Chapter 3 - The Mother Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Roman entered his mansion through the underground garage with his gun drawn.
Lorenzo walked several steps ahead, hands visible.
Clara pushed Evelyn’s wheelchair behind them despite Roman ordering both women to remain at the restaurant.
“You said your house was compromised,” Clara replied. “Leaving us alone would be worse.”
Roman did not argue.
The security room was empty.
A small transmitter had been taped beneath the main console.
Its serial number matched equipment issued to Lorenzo’s private unit.
Lorenzo examined it without touching.
“Someone wants you to kill me before asking who placed it.”
Roman’s chief of security, Dominic Shaw, appeared in the doorway.
He was forty eight, calm, and impeccably dressed.
“We traced the device to Lorenzo’s apartment.”
“You entered my home?” Lorenzo asked.
“I entered a property owned by Mr. Moretti.”
Roman looked toward Dominic.
“Where is the woman?”
“In your study.”
“Did you search her?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“She carries no weapon. Only this.”
Dominic handed Roman a photograph.
It showed a young woman holding a newborn.
She had Roman’s dark eyes and Evelyn’s narrow smile.
A silver bracelet encircled her wrist.
Roman had seen only one photograph of his mother. Antonio claimed every other image burned in a house fire.
This woman was unmistakably the same person.
Evelyn took the photograph.
“Isabella.”
Her voice broke.
Roman opened the study door.
An elegant woman in her late fifties stood near the fireplace.
Dark hair streaked with gray framed a face Roman had imagined his entire life.
She turned.
“My son.”
Roman aimed his weapon at her chest.
“Do not call me that.”
Her expression tightened with pain.
“You have every reason to hate me.”
“I buried you before I could walk.”
“No. Antonio buried an empty coffin.”
Evelyn entered behind Roman.
Isabella stared at her sister.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Evelyn slapped her.
The sound echoed through the study.
“You left me to raise Clara in hiding while you lived with him.”
Isabella touched her cheek.
“I was a prisoner.”
“You had money. Guards. Houses.”
“Every room had a camera. Every call was recorded. Sebastian said he would kill Clara if I escaped.”
Clara looked between them.
“You knew about me?”
Isabella nodded.
“I watched from a distance.”
“You watched us lose apartments? You watched Mom sleep under a bridge?”
“I sent money.”
Evelyn laughed bitterly.
“Money Halcyon intercepted. Every payment became a way to find us.”
Roman lowered his gun slightly.
“Why come now?”
“Because Sebastian has decided to claim you publicly.”
“For what purpose?”
“He is dying.”
The room became still.
Sebastian Vale had advanced pancreatic cancer. His physicians gave him weeks.
Halcyon’s leadership required a blood heir approved by its governing council.
Roman was his only surviving son.
“He wants me to inherit his organization?”
“He wants your name, your empire, and your obedience.”
“He will receive none.”
Isabella’s face remained grave.
“Then he will appoint another successor and order your death before he loses control.”
“Who?”
She looked toward Lorenzo.
Every weapon in the room shifted.
Lorenzo did not move.
“You believe I am Vale’s son?”
“No,” Isabella said. “You are his chosen soldier.”
Lorenzo’s jaw tightened.
“I have never met him.”
“You were raised at Saint Gabriel’s Home.”
“That is public record.”
“The orphanage was operated by Halcyon.”
Lorenzo stared at her.
“The Moretti family sponsored it.”
“Because Antonio used the home to recruit boys without families.”
Roman remembered meeting Lorenzo twelve years earlier after he defended a Moretti warehouse alone against six attackers.
Antonio praised his instinct.
Roman believed chance brought them together.
Perhaps chance never existed.
Dominic stepped closer to Lorenzo.
“The transmitter proves where your loyalty lies.”
Lorenzo turned toward him.
“The transmitter was discovered by you.”
Dominic smiled faintly.
“An accusation from a desperate man.”
Evelyn suddenly pointed at Dominic’s hand.
A silver cuff link carried three stars above a crescent moon.
Dominic looked down too late.
Roman raised his weapon.
“Remove the cuff link.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
Then the mansion lights went out.
Gunfire erupted from the hallway.
Clara dropped behind the desk with Evelyn.
Roman fired toward the doorway.
Lorenzo tackled Dominic before he could draw his weapon. They struck the floor and crashed into a side table.
Emergency lights flickered red.
Moretti guards entered from both corridors.
Some aimed at Roman.
Others aimed at one another.
Halcyon had infiltrated his security team more deeply than anyone knew.
Isabella pulled a small pistol from beneath the fireplace mantel.
Roman turned toward her.
“You were searched.”
“I hid it here fifteen years ago.”
She fired at a guard entering behind Roman.
The man fell.
Lorenzo forced Dominic against the wall.
“Tell him.”
Dominic smiled despite blood on his mouth.
“You think removing me changes anything? Half the men in this house were selected before Roman inherited it.”
Roman grabbed him by the collar.
“Where is Sebastian?”
“Preparing your coronation.”
“I will attend his funeral instead.”
Dominic looked toward Clara.
“He does not need you willing.”
Roman followed his gaze.
A red laser dot appeared on Clara’s chest through the study window.
Roman knocked her down as the glass shattered.
The bullet struck the wall.
Evelyn screamed.
Lorenzo fired toward the opposite rooftop.
The sniper vanished.
Dominic laughed.
“Sebastian does not intend to persuade you, Roman.”
He looked toward Isabella.
May you like
“He intends to make Clara the price of your refusal.”
Continue to the next part: Roman learns Clara’s connection to Halcyon is more dangerous than anyone admitted, and Sebastian may need her alive for a medical procedure that will determine his successor.
