."
"You let me mourn you."
"Yes."
"You let me believe my daughter wasn't mine."
Giovanni's face fell.
"I never wanted that."
"But you allowed it."
"Because I believed it was the only way."
Adrian stepped closer.
"You were wrong."
Giovanni nodded.
"I was."
Sarah stood behind Adrian.
Lily held his hand.
Giovanni looked at her.
"My granddaughter."
Lily stared back.
"Are you really my grandpa?"
Giovanni's eyes filled with tears.
"Yes."
She studied him.
"Did you make Daddy sad?"
Giovanni swallowed.
"Yes."
"Then you have to say sorry."
Everyone froze.
Adrian almost smiled.
Giovanni slowly nodded.
"I'm sorry."
Lily accepted the apology with a tiny nod.
Then she asked:
"Why did you hide?"
Giovanni looked at Adrian.
"Because your grandmother was going to destroy everything."
"Maria?"
"Yes."
Adrian frowned.
"But she's gone."
Giovanni shook his head.
"No."
A silence fell.
"She's here."
The windows shattered.
Gunfire erupted.
Adrian pulled Lily to the floor.
Men rushed through the doors.
Sarah covered Lily.
Matteo fired toward the attackers.
Vincent shouted:
"Get them downstairs!"
Adrian looked at Giovanni.
"Where is she?"
Giovanni pointed toward the old chapel.
"The drawings."
Adrian froze.
"What?"
"The drawings were never just drawings."
He pointed toward Lily.
"She remembers the chapel."
Adrian looked at his daughter.
"Lily?"
She was trembling.
Then she pointed toward the hallway.
"The red door."
Adrian stared.
The same door from her drawings.
He grabbed her hand.
"Show me."
They ran.
The chapel door opened.
Inside, behind the altar, was a red metal door.
Adrian entered the code Lily had somehow remembered.
The door opened.
Inside was a small room.
A table.
A chair.
A box.
And dozens of drawings.
All made by Lily.
Adrian stared.
But these weren't recent.
Some were dated years earlier.
He picked one up.
Lily was three.
The drawing showed Adrian.
No face.
But beside him was another man.
Giovanni.
And behind them...
Maria.
Adrian looked at Lily.
"How did you know?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
Giovanni entered the room.
He looked at the drawings.
Then whispered:
"She saw everything."
Adrian turned.
"What?"
"Maria used the chapel."
"For what?"
Giovanni's face became haunted.
"She brought Lily here."
Sarah's eyes widened.
"Why?"
"To teach her."
"Teach her what?"
Giovanni looked at Adrian.
"Fear."
Adrian's fists tightened.
"What happened?"
Giovanni closed his eyes.
"Maria wanted Lily to associate you with danger."
Sarah stared.
"That's why she drew you faceless."
"Yes."
Adrian looked at the drawings again.
But then he noticed something.
The earliest drawings didn't show a faceless father.
They showed a man with a face.
Adrian.
His face was clearly drawn.
"Then why did she stop?"
Giovanni answered:
"Because Maria threatened her."
Adrian's heart broke.
Lily looked up.
"I didn't want to forget you."
Adrian knelt.
"You didn't."
"I tried to remember your face."
"You did."
"That's why I drew you."
Adrian hugged her.
"And I'll never let anyone take it away again."
A gunshot came from the doorway.
Giovanni collapsed.
Adrian spun.
Maria stood there.
Blood on her sleeve.
Weapon in hand.
She smiled.
"You always were your father's weakness."
Adrian stood between her and Lily.
"No."
He raised his weapon.
"She is my strength."
Maria laughed.
"You think this ends with me?"
"No."
Adrian stepped forward.
"It ends with the truth."
Maria's smile faded.
Vincent entered behind her.
Matteo blocked the other exit.
Sarah held Lily.
Maria looked around.
She realized she was trapped.
Then she laughed.
"You still don't understand."
Adrian narrowed his eyes.
"What?"
Maria looked at Lily.
"Ask her what happened three years ago."
Adrian froze.
Lily stared at Maria.
Then whispered:
"I remember."
Everyone turned toward her.
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
"I remember the man who came to our house."
Adrian knelt.
"Who?"
Lily looked at Maria.
Then pointed toward Matteo.
"No."
Everyone froze.
Lily's finger moved.
She pointed toward the doorway.
At a man standing behind Maria.
A man Adrian had never seen before.
"That man."
The stranger smiled.
Adrian raised his weapon.
"Who are you?"
The man stepped forward.
"I am the reason your daughter drew a faceless father."
Adrian stared.
The man smiled.
"Because I was the one she saw standing beside you."
He removed his coat.
A familiar scar crossed his chest.
Giovanni whispered:
"No."
The stranger smiled.
"Hello, father."
Adrian turned toward Giovanni.
"Who is he?"
Giovanni's face had gone completely white.
"This..."
He struggled to breathe.
"...is your firstborn son."
Adrian stared.
Matteo looked stunned.
Maria smiled.
And Lily quietly whispered:
"That's the man from my dreams."
The stranger looked directly at Adrian.
"Now you finally know why everyone wanted you to stay hidden."
He raised his weapon.
"Because you were never the heir."
A pause.
"You were the decoy."
The gunshot exploded through the chapel.
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And Adrian realized the story of the faceless father had never been about a missing man.
It had been about a family secret powerful enough to start a war.
