Chapter 5 - The whispers in the dark
The five commission enforcers didn't make a move to help Tony. They stood perfectly still, watching the terrifying mafia boss completely neutralize the traitor. Dante pulled Tony to his feet, tossing him onto the velvet sofa like a broken toy.
"Tell the commission," Dante said, his voice echoing coldly through the steel-shuttered penthouse, "that if they want my daughter, they will have to burn Manhattan to the ground to get her. Leave."
The enforcers recognized the absolute finality in his tone. Without a word, they turned and stepped back into the elevator. The doors slid shut.
Emma watched the screen, her whole body shaking. The doors to the safe room hissed open an hour later. Dante stood there, his white shirt slightly wrinkled, looking completely exhausted. He looked past Emma, his hard eyes softening instantly when he saw Sophia fast asleep on the cot.
"Is it safe?" Emma whispered.
"For tonight," Dante replied, stepping into the small room. He looked at Emma, a strange, intense vulnerability flashing in his eyes. "You saved my life."
"He was going to shoot you," Emma said, wrapping her arms around herself. "Why does the commission want her so badly if she isn't your daughter?"
Dante leaned against the heavy steel door frame, running a hand through his thick dark hair. "Because Elena was the daughter of the supreme commission's boss. She faked the pregnancy to trap me into marriage to secure a treaty. Sophia was adopted in secret from an orphanage in Eastern Europe. When the commission found out, they ordered Elena to dispose of the child. She refused. That's why they killed her."
Emma’s breath caught in her throat. "They killed your wife?"
"And they staged it as an accident," Dante said, his sharp jawline tight with suppressed rage. "I have spent the last year pretending I didn't know, building my strength to protect Sophia. But now the secret is out."
He looked deeply into Emma’s eyes. "I am moving us to a secure location tomorrow. You do not have to come, Emma. I can pay you enough to disappear completely. You shouldn't be part of this violence."
Emma looked back at the sleeping little girl. She thought of the silver crest, of her sister Clara, and of the lullaby. She couldn't walk away now. "I'm staying."
The next morning, Emma packed Sophia’s clothes in the guest room. As she reached for a stack of sweaters in the back of the closet, her hand brushed against a loose floorboard. She pulled it up. Hidden beneath the wood was a small, leather-bound diary.
Emma opened it. The handwriting was elegant and frantic. It belonged to Elena. Emma scanned the final entry, dated the day before she died.
May you like
Dante thinks he is protecting her, but he doesn't know the truth about the orphanage. Sophia isn't just an orphan. She is the biological heir to the Russian syndicate. I have to get her out before the commission finds out, or they will use her to start a global war. I've contacted the only handler I trust to help us disappear. Clara.
Emma dropped the book. Her sister hadn't run away. Clara had been hired by Elena to smuggle Sophia out of the country. And now, both of them were missing.
