Chapter 2 - The Men Who Had Waited Fifteen Years
Roman moved before the first gun appeared.
He grabbed Clara around the waist and pulled her behind the concrete pillar.
Lorenzo fired twice.
One attacker dropped beside the second vehicle.
Another shot shattered the food container, scattering mashed potatoes and broken plastic across the wet pavement.
Evelyn cried out as Clara covered her with her own body.
“Stay down,” Roman ordered.
The silver haired man remained inside the vehicle while his men advanced.
He seemed unconcerned by the gunfire.
That confidence told Roman more than a name would have.
The man believed someone close to Roman had already prepared his victory.
Lorenzo reached the shelter and dragged the wheelchair behind the pillar.
“Three on the left,” he said.
“I see them.”
Roman fired toward a reflection in a puddle. One gunman stumbled from cover.
The remaining attackers retreated toward their vehicle.
The silver haired man opened his door and stepped out.
He wore a charcoal overcoat and held no visible weapon.
“Evelyn,” he called.
She pressed both hands over her ears.
Roman aimed at him.
“Take another step and you die.”
The man’s gaze moved to Roman.
“You have your father’s temper.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
“You knew my father?”
“I knew everyone who believed they owned Chicago.”
“What do you want with her?”
The man smiled.
“She belongs to us.”
Clara started forward.
Roman caught her arm.
“My mother belongs to no one.”
The stranger examined her face.
“So this is Clara.”
Evelyn whispered, “Do not answer him.”
The man continued.
“You were much smaller the last time I saw you.”
Clara went still.
“I have never seen you.”
“No. But I watched your mother carry you out of a burning house.”
Evelyn’s face collapsed.
“That house was empty.”
“Not after you entered it.”
Police sirens sounded in the distance.
The silver haired man returned to his vehicle.
“This city has spent fifteen years believing Roman Moretti survived by luck. Tonight, he learns his survival was purchased.”
The vehicle sped away.
Roman lowered his gun only after the taillights vanished.
Lorenzo checked the wounded attacker. The man was dead. No identification remained in his pockets.
A small tattoo marked the inside of his wrist.
Three stars above a crescent moon.
The same design as Evelyn’s bracelet.
Roman turned toward her.
“What does that symbol mean?”
Evelyn looked at the body.
“I hoped they were gone.”
“Who?”
“The Halcyon Circle.”
Lorenzo gave a short laugh.
“That is a story used to frighten children.”
Evelyn’s eyes hardened.
“You should be frightened.”
Police sirens grew louder.
Roman ordered Lorenzo to move everyone into the SUV.
“My house is compromised,” Roman said.
Clara looked at him.
“You expect us to go with you after people just tried to kill us because of you?”
“They found you before I spoke to your mother.”
“They found us because you followed me.”
“No.”
Roman took the dead attacker’s phone from the pavement.
The screen displayed a live security feed from inside his mansion.
Clara entering the servants’ corridor.
Roman leaving his study.
Lorenzo retrieving the vehicle keys.
Someone had transmitted every movement before Roman left the property.
“They knew where I was going before I did,” he said.
Evelyn’s gaze moved toward Lorenzo.
The enforcer noticed.
“You think I sent it?”
“I think someone did.”
Lorenzo’s expression sharpened.
“I have protected Roman for twelve years.”
Evelyn replied, “The people who betray you always begin by reminding you how long they have been loyal.”
Roman placed the phone inside his coat.
“We settle this somewhere secure.”
Evelyn gripped the wheelchair.
“There is nowhere secure.”
“There is if I control every entrance.”
“That is what your father believed.”
Roman froze.
“My father died in prison.”
“No.”
The single word struck harder than the gunfire.
Roman crouched beside her.
“My father was murdered in federal custody seven years ago.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“The body you buried was not Antonio Moretti.”
Lorenzo looked toward Roman.
Clara stared at her mother.
“How could you know that?”
“Because I helped him disappear.”
Roman’s face became unreadable.
“Get in the car.”
They drove to a shuttered restaurant Moretti businesses owned near the river. Roman trusted no mansion guard, housekeeper, or driver. He disabled the building’s power and entered through a kitchen door only he knew.
Candles lit the private dining room.
Evelyn sat wrapped in a dry blanket while Clara cleaned the rain from her face.
Roman remained standing.
“Start with the fire.”
Evelyn looked toward the windows.
“Your father arranged the attack on your car.”
Lorenzo reached for his weapon.
Roman stopped him with one glance.
“Why?”
“Because someone had discovered you were not Antonio Moretti’s biological son.”
Roman stared at her.
“That is impossible.”
“Your mother was already pregnant when she married him.”
“My mother died giving birth to me.”
“That is another lie.”
Evelyn removed the silver bracelet.
Inside the band, barely visible, were engraved initials.
E.B. and A.M.
“Your mother was my younger sister,” Evelyn said.
Roman’s control cracked for the first time.
“You are saying you are my aunt?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you vanish?”
“Because Antonio ordered your mother killed after learning who your real father was.”
Clara sat beside her.
“Who was he?”
Evelyn looked directly at Roman.
“The man in the car tonight.”
The silver haired stranger was named Sebastian Vale.
He led the Halcyon Circle, a hidden organization that financed criminal families, judges, police officers, and corporations.
Roman’s mother had tried to escape him.
Antonio Moretti offered protection, then raised her child as his own.
Years later, Antonio discovered Sebastian still intended to claim Roman.
He arranged the car attack to kill the young man before Halcyon could use him.
Evelyn learned of the plan and pulled Roman from the burning vehicle.
“Why did you leave me there?” Roman asked.
“Men were coming.”
“You could have waited for the ambulance.”
“If they saw me alive, they would find Clara.”
Clara looked at her mother.
“I was part of this?”
“You were six years old.”
“Why did you never tell me?”
“I wanted you to have one life that did not begin with murder.”
Roman’s phone rang.
Only three people possessed the number.
The screen displayed his mansion’s internal line.
He answered.
A man spoke softly.
“Mr. Moretti, you should return home.”
Roman recognized the voice of his chief of security.
“What happened?”
“We found Lorenzo’s private transmitter beneath the surveillance console.”
Everyone turned toward the enforcer.
Lorenzo’s face went cold.
“That is a lie.”
The voice continued.
May you like
“And there is a woman waiting in your study. She says she is your mother.”
Continue to the next part: Roman returns to his mansion to confront the woman claiming to be his dead mother, while evidence suggests Lorenzo has served the Halcyon Circle for years.
