Chapter 6 - The Phantom Sister
The unmarked van tore through the empty streets of Chicago like a shadow.
Tessa knelt on the metal floorboards, keeping her weight pressed firmly against Mateo’s wound.
He was unconscious now, his skin ice-cold to the touch.
"Drive faster," the woman in the passenger seat ordered the driver.
Tessa looked up at her, her mind spinning with exhaustion and terror.
"You're his sister?" she asked, her voice shaking.
"Isabella Vitiello," the woman replied, not looking back.
"Mateo told me he was an only child."
Isabella let out a bitter, humorless laugh.
"In our world, when a daughter refuses an arranged marriage, she becomes a ghost."
The van swerved sharply into a dark, abandoned warehouse district.
They pulled into a garage, and the heavy metal doors slammed shut behind them.
The two massive men hauled Mateo’s stretcher out and carried him into a brightly lit back room.
It was set up like a sterile underground surgical suite.
Isabella threw Tessa a pair of surgical gloves.
"You said you're a nursing student. Prove it."
Tessa didn't hesitate.
She stepped up to the metal table and began assessing the damage.
The bullet had missed the major organs, but an artery was nicked.
For the next two hours, the mafia princess and the waitress worked in silent, bloody coordination to save the heir of the Vitiello empire.
When Tessa finally stitched the wound closed, her hands were trembling violently.
Isabella handed her a glass of cheap whiskey.
"Drink it," she ordered.
Tessa downed the burning liquid, letting it steady her nerves.
Mateo lay unconscious on the table, an IV dripping fluids into his arm.
"Why did you help us?" Tessa asked, wiping sweat from her forehead.
Isabella leaned against the counter, her green eyes piercing.
"Because the Romanos took my father tonight, and Mateo is the only one who can lead the family to war."
Tessa pulled the gold locket from her pocket and set it on the metal counter.
"They want this," she said softly.
Isabella stared at the crest of the wolf and the crown of thorns.
Her expression shifted from cold confidence to absolute dread.
"Where did you get that?"
"It belonged to my great-grandmother, Elisabetta."
Isabella picked up the locket with shaking fingers.
"Do you know what is inside this?"
"A picture of a man named Giancarlo," Tessa answered.
"No," Isabella whispered, popping the latch open.
She pressed her thumbnail against the small portrait of Giancarlo.
With a soft click, a false back behind the picture popped out.
Tessa leaned closer.
Hidden beneath the portrait was a microscopic, tightly folded piece of paper.
Isabella used tweezers to pull it out and carefully unfold it under the bright surgical light.
It was a string of handwritten numbers.
"What is it?" Tessa asked, her heart pounding.
"Swiss bank account numbers," Isabella breathed out in disbelief.
"Accounts belonging to whom?"
Before Isabella could answer, a groan came from the surgical table.
Mateo opened his eyes, wincing against the harsh light.
He looked at Isabella, and for a second, raw emotion broke through his hardened exterior.
"Bella," he whispered.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, little brother," she replied.
Mateo tried to sit up, but Tessa gently pushed him back down.
"You need to stay still."
Mateo noticed the unfolded paper in Isabella's hand.
"What is that?" he demanded.
Isabella looked at him with grim certainty.
"It is the Romano family's entire off-the-books fortune."
Mateo stared at the ceiling, piecing the puzzle together.
"Elisabetta didn't just assassinate the Romano boss."
Tessa felt sick as she finally understood why she was being hunted.
"She stole their empire."
A heavy metal crash echoed from the garage outside.
The sound of weapons cocking filled the silence.
May you like
Isabella drew two pistols from her waist.
"They found us," she said.
