Chapter 9 - The Ghost of the Past
The heavy iron door was completely unyielding against Mateo's shoulder.
He threw himself at it twice more, ignoring the fresh blood seeping through his bandages.
"David!" Mateo roared, his voice echoing in the damp stone cellar.
David’s soft laughter drifted through the small barred window.
"Save your strength, Mateo. You are going to need it for the execution."
Footsteps faded away down the stone corridor, leaving them in absolute, terrifying silence.
Tessa rushed over to Salvatore, who had slumped against the cold wall.
The old don’s face was bruised purple, his breathing shallow and ragged.
"Why did he lock us in?" Tessa asked, checking his pulse. "He said he was your spy."
Salvatore coughed, spitting a dark glob of blood onto the stone floor.
"David is a mercenary. He sells loyalty to the highest bidder."
Mateo knelt beside his father, his expression a mix of rage and despair.
"He told us you sent him to bring us here."
"I sent him to kill the girl," Salvatore confessed, his voice devoid of regret.
Tessa froze, dropping Salvatore's wrist.
Mateo stood up slowly, looking down at his father as if he were a stranger.
"You ordered a hit on Tessa?"
Salvatore didn't flinch under his son's glare.
"She carries the blood of the enemy. She is the final loose end."
"She saved my life!" Mateo shouted, his composure completely shattering.
"She is a Romano!" Salvatore spat back, finding a sudden burst of vicious energy.
"Her great-grandmother manipulated me, used me to destroy her own family, and then vanished with the ultimate prize."
Tessa backed away, pressing herself against the cold iron door.
"Elisabetta loved you," she whispered, remembering the stories her great-grandmother used to tell.
Salvatore let out a sound that was half laugh, half sob.
"Elisabetta loved power. When she realized I wouldn't let her rule the syndicate, she fled."
Before Salvatore could say more, the heavy lock on the door clicked loudly.
Mateo instantly pushed Tessa behind him and raised his gun.
The heavy door swung outward on well-oiled hinges.
Standing in the doorway, surrounded by heavily armed guards, was an elderly man in a sharp bespoke suit.
He leaned on a cane topped with a silver wolf's head.
His eyes were exactly the same shape and color as Tessa's.
It was the third man from the photograph.
Giancarlo Romano.
He stepped into the cell, his presence sucking the oxygen from the room.
Giancarlo looked past Mateo and Salvatore, fixing his gaze entirely on Tessa.
"You look just like her," Giancarlo said softly, his voice rich and terrifyingly calm.
Tessa gripped the back of Mateo’s shirt, unable to speak.
Giancarlo smiled, a gesture that held no warmth whatsoever.
"I have waited forty years to look into those eyes again."
He raised a hand, and his guards stepped forward, violently disarming Mateo and forcing him to his knees next to his father.
Giancarlo walked slowly toward Tessa, stopping mere inches from her.
He reached out and gently tilted her chin upward.
"Did she ever talk about me, little bird?"
Tessa forced herself to meet his cold gaze.
"Only in her nightmares."
Giancarlo chuckled, a soft, dry sound.
"How poetic."
He turned to look down at Salvatore, who was glaring at him with pure hatred.
"You stole my sister, Salvatore. And then you tried to murder her."
Tessa gasped, the pieces of the puzzle violently shifting in her mind.
"Sister?" Tessa whispered.
Giancarlo looked back at her, his expression unreadable.
"Elisabetta was my twin sister. And she didn't assassinate our father."
Giancarlo pointed his silver cane at Salvatore's chest.
"He did."
Giancarlo paced the small cell, his voice echoing off the stones.
"Salvatore killed my father, forced my sister to marry him to legitimize his takeover, and then ordered her execution when she stole the ledger."
Mateo looked at his father, horror dawning in his gray eyes.
"Is it true, Papa?"
Salvatore remained completely silent, his jaw clenched tight.
Giancarlo turned to Tessa, holding out his hand.
"Give me the locket, Tessa, and I will let you walk out of here alive."
Tessa hesitated, her mind racing desperately for a way out.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out the heavy gold locket.
Giancarlo's eyes gleamed with triumph.
May you like
Tessa held it out, but just as Giancarlo reached for it, she dropped it on the stone floor.
Before anyone could react, the deafening sound of a massive explosion rocked the foundation of the mansion above them.
