Chapter 6 - The Bloodline
Tessa slammed her fists against the heavy oak door, but it did not budge a single millimeter.
"Let me out of here," she screamed, her voice cracking with pure panic.
The speaker in the ceiling remained completely silent, offering no response to her desperation.
She paced the room like a caged animal, staring at the terrifying timeline of her life laid out in the photographs.
Why would the most powerful mafia family in the city stalk a broke waitress?
She picked up the oldest photo in the drawer, squinting at the timestamp printed in the corner.
It was taken on the exact day of Mr. Cosenza's funeral, showing Tessa standing alone in the rain by his grave.
The door unlocked with a sudden, sharp click.
Gabriel stepped into the room, holding a file folder and a glass of amber whiskey.
"You have no right to keep me here," Tessa snapped, grabbing a heavy brass lamp from the bedside table as a makeshift weapon.
Gabriel didn't even flinch at the threat.
He took a sip of his whiskey and tossed the file folder onto the bed.
"Put the lamp down, Tessa, before you hurt yourself."
"I want to know why you have been following me for a year."
Gabriel let out a heavy sigh, looking suddenly exhausted as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Because my father wanted to kill you, and I needed to make sure you were innocent before I let that happen."
Tessa lowered the lamp slightly, her mind spinning with confusion.
"Innocent of what?"
"Do you know who the man you called Mr. Cosenza really was?" Gabriel asked, stepping closer to the bed.
"He was a grumpy old man who liked my cooking and taught me how to speak Sicilian," she answered defensively.
"His real name was Vincenzo Lupatti," Gabriel said, delivering the words like a physical blow.
"He was the former boss of the Lupatti syndicate, the man who started the blood feud with my family thirty years ago."
Tessa dropped the lamp, the heavy brass hitting the carpet with a dull thud.
"That's impossible."
"He lived in a rundown apartment and couldn't even afford his heating bill."
"He was in hiding from his own nephews, who violently usurped his throne," Gabriel explained calmly.
"But before he died, he transferred something incredibly valuable to the only person who showed him kindness."
Gabriel pointed at the file folder on the bed.
Tessa hesitated, then reached out and flipped the folder open.
It was a certified banking document from a Swiss vault, showing a staggering balance of fifty million dollars.
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And the sole beneficiary listed at the bottom of the page was Tessa.
Before Tessa could even process the numbers, a massive explosion rocked the compound, shattering the bedroom windows into a million lethal shards.
