Chapter 2 - THE SECRET SOFIA BURIED FOR SEVENTEEN YEARS
The woman I'd loved more than anyone in the world was sitting in front of me, telling me someone had kept my daughter hidden for seventeen years.
And the worst part was that she looked as frightened now as she had the night she disappeared.
"Tell me who threatened you," I said.
Sofia shook her head.
"Luca, you don't understand."
"Then help me understand."
She looked down at her trembling hands.
"Three weeks after I discovered I was pregnant, someone came to my apartment."
"Who?"
"A man who said he worked for your family."
My jaw tightened.
"What man?"
"He wore an expensive gray suit. He knew where I worked, where my mother lived, and which doctor I had visited."
I felt sick.
"He showed me photographs of you meeting with several armed men. He said you were preparing to eliminate anyone who threatened your position."
"That wasn't true."
"I know that now."
She wiped her eyes.
"But I was twenty-three, pregnant, and terrified."
I sat beside her.
"What did he want?"
"He told me the Mancini family would never accept a child born outside an approved marriage."
I stared.
"He said if I told you about the baby, Elena would never survive long enough to be born."
Anger rose in my chest.
Not the familiar anger that demanded revenge.
Something deeper.
The agony of realizing how completely I'd failed to protect someone I loved.
"Sofia, I would never have hurt you."
"I know."
"Then why didn't you come back?"
She looked at me with unbearable sadness.
"Because every time I tried, something happened."
"What do you mean?"
"The first time, someone followed me from work."
I listened.
"The second time, my mother's apartment was broken into."
Her voice trembled.
"And when Elena was six months old, someone left a photograph of her sleeping in her crib outside our door."
I covered my mouth.
"They were watching you."
"Yes."
"All those years?"
Sofia nodded.
"We moved constantly. Changed our names. Changed jobs."
I frowned.
"Your daughter uses the name Vasquez."
"That was my mother's maiden name."
I looked toward the hallway.
"Does Elena know about me?"
Sofia hesitated.
"She knows her father was someone I loved when I was young."
I swallowed.
"Does she know my name?"
"No."
That hurt more than I expected.
Not because Sofia had hidden it.
Because my daughter had lived seventeen years without knowing who I was.
Sofia gently touched my hand.
"Luca, I wanted to tell her. I wanted to tell you."
I nodded.
"I believe you."
For the first time, she seemed surprised.
"You do?"
"Yes."
Tears filled her eyes again.
Then I asked:
"Do you remember anything else about the man?"
She closed her eyes.
"He wore a silver ring."
My stomach tightened.
"What kind?"
"A black stone in the center. A small gold lion engraved on each side."
My heart stopped.
I knew that ring.
I'd seen it thousands of times.
At family dinners.
Business meetings.
Christmas celebrations.
And funerals.
Only one man in Chicago wore it.
My uncle.
Vittorio Mancini.
The man who raised me after my father died.
The man who taught me everything about loyalty.
The man who had been beside me through every important moment of my life.
I slowly stood.
Sofia watched my expression.
"Luca?"
I couldn't answer.
Because if she was telling the truth, the person who had stolen seventeen years from me wasn't an enemy.
He was family.
Then Marco called.
"Luca, we've traced the vehicle involved in Enzo's ambush."
I forced myself to breathe.
"Who owns it?"
Marco hesitated.
"A company controlled by your uncle."
Silence.
Then he added:
"And there's something else."
"What?"
"Vittorio just arrived at the hospital."
My eyes moved toward Sofia.
May you like
Marco's voice became urgent.
"He's asking which room Elena Vasquez is in."
