Chapter 7 - THE DEAD MAN
Nobody moved.
Adrian stared at the man standing twenty feet away.
For twenty years, he had believed his father was dead.
He had attended the funeral.
He had watched the coffin lowered into the ground.
He had listened to men swear that Giovanni Moretti had been killed in an explosion outside Palermo.
He had been fourteen years old.
That day had shaped everything he became.
And now the dead man was standing in front of him.
Older.
Thinner.
But unmistakable.
Giovanni smiled.
"You're taller than I remember."
Adrian's gun remained pointed at him.
"You died."
Giovanni shrugged.
"People die every day."
"You let me believe you were dead."
"It was necessary."
"Necessary?"
Adrian's voice shook.
"You abandoned your family."
Giovanni's smile disappeared.
"I protected you."
"You turned me into the man you claimed you wanted me to become."
"Exactly."
Adrian's eyes burned.
"You don't get to call that protection."
Giovanni looked toward Lily.
"She is the reason we're here."
Adrian's gun lifted slightly.
"Let her go."
Giovanni smiled.
"You still think this is about kidnapping."
"What is it about?"
"Blood."
Sarah stepped forward.
"Leave her out of this."
Giovanni looked at her.
"Sarah Calloway."
Sarah froze.
"You know me."
"I've known you since before Lily was born."
Adrian turned toward Sarah.
"What does he mean?"
She didn't answer.
Giovanni laughed quietly.
"You never told him?"
"Tell me what?"
Giovanni looked at Lily.
"Ask her."
Adrian turned.
"Sarah."
She closed her eyes.
"Adrian..."
"Tell me."
Sarah's tears began falling.
"Lily isn't..."
She couldn't finish.
Adrian's face went blank.
Giovanni did it for her.
"Lily isn't your biological daughter."
The world went silent.
Adrian looked at Lily.
She looked back at him.
Confused.
Frightened.
Still holding Mr. Buttons.
"No."
The word came from Adrian.
Small.
Broken.
"No."
Sarah whispered:
"I wanted to tell you."
"When?"
"I tried."
"When?"
"After she was born."
"But you didn't."
"No."
"Why?"
Sarah looked at Giovanni.
"Because he threatened to kill her."
Giovanni's expression remained cold.
Adrian stared at his father.
"Who is her father?"
Giovanni smiled.
"You've been asking the wrong question."
Adrian stepped forward.
"Who?"
Giovanni pointed toward Vincent.
"Ask him."
Adrian slowly turned.
Vincent looked like a man who had just been sentenced to death.
"Vincent?"
No answer.
"Who is Lily's father?"
Vincent lowered his gun.
"Adrian..."
"Who?"
Vincent's eyes filled with tears.
"Your brother."
Adrian stopped breathing.
"My brother is dead."
"No."
"You're lying."
"I wish I were."
Giovanni stepped forward.
"Your mother had another child."
Adrian stared at him.
"Impossible."
"His name was Matteo."
Adrian's face changed.
A memory flashed through his mind.
A photograph.
A little boy standing beside his mother.
Adrian had always assumed it was a cousin.
But he remembered the eyes.
The same eyes.
The same dark hair.
The same scar above the eyebrow.
He had forgotten.
Or perhaps someone had made him forget.
"Where is he?"
Giovanni smiled.
"Closer than you think."
Then a gunshot rang out.
Giovanni's body jerked.
Sarah screamed.
Adrian grabbed Lily and pulled her behind him.
Vincent fired toward the darkness.
The room exploded into chaos.
Giovanni collapsed.
Adrian stared.
"Father!"
He hadn't meant to say it.
But he did.
Giovanni looked up from the floor.
Blood spread across his shirt.
He smiled weakly.
"Now..."
He coughed.
"...you understand."
Adrian knelt beside him.
"Who shot you?"
Giovanni's eyes moved toward Vincent.
Then toward Sarah.
Finally toward Lily.
"Don't trust..."
His voice faded.
"Who?"
Adrian shook him.
"Who?"
Giovanni's lips moved.
Only one word came out.
"Mother."
Then his eyes closed.
Adrian stared at him.
Vincent rushed forward.
"He's alive."
"Find the shooter."
Men scattered.
Sarah stood frozen.
Lily clung to Adrian.
"Daddy?"
Adrian looked down.
She was crying.
He pulled her close.
"I'm here."
"Are you going to leave me?"
Adrian's eyes closed.
"Never."
She looked at him.
"Even if I'm not really your daughter?"
Adrian's heart broke.
He knelt.
"Listen to me."
Lily wiped her tears.
"I don't care whose blood is in your veins."
He touched her cheek.
"You are my daughter."
Lily stared at him.
"Really?"
"Really."
She wrapped her arms around him.
Adrian held her.
Behind them, Sarah began to cry.
Vincent walked toward the window.
Then stopped.
There was something outside.
A red laser dot appeared on the glass.
It moved slowly.
Across Vincent's chest.
Vincent's eyes widened.
"DOWN!"
He tackled Adrian and Lily to the floor.
The window shattered.
A bullet tore through the room.
Then another.
The sniper wasn't trying to kill Adrian.
He was shooting at Sarah.
Vincent dragged her down.
"Get her out!"
Adrian lifted Lily.
"Move!"
They ran toward the cellar.
But before they reached the door, Lily suddenly stopped.
She looked at the wall.
"Daddy."
"What?"
She pointed.
"There."
Adrian looked.
A small drawing was taped to the wall.
A faceless father.
The same drawing Lily had made hundreds of times.
Except this one was different.
There were two children standing beside the faceless man.
Lily.
And another little boy.
Underneath them, written in a child's handwriting, were four words:
WE WERE NEVER ALONE.
Adrian stared.
"Who drew that?"
Lily shook her head.
"I don't know."
Sarah stepped closer.
Then her face went white.
"I do."
Adrian turned.
"Who?"
Sarah whispered:
"Matteo."
A gunshot came from upstairs.
Then silence.
And from somewhere in the darkness outside the house, a man's voice called:
"Adrian."
He recognized it.
The same voice from the video.
The same voice that had taken Lily.
The man spoke again.
"You finally found your family."
A pause.
"Now I'll show you why your father was afraid of them."
Adrian tightened his grip around Lily.
May you like
The cellar door slammed shut.
And they were trapped underground with a secret that had been buried for twenty years.
