Chapter 2 - The Confession
The heavy oak doors of the master study slammed shut.
Sophia collapsed into a leather armchair, sobbing uncontrollably.
Little Emma clung to her mother's leg, sensing the danger but remaining bravely quiet.
Lorenzo stood over them, casting a long, terrifying shadow.
"Explain," Lorenzo said softly.
It was a tone that had preceded the deaths of many men.
"I am so sorry, Mr. DeLuca," Sophia wept, hiding her face in her hands.
"I didn't steal her, I swear on my life!"
"Where is my daughter?" Lorenzo roared, finally losing his iron control.
He slammed his fist onto the mahogany desk, making the wood splinter.
Sophia flinched, pulling Emma closer to her chest.
"She is safe," Sophia gasped out, her tears flowing freely.
"She is with my sister in Queens."
Lorenzo felt his knees threaten to buckle.
For eight months, he had visited an empty grave.
For eight months, he had lived with a hollow chest.
"How?" Lorenzo demanded, his voice cracking with raw emotion.
Sophia took a trembling breath and looked up at him.
"I was driving behind Miss Isabella's convoy that day," Sophia explained.
"She had asked me to pick up some baby clothes from the boutique."
"When the explosion happened, the blast threw Isabella's car off the road."
Lorenzo closed his eyes, the memory of the scorched metal burning his mind.
"I ran down the ravine before the attackers could check the wreckage," Sophia continued.
"Isabella was dying, Mr. DeLuca."
"But she was holding the baby, shielding her from the flames."
A single tear slipped down Lorenzo's cheek, mourning the bravery of the woman he loved.
"She begged me to take the baby," Sophia sobbed.
"She said there was a traitor in your family."
"She said if the attackers knew the baby survived, they would come back and finish the job."
Lorenzo’s eyes snapped open, a lethal fire igniting in his dark irises.
"A traitor," Lorenzo whispered dangerously.
May you like
"Yes," Sophia nodded frantically.
"She said it was someone standing very close to you."
