CHAPTER 5 — The Secret Buried Before Victor Was Born
CHAPTER 5 — The Secret Buried Before Victor Was Born
Victor stood frozen in the underground tunnel, the radio still pressed against his ear.
"My picture?" he repeated.
Antonio's voice trembled.
"Yes, Boss. An old photograph. You couldn't have been older than eight."
Marco exchanged a worried glance with Luca.
Very few photographs of Victor's childhood existed.
His father, Don Alessandro Moretti, had destroyed almost every family album after the bloody war that secured the Moretti empire. He claimed photographs were liabilities. Faces could be identified. Children could be hunted.
Only a handful had survived.
If the assassin possessed one...
Someone from Victor's family's inner circle had provided it.
"Bring Sophia to the safe room," Victor ordered. "No one enters without my authorization."
"Yes, Boss."
Victor lowered the radio.
"This started long before Isabella," he said quietly.
Marco nodded.
"They weren't just trying to kill you."
"They've been studying me."
The tunnel ended beneath an abandoned boathouse on the edge of the estate.
The hidden steel door stood open.
Fresh tire marks led toward the marina.
"They're heading for the water," Marco said.
Victor stepped outside.
The morning breeze carried the smell of salt and gasoline.
A sleek white speedboat was already racing away from the dock.
Isabella stood near the stern.
For one brief second, she looked back.
Their eyes met across the glittering water.
Victor expected guilt.
Regret.
Anything.
Instead, she smiled.
Not lovingly.
Triumphantly.
Then the boat accelerated toward open sea.
Marco raised his rifle.
"I've got the shot."
Victor slowly pushed the barrel down.
"No."
"Boss, she'll escape."
"I don't want her dead."
Marco frowned.
"You still love her?"
Victor's expression hardened.
"No."
"I want answers."
Luca's phone suddenly rang.
He answered, listened for ten seconds, then looked up in disbelief.
"Boss..."
"What is it?"
"We've identified the fake driver."
Victor waited.
Luca swallowed.
"His fingerprints match an international contract killer."
"Name?"
"Gabriel Varga."
Marco's face darkened instantly.
"The Ghost..."
Victor recognized the name.
Gabriel Varga wasn't just an assassin.
He specialized in eliminating crime bosses by infiltrating their inner circles months—even years—in advance.
Entire organizations had collapsed after trusting him.
Yet something didn't fit.
"If Varga accepted the contract..."
Victor said slowly,
"...then whoever hired him has more money than most governments."
Back inside the villa, bomb technicians finally dismantled the explosive hidden beneath Victor's sedan.
The lead technician approached carrying a black metal cylinder.
"You should see this."
Victor examined the device.
Military-grade explosives.
Encrypted detonator.
No serial numbers.
But one detail caught his attention.
Etched into the metal casing was a tiny silver emblem.
A crown resting above the Roman numeral XIII.
Victor's breathing slowed.
Marco noticed.
"You know that symbol."
Victor nodded once.
"I hoped I'd never see it again."
Twenty-five years earlier...
Victor had been twelve.
He had accidentally overheard his father arguing with another mafia leader.
That night, Don Alessandro had dragged Victor into his study.
"If you ever see the Thirteenth Crown," his father had warned, "you run."
Victor had laughed.
His father never did.
"They don't fight for territory."
"They erase bloodlines."
Victor had never forgotten those words.
Now the same symbol sat in his hands.
His father hadn't died of a heart attack seven years earlier.
He had died terrified.
Before Victor could speak, alarms echoed throughout the estate.
Every security monitor suddenly went black.
Luca stared at the screens.
"They've hacked the entire system!"
Then every monitor flickered back on.
One image appeared on every display.
A little girl.
Sophia.
She was sitting alone in the safe room.
Except...
Victor knew immediately something was wrong.
The footage wasn't live.
Sophia looked directly into the camera.
Then smiled.
And behind her, almost hidden in the shadows...
stood Gabriel Varga.
The recording ended.
The room fell silent.
Antonio burst through the doorway.
"Boss!"
May you like
Victor turned.
"Sophia is gone!"
