Chương 12 - THE FRIEND WHO HAD BEEN WATCHING ME
Sophie had arranged flowers for my birthdays.
Brought soup when I had the flu.
Helped me pick orchids for Nico's dining room.
She knew when Nico traveled.
When I stayed alone.
Which entrance I used.
How often I visited the gym.
I wanted to believe the friendship was real.
Then Valentina showed me the payments.
Marco had paid Sophie's rent for three years.
Same period I'd known her.
“She was assigned to me.”
“Yes.”
The betrayal felt different from Nico.
Sharper because I'd never known there was anything dangerous behind Sophie.
Federal agents found her before Salvatore could move her.
She wasn't tied up in a basement.
She was sitting inside a luxury hotel suite with two Rizzi guards outside.
Terrified.
When questioned, Sophie admitted Marco had placed her near me.
But she insisted her job was only to report.
No violence.
No sabotage.
“Did you tell him I left Nico?”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell him about the service elevator?”
Her face crumpled.
“Yes.”
That explained how Marco knew exactly when I disappeared.
Then she said something that complicated everything.
“I stopped reporting four months ago.”
“Why?”
“Because you became my friend.”
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
“That's convenient.”
“I know.”
“Did Marco know you stopped?”
“He threatened my mother.”
There it was.
Another family using love as leverage.
Sophie gave investigators Marco's private number.
They traced him to an industrial property in New Jersey.
Salvatore was there too.
So were several armed men.
Nobody stormed it.
Too many unknowns.
Instead, federal negotiators opened communication.
Salvatore requested to speak to me.
Nico said no.
I said yes.
This time, nobody decided for me.
Salvatore appeared on video.
For the first time, I saw my biological father clearly.
Same eyes.
Mine.
I hated noticing.
“Elena.”
“You murdered my mother.”
His face tightened.
“I gave the order.”
At least he didn't lie.
“Why?”
“She was going to destroy everything.”
“So you destroyed her.”
Silence.
“I regret it.”
I almost smiled.
“No, you regret losing control of the story.”
He looked older.
“Come with me. Leave Bellandi. I'll sign everything to you.”
“I don't want your money.”
“Everyone wants something.”
“I want you in prison.”
That hurt him.
Good.
Then he said something unexpected.
“Marco killed Thomas.”
My entire body went cold.
Thomas Vance had died five years earlier from a supposed heart attack.
The man who raised me.
“My father?”
“Marco discovered Thomas had another copy of Camille's tape.”
I couldn't speak.
Nico's face changed beside me.
Salvatore continued.
“Marco had someone poison him.”
One more murder.
One more person taken because powerful men believed secrets mattered more than lives.
I asked the only question left.
“Do you have proof?”
“Yes.”
“Give it to the FBI.”
“I want a deal.”
Of course.
Even confession had a price.
Then shouting erupted behind Salvatore.
The camera shook.
Gunfire sounded far away.
The video cut.
Federal agents moved.
When they entered the property forty minutes later, Marco was gone.
Salvatore had been shot but alive.
Several men were arrested.
And inside Marco's abandoned office, investigators found a handwritten list.
My name.
Nico's.
Valentina's.
Arthur's.
Alessandro's.
Beside each name was a dollar amount.
A contract had already been placed on every member of Nico's inner circle.
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At the bottom was one instruction:
ELENA FIRST.
