Chapter 8: The Man Who Came Back From The Dead
Nobody spoke.
Not the guards.
Not Dante.
Not me.
The impossible person standing outside the gate had changed everything.
My father was alive.
The man I spent twenty-seven years believing was a ghost was standing ten feet beyond Dante’s security fence.
“Open the gate.””
Dante’s voice was quiet.
Every guard turned toward him.
“Boss—”
“Open it.””
The hesitation was obvious.
Nobody questioned Dante Rosselli.
Except this time, they were afraid.
The gate slowly opened.
The man stepped forward.
Rafael Valdez.
My father.
He looked older than the photograph.
His hair was silver.
Lines covered his face.
But his eyes…
His eyes looked exactly like mine.
I hated that.
Because a stranger shouldn’t feel familiar.
He stopped several feet away.
His gaze moved to me.
“Alina.””
Hearing my name from him felt wrong.
And yet somehow natural.
I couldn’t speak.
Dante moved slightly between us.
Rafael noticed.
A sad smile appeared.
“Still protecting her.””
Dante’s expression hardened.
“You’re supposed to be dead.””
“I know.””
The answer was simple.
Too simple.
My hands curled into fists.
“You left.””
Rafael looked at me.
“I know.””
“No.””
My voice shook.
“You don’t get to just say that.””
The emotion I had buried for years came rushing out.
“I grew up thinking my father abandoned me.””
His face changed.
Pain.
Real pain.
“I never abandoned you.””
“Then where were you?””
Silence.
The kind that hurts.
Finally, he said:
“Trying to keep you alive.””
I laughed bitterly.
“By disappearing?””
Rafael looked down.
“By making everyone believe I was gone.””
Dante stepped forward.
“You should have told me.””
Rafael looked at him.
“I couldn’t.””
“You trusted me.””
“Yes.””
“Then why?””
Rafael’s eyes moved toward Leo.
Then back to Dante.
“Because Marco had someone inside your organization.””
The guards immediately became alert.
Dante’s expression changed.
“Who?””
Rafael shook his head.
“I don’t know.””
That answer clearly bothered him.
Because Rafael was not a man who liked uncertainty.
“I spent years following his movements,” Rafael continued.
“Waiting for him to reveal himself.””
“And now?””
Rafael looked at me.
“Now he has.””
A cold feeling spread through me.
“Why now?””
Rafael reached into his coat.
The guards reacted instantly.
Dante raised a hand.
“Wait.””
Rafael slowly removed an old necklace.
My mother’s necklace.
I recognized it immediately.
My breath caught.
“My mother had this.””
Rafael nodded.
“She wanted you to have it when you were old enough to understand.””
I stepped closer.
“Understand what?””
Rafael looked at Dante.
Then at me.
“That your mother wasn’t protecting you from my enemies.””
A pause.
“She was protecting them from you.””
I frowned.
“What does that mean?””
Rafael opened the necklace.
Inside was a tiny piece of paper.
A symbol.
The same dragon.
But different.
The dragon had a broken chain around it.
Dante stared.
His face changed.
“Impossible.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
He whispered:
“That symbol belonged to the original Rosselli family.””
I didn’t understand.
Rafael looked at me.
“Your mother and I discovered something before you were born.””
“What?””
He took a breath.
“The war between Dante’s family and Marco Vieri wasn’t about power.””
“Then what was it about?””
Rafael looked directly at me.
“It was about you.””
The words hit like a physical blow.
“Me?””
He nodded.
“Because before you were born, your mother discovered that someone wanted to use your bloodline to control both families.””
I stared.
“That makes no sense.””
Rafael’s expression turned serious.
“Your grandmother was a Rosselli.””
The world stopped.
I looked at Dante.
He looked just as shocked.
“No.””
Rafael nodded.
“Yes.””
My knees almost gave out.
I wasn’t just connected to this world.
I was part of it.
Then Dante’s phone rang.
He answered.
A few seconds later, his face changed.
“What happened?””
The voice on the other end spoke.
Dante’s eyes moved toward me.
Then Rafael.
Then Leo.
“What did you find?””
Silence.
And then:
“Boss…”
The guard’s voice came through the phone.
“The person who betrayed us has been identified.””
Dante gripped the phone tighter.
“Who?””
The answer came.
May you like
And everyone in the room froze.
Because the traitor was someone standing closer than any enemy ever could.
