Chapter 4 - The House Where Alina Was Waiting
Every instinct told me the address was a trap.
Every instinct also told me I would go.
Alina was alive.
That fact erased caution.
Nine days earlier, she had stood somewhere close enough for a photograph.
After six years of darkness, she was suddenly real again.
Breathing.
Moving.
Possibly waiting.
Possibly terrified.
I stared at the photograph until Matteo touched my arm.
“You cannot go alone.”
I turned.
“It says alone.”
“It also comes from my father.”
“If he has Alina—”
“That is exactly why you don’t go alone.”
Daniel Mercer remained near locker 317.
I looked at him.
“You know the address?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“An old estate outside Lake Forest.”
“Vittorio’s?”
“Indirectly.”
“What does he want?”
Mercer’s face tightened.
“You.”
“Obviously.”
“No. Not dead.”
I studied him.
“He wants you desperate.”
“Why?”
“To force you into signing control of the Vitelli legitimate holdings into a consolidated family trust.”
Matteo cursed quietly.
I finally understood.
This had never been only about money.
It was succession.
Control.
If Vittorio could control Sophia’s inheritance and force me into restructuring my companies, he could effectively own everything without openly fighting me.
“You helped him.”
Mercer looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“Did you help take Sophia?”
“No.”
“Did you know?”
“Yes.”
My hands curled.
Antonio moved closer, knowing what I wanted to do.
I forced myself not to.
“What happened six years ago?”
Mercer swallowed.
“Vittorio wanted Alina frightened, not gone.”
“Explain.”
“He planned to create enough pressure that she would convince you to move Sophia out of Chicago. Somewhere controlled.”
“But she ran.”
“Yes.”
“Because she overheard you.”
Mercer nodded.
“I underestimated her.”
Despite everything, pride moved through me.
Alina had always been smarter than men expected.
“Then why did you contact her later?”
“Guilt.”
Matteo laughed bitterly.
“Daniel Mercer discovering guilt. Miraculous.”
Mercer ignored him.
“Also fear. Vittorio had begun eliminating people who knew too much.”
“You thought Alina could protect you?”
“No.”
Mercer looked at me.
“I thought you could.”
I almost laughed.
Instead, I said, “You should have thought of that six years ago.”
We left the station with the suitcase.
Inside it were records detailing shell companies tied to Vittorio.
Audio recordings.
Bank transfers.
Photographs of meetings.
Enough evidence to prove an internal conspiracy had operated beneath my organization for years.
But one file mattered more.
A video recorded by Alina.
I watched it inside the back seat of my armored sedan.
She appeared on screen.
Older.
Thinner.
Still beautiful.
Her hair was shorter.
Dark circles under her eyes.
She looked directly into the camera.
“Marco.”
One word.
I stopped the video.
Could not breathe.
Then restarted it.
“If you are watching this, then either I finally found a way back to you or everything has gone wrong.”
Everything had gone wrong.
“I need you to understand something. I never stopped loving you.”
My eyes closed.
For six years, I had survived by convincing myself that Alina chose to leave.
That she chose life without me.
It made the grief easier.
Anger is easier than loss.
Now she was taking that protection away.
“I left because I believed staying would get Sophia killed. I tried to reach you many times, but every attempt was intercepted. After a while, I stopped knowing who I could trust.”
She looked away from the camera.
“When Matteo found me near Cleveland, I thought he was there for Vittorio. I was wrong. He warned me. He gave me money and a new identity.”
I looked at Matteo sitting opposite me.
He stared at the floor.
Alina continued.
“He made mistakes, Marco. Terrible ones. But he saved us that night.”
Matteo covered his face.
For the first time, I saw the weight he had carried.
Then Alina said, “If Vittorio is still alive, he will use the same weakness against you he has always used.”
Sophia.
“Do not let him make our daughter a weapon.”
The video ended.
I sat in silence.
Then I asked Matteo, “Why didn’t you tell me you helped them?”
“Because once my father realized they escaped, he knew someone had interfered.”
“And?”
“He sent me photographs of my sons sleeping.”
I understood.
He had been trapped.
Not innocent.
But trapped.
We reached the Vitelli estate after midnight.
Sophia was asleep in Elena’s guest room.
I stood beside her bed before leaving.
She held the old stuffed rabbit from locker 317.
Apparently it had been hers as a baby.
I had bought it in Rome.
I remembered Alina laughing because it was ridiculously expensive for something Sophia immediately covered in applesauce.
Now Sophia hugged it under her chin.
I touched her hair.
Elena stood in the doorway.
“Bring her mother home.”
“I will.”
“Marco.”
I looked back.
“Don’t make promises you can’t control.”
I thought of Sophia asking me to bring Mommy.
“I’ll bring her home.”
The Lake Forest estate was hidden behind trees.
Large.
Old.
Nearly invisible from the road.
I technically followed the instruction to come alone.
No one entered with me.
But Antonio’s men surrounded the property from a distance.
Matteo remained two streets away.
I walked to the front door.
It opened before I knocked.
Vittorio Rizzo stood inside.
Older.
Thin.
White hair.
But unmistakable.
“Marco.”
I stared at him.
“You should be dead.”
He smiled.
“Many people should.”
“Where is Alina?”
“Inside.”
“If you hurt her—”
“You still threaten before thinking.”
“I’m not threatening.”
That made him pause.
He stepped aside.
I entered.
The house smelled of dust and expensive wood.
No guards visible.
Which meant many were hidden.
Vittorio led me into a drawing room.
Documents were arranged on a table.
“Sign these.”
I did not look.
“Where is my wife?”
“Alive.”
“Show me.”
“After.”
I stared at him.
“You stole six years from my daughter.”
Vittorio poured himself a drink.
“No. Your weakness did.”
“My weakness?”
“You believed family mattered more than power.”
“It does.”
“That is why you will lose everything.”
I smiled.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“That is why you already lost.”
For the first time, Vittorio’s confidence slipped.
I pointed toward the documents.
“You needed my signature because you never controlled the companies.”
His face hardened.
“You hid Sophia because you needed legal uncertainty.”
Silence.
“You manipulated Matteo because you couldn’t control him either.”
Vittorio set down his glass.
“You think you understand.”
“I understand enough.”
A sound came from upstairs.
A woman’s voice.
“Marco!”
My heart stopped.
Alina.
I ran toward the stairs.
Two men emerged from a hallway.
I did not slow down.
The next seconds were chaos.
Shouting.
Furniture crashing.
I pushed past the first man.
The second tried to stop me.
I reached the stairs.
“Marco!”
Alina again.
Alive.
I took the steps two at a time.
A door at the end of the upstairs hall shook.
“Alina!”
“Here!”
I reached it.
Locked.
I forced it open.
And there she was.
For six years, I had imagined this moment.
In some versions, she ran into my arms.
In others, she slapped me.
Sometimes she cried.
Sometimes I did.
Reality was quieter.
Alina stood across the room.
Her hands covered her mouth.
We stared at each other.
She looked exactly like the woman from the video.
Older.
Tired.
Real.
“Marco.”
I could not move.
Then she crossed the room.
I caught her.
She buried her face against my chest.
I held her so tightly I was afraid I would hurt her.
“You’re alive.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re alive.”
“I tried to come back.”
“I know.”
She pulled away.
“Sophia?”
“Safe.”
Her knees nearly gave out.
I caught her.
“You found her?”
“She found me.”
Alina laughed and cried at the same time.
“She always believed she would.”
Footsteps thundered downstairs.
Alina looked frightened.
“Vittorio has men everywhere.”
“Not anymore.”
A window shattered outside.
Antonio’s team entered.
The balance changed quickly.
Then I heard a gunshot downstairs.
One.
Then silence.
Alina grabbed my arm.
We moved down together.
Vittorio stood in the drawing room.
Matteo faced him.
A weapon lay on the floor between them.
Neither man was holding it.
Matteo stared at his father.
Vittorio stared back.
“You brought Marco’s men.”
Matteo’s voice was calm.
“Yes.”
“You betrayed your blood.”
Matteo looked toward me.
“No.”
Then back at Vittorio.
“I finally chose my family.”
Police sirens approached in the distance.
Not ordinary police.
Federal agents.
Mercer had sent the evidence.
Vittorio’s empire was ending.
But then Vittorio smiled.
“You think this ends with me?”
I stepped closer.
“It ends tonight.”
“No.”
His smile widened.
“Ask Alina why she really placed Sophia at St. Margaret’s.”
I looked at her.
Alina became pale.
“What does he mean?”
She said nothing.
“Alina?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“There’s something I never told you.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
She looked toward Matteo.
May you like
Then at me.
“Sophia wasn’t the only child I was trying to protect.”
