Chapter 4: The Name Written in Blood
The name on the paper felt heavier than the page itself.
I stared at the handwriting until the letters blurred.
*Vincent Moretti.*
Ricardo’s older brother.
The man I had never met.
The man whose name I had only heard whispered once before.
My mother’s warning suddenly made sense.
Not completely.
Not enough.
But enough to make my hands shake.
Rico noticed.
“Clara.””
I looked up.
His face had changed.
The cold mask was gone.
“What do you know about Vincent?””
I folded the paper quickly.
“Nothing.””
“That’s not true.””
“I said nothing.””
His eyes narrowed.
“You recognized the name.””
I hated that he was right.
Because I did recognize it.
Not from stories.
Not from newspapers.
From my mother.
Years ago.
Before she got sick.
Before she stopped talking about the past.
I was sixteen, standing in our old kitchen while she washed dishes. I remembered the way her hands froze when she saw a name on the television.
Vincent Moretti.
I remembered asking:
“Mom, who is that?””
And I remembered her answer.
“Someone you should never let find you.””
At the time, I thought she was just afraid.
Now I wondered what she had been running from.
Rico stepped closer.
“Clara, my brother has been missing for six months.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
“Everyone believes he left the city.””
“But you don’t.””
“No.””
The way he said it made my skin crawl.
“Why?””
Rico looked toward Leo.
The boy was sitting on the steps outside my building, feeding crumbs to a pigeon.
“Because my wife was investigating him before she died.””
The air disappeared from my lungs.
“Your wife was investigating your own brother?””
Rico nodded.
“She didn’t trust him.””
“Why?””
He looked back at me.
“Because Isabella discovered he was connected to something that happened fifteen years ago.””
My fingers tightened around the necklace.
My mother.
Fifteen years.
The same number.
“What happened?””
Rico didn’t answer immediately.
That scared me more than anything.
Finally, he said:
“A woman disappeared.””
I swallowed.
“My mother?””
He didn’t deny it.
That was enough.
I stepped back.
“No.””
“Clara—”
“No.””
My voice cracked.
“You’re telling me my mother wasn’t just sick? That she wasn’t just hiding things because she was afraid?””
Rico stayed silent.
I laughed once.
But there was no humor in it.
“She spent my entire childhood looking over her shoulder.””
I looked at the necklace.
“She told me monsters were real.””
Rico’s expression softened.
“And she was right.””
I hated that answer.
Because I knew he meant it.
A black sedan stopped at the curb.
Dante stepped out.
His face was serious.
“Boss.””
Rico immediately turned.
“What?””
Dante looked at me.
Then back at him.
“We have a problem.””
“What kind?””
Dante lowered his voice.
“Someone knows about the necklace.””
A cold feeling moved through me.
“How?””
Dante hesitated.
Then handed Rico a photograph.
Rico looked at it.
And the moment he did, his face changed.
“What is it?”” I asked.
He didn’t answer.
“Rico.””
Slowly, he turned the picture toward me.
It was taken outside Il Destino the night before.
Me.
Leo.
The necklace visible around my neck.
But that wasn’t what made my heart stop.
Someone had written on the back.
A message.
Three words.
*She finally returned.*
I looked at Rico.
“Returned?””
He didn’t speak.
Because he knew something I didn’t.
Something Isabella had known.
Something my mother had hidden.
A car engine suddenly roared from the street.
Dante’s head snapped up.
“Down!””
Everything happened at once.
Dante grabbed Leo.
Rico pulled me behind the stone wall beside the entrance.
A dark vehicle sped past.
A window lowered.
A flash.
A gunshot cracked through the morning air.
The sound echoed between the buildings.
People screamed.
Glass shattered.
Then silence.
I looked at Rico.
He was already looking down the street.
His face was no longer confused.
It was furious.
“Vincent,” he whispered.
I froze.
“You think that was him?””
Rico stared at the empty road.
“No.””
His voice became colder.
“Because Vincent wouldn’t miss.””
I looked at the photograph in my hand.
The warning.
The necklace.
The attack.
My entire life had changed in less than twenty-four hours.
And then Rico said something that made my blood run cold.
“Clara, your mother wasn’t hiding from my family.””
May you like
He looked at me.
“She was protecting you from someone inside it.””
