Chapter 2 - The Secret Nursery
Donna Sophia looked at the cold steel barrel of my weapon and recognized the utter lack of hesitation behind my eyes. She had raised me to be a ruthless monster, an apex predator capable of running an empire with an iron fist, but she had never anticipated that the weapon she forged would one day turn directly upon her heart. With shaking, manicured fingers, she unclasped the evening bag and let it spill onto the table. Along with a heavy gold lipstick and a compact, a burner flip phone slid across the mahogany, its screen still glowing with an active, unmuted voice call.
I picked it up, pressing it hard against my ear.
""Donna Sophia?"" a harsh, rasping male voice crackled from the speaker. ""The private jet is fueled on the tarmac at Gary International. The sedative we gave the twin will wear off in forty-five minutes. Once we land in Geneva, the girl will disappear into the private orphanage system under an altered passport. You need to transfer the remaining four million dollars to the Zurich account immediately, or the pilot won't lift off.""
The world tilted violently on its axis.
Bella’s twin sister was alive. She was breathing. And my own mother was actively orchestrating her trafficking halfway across the globe to cover up a web of deceit that was only beginning to unravel.
""If you so much as touch a single hair on that little girl's head,"" I spoke into the receiver, each word coated in pure venom, ""I will peel the flesh from your bones while your family watches. Marco! Dominic! Lock every exit! Nobody leaves this estate without my explicit permission!""
""Lorenzo, please, listen to reason!"" my mother cried out, collapsing into her ornate dining chair, her face haggard and hollowed by terror. ""You don't understand the ancient traditions of our family! The council of elders would have never accepted you as Don if they knew your heir was born from a common, nameless girl! An heir born out of wedlock to an ordinary surrogate was dangerous enough, but twins? Twin daughters? The Romano bloodline demanded a male heir, or at the very least, a singular, undisputed child! Having two girls would have triggered an immediate succession war with the Moretti clan! I did it to protect your throne! I did it to protect you!""
""You stole a mother's children and left her to rot in grief to protect an empire?"" Clara’s voice cracked across the room, no longer shaking with fear, but vibrating with a mother's incandescent fury. She stood to her full height, stepping fearlessly in front of me, her eyes locking onto Donna Sophia. ""You told me my babies died without ever taking a breath! I went home to an empty, quiet apartment and held their baby clothes while I cried until I choked! I stood over two empty grave markers while you took my flesh and blood to play dress-up in your golden cage!""
Bella hurried over, wrapping both of her tiny arms around Clara’s worn denim jeans. ""Mama no cry. Daddy shoot bad people. Daddy make all better.""
I lowered my weapon, but my internal wrath had reached a boiling point. I looked around the room at the mafia bosses who had gathered to witness my power. They were not smiling; they were watching in absolute shock. Even among killers, the theft and trafficking of a Don’s direct blood was an unforgivable sin against the sacred code of Omertà.
""Don Antonio Moretti,"" I addressed the oldest patriarch seated at the far end of the hall. ""Does our code justify the abduction and exile of a Romano daughter?""
The old man slowly shook his silver head, his expression dark with disgust. ""The blood of a Don is sacred. Donna Sophia has violated the cardinal laws of the Commission. What you do with her now, Lorenzo, is your rightful business. But your daughter is at that airfield. Go get your child.""
I tossed the burner phone to Marco. ""Track the GPS coordinates on this signal. Bring the armored fleet around to the front gates. Clara, pick up Bella. You're coming with me.""
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Clara looked at me, her green eyes wide and searching. ""You... you believe me?""
""I don't just believe you,"" I said, unbuttoning my tuxedo jacket and draping it gently around her shivering shoulders. ""I'm going to bring our other daughter home. And the people who tore you apart will pay with every drop of blood they have.""
