Chapter 8 - THE HOUSE THAT LIED
We escaped through a tunnel beneath the chapel.
Of course there was a tunnel.
At that point nothing surprised me.
It led through an old cellar into a wooded area almost half a mile away.
Nico called trusted men.
Not Rossi men.
Trusted men.
There was apparently a difference.
We returned to the mansion through a private service entrance near dawn.
But Lorenzo stopped everyone before we entered.
“No.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“We don't stay here.”
“Why?”
“Because Salvatore was right.”
He stared at his own house.
“I don't know who it belongs to anymore.”
That sentence changed him.
For the first time, Lorenzo Rossi looked at his mansion not like a fortress.
Like a trap.
We relocated to a smaller waterfront property owned personally by Sophia before their marriage.
No staff.
No security system connected to Rossi networks.
Nico swept every room.
Mara checked the babies.
Daniel sat in the kitchen under watch.
Salvatore remained in another location.
I didn't ask where.
By breakfast, I had slept maybe ninety minutes in three days.
Still, I couldn't close my eyes.
Eli was beside me.
Actually beside me.
Every few minutes I touched his foot just to reassure myself he remained real.
Leo slept in another bassinet.
He had fed twice.
Mara looked cautiously optimistic.
That was the closest thing to joy we had.
Lorenzo stood by the window.
“You should sleep.”
I almost laughed.
“So should you.”
“I don't sleep much.”
“That's not impressive.”
He looked at me.
“Wasn't trying to be.”
I studied him.
Without the mansion, suit jacket, guards, and constant movement, he looked different.
Still dangerous.
Still controlled.
But exhausted.
Human.
“You believed your house made Leo safe.”
“Yes.”
“It didn't.”
“No.”
“You believed your name made people loyal.”
“Yes.”
“It didn't.”
His mouth tightened.
“No.”
“What now?”
He stared at the water.
“I burn it down.”
I stiffened.
“Metaphorically?”
He glanced at me.
“For your sake, yes.”
Despite everything, I smiled.
Then he did too.
Only briefly.
Daniel entered.
The smile vanished.
“I need to talk to Hunter.”
Lorenzo looked at me.
I nodded.
He left.
Daniel sat across from me.
For a moment neither of us spoke.
Eli moved between us.
“You want to hold him.”
“Yes.”
“You can't.”
“I understand.”
I almost hated his patience.
Anger wanted resistance.
“I loved you,” I said.
His face crumpled.
“I love you.”
“Don't.”
“It's true.”
“Truth arrived late.”
He looked at Eli.
“I never meant to hurt you.”
“Intent isn't magic.”
“I know.”
“You disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“You knew he lived.”
“Yes.”
“You let me grieve.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Daniel rubbed both hands over his face.
“Because when I realized people knew about Eli, I panicked. Sophia told me she could hide you both. Then she died.”
“And you?”
“I thought Salvatore killed her.”
“So you ran.”
“I was trying to find proof.”
“You could have come for me.”
“If I came near you, everyone following me would know where you were.”
I laughed bitterly.
“They already knew.”
“I know that now.”
Silence.
“You failed.”
He looked at me.
“Yes.”
The answer disarmed me again.
“I failed you completely.”
My eyes burned.
“I don't know what happens next.”
“Neither do I.”
“But you don't get to decide where Eli goes.”
“I know.”
“And you don't get to call yourself his father just because of DNA.”
Daniel's eyes filled.
“I know.”
I looked away.
That hurt too much.
Later that morning, Lorenzo called everyone together.
Nico had identified three members of the hidden council.
A hospital administrator.
A foundation attorney.
And a shipping executive.
All respected.
All wealthy.
All connected to accounts Sophia investigated.
“They aren't interested in Eli personally anymore,” Daniel said.
“Then why attack us?” I asked.
“Evidence.”
Lorenzo placed the three flash drives on the table.
“They think Sophia copied everything.”
“She did,” Mara said.
“Not everything.”
Mara frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“One drive is missing.”
I looked at Lorenzo.
“How do you know?”
“Numbering.”
The drives were labeled S1, S2, and S4.
S3 was gone.
“What was on S3?”
Nobody knew.
Until Eli began crying.
I lifted him.
As I adjusted his blanket, something hard pressed beneath the fabric.
I frowned.
“What?”
A tiny object had been sewn inside the hem.
Nico cut the thread.
A memory card fell out.
Mara stared.
“S3.”
I almost laughed.
Sophia had hidden it with Eli.
Not me.
My son had carried the final evidence for weeks.
We loaded it.
One video file.
Sophia appeared on screen.
Pregnant.
Alive.
Lorenzo stopped breathing.
“If you are watching this,” she began, “then I was not able to finish what I started.”
Lorenzo sat.
Sophia explained the council.
Seven people.
Including Vittorio Rossi before his death.
They used charity operations to hide money, coerce doctors, create false identities, and control family assets.
She had planned to give everything to federal prosecutors.
Then she said:
“Lorenzo, I know you will want revenge.”
He closed his eyes.
“You always think revenge is action. Sometimes it is only another cage.”
He looked shattered.
“Take Leo and leave this behind.”
Then Sophia mentioned me.
“Hunter Morgan did nothing wrong.”
I cried.
“She is carrying Daniel's child. Daniel is frightened, but he is not evil. If he runs, do not punish Hunter for his fear.”
Daniel turned away.
Sophia continued.
“I arranged a position for Hunter because I wanted both children near people I could trust.”
Then her expression changed.
“There is one person I trust completely.”
Lorenzo leaned forward.
“Nico Bell.”
Everyone looked at Nico.
He looked stunned.
Sophia smiled on screen.
“Nico, I know you pretend not to care about anyone. It is a terrible performance.”
Nico actually looked close to tears.
“Help Lorenzo choose his son over his father.”
The video ended with Sophia touching her stomach.
“Leo, if you ever see this, your mother loved you before she knew your face.”
Silence.
Lorenzo left the room.
I followed.
He stood outside near the water.
I didn't touch him.
“I should have known.”
“No.”
“I lived beside her.”
“She was trying to protect you.”
“She didn't trust me.”
“She trusted the man you could become.”
He looked at me.
“That may be worse.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't know if I'm him.”
I thought about the starving baby he watched helplessly for two months.
About the way he let me challenge him.
About the way he had not once tried to separate me from Eli after we recovered him.
“You can decide.”
His eyes remained on mine.
“Just like that?”
“No.”
I looked toward the house.
“Probably painfully.”
He almost smiled.
Then Nico appeared.
“We have a problem.”
Of course.
“What?”
“Someone accessed the mansion's security archive five minutes ago.”
Lorenzo's face hardened.
“From where?”
Nico looked at Daniel.
Daniel's expression changed.
“What?”
“The login belongs to Daniel Hayes.”
Daniel stood.
“I didn't do it.”
Nico showed his phone.
The access came from inside the Rossi mansion.
But Daniel was standing beside us.
Which meant someone else was using his credentials.
Then another alert appeared.
Front-gate camera.
A man walked into the mansion.
His face was older.
Thin.
Scarred.
But Lorenzo recognized him immediately.
“Impossible.”
“Who?” I asked.
He stared.
“My father.”
Vittorio Rossi.
May you like
The man everyone had told us was dead for three years.
Had just walked back into his own house.
