Chapter 23 - The Escape
1271 Words
Gunfire exploded through the warehouse.
Sofia ducked instinctively as Alessandro pulled her against him.
"Stay behind me."
"I am."
"Don't let go."
"I won't."
Dante fired toward the entrance, forcing the men back.
"Luca!" Alessandro shouted.
A shot came from somewhere behind them.
Then Luca appeared through the side corridor.
"This way!"
Alessandro grabbed Sofia's hand.
They ran.
The storage room was narrow and almost completely dark. Boxes were stacked against the walls, leaving barely enough space to move between them.
Behind them, footsteps grew louder.
"They're coming," Sofia whispered.
"I know."
Dante reached the end of the corridor and shoved aside a metal shelf.
A hidden door appeared.
"Through here."
Sofia followed him.
They emerged into an alley behind the warehouse.
Rain poured harder now.
Alessandro looked both ways.
"Car."
Luca pointed toward a black SUV parked across the street.
They ran.
The moment the doors slammed shut, Alessandro started the engine.
Dante climbed into the back.
Luca took the passenger seat.
Sofia sat beside Alessandro, still clutching her father's letter.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Dante said,
"They weren't there for me."
Alessandro looked at him through the mirror.
"No."
"They were there for her."
Sofia's stomach tightened.
"Why?"
Dante looked at her.
"Because that letter proves your father is still communicating with someone."
Sofia frowned.
"Communicating?"
"The letter was written eleven years ago."
"I know."
"Then how did the people who attacked us know you had it?"
She went silent.
Alessandro's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
"Someone told them."
Dante nodded.
"Exactly."
Luca turned around.
"Which means someone inside our circle is talking."
Sofia looked at him.
"Who?"
"We don't know."
She sighed.
"We keep coming back to the same answer."
"Because it's the truth," Dante said.
"No."
Sofia looked at him.
"It's because we haven't found enough evidence yet."
Dante studied her.
Then smiled faintly.
"You really are your father's daughter."
"What does that mean?"
"He never accepted an answer simply because it was convenient."
Sofia looked down at the letter.
"Then neither will I."
---
They stopped at a small safe location outside the city.
It wasn't a luxurious villa like Alessandro's previous safe houses.
It was an old cottage hidden among trees.
Dante checked every room before allowing them inside.
Sofia watched him.
"You've done this before."
"Many times."
"Running?"
"Surviving."
She looked at him.
"What's the difference?"
Dante paused.
"Surviving means you still believe tomorrow might be better."
The words stayed with her.
Alessandro glanced at Dante.
"Where were you all these years?"
Dante sat down.
"Different countries. Different names."
"Why come back?"
"Because your father contacted me."
Alessandro's expression changed.
"My father?"
Dante nodded.
"Three months ago."
"How?"
"A message."
"What did it say?"
Dante looked at him.
"That Sofia was in danger."
Sofia's heart skipped.
"So he knew about me."
"Yes."
"How?"
"Because someone had started searching for you."
Alessandro's jaw tightened.
"Who?"
Dante shook his head.
"I don't know."
Sofia sighed.
"Again."
Dante gave her a sympathetic look.
"I know it's frustrating."
"It is."
"But there is something I do know."
She looked up.
"What?"
"Your father didn't disappear because he wanted to."
The room fell silent.
"He disappeared because he made a deal."
Sofia's heart pounded.
"What kind of deal?"
"His life for yours."
She stopped breathing.
Alessandro's expression hardened.
"Explain."
"Your father knew the people hunting him wouldn't stop. So he gave them what they wanted."
"What?"
"Access."
Sofia frowned.
"Access to what?"
"His business."
She shook her head.
"That doesn't make sense."
"It does if you understand the rules."
"What rules?"
Dante looked at her.
"The first rule of the people your father was dealing with was simple."
He paused.
"You can lose money. You can lose power. But you never betray the people who protect your family."
Sofia swallowed.
"And my father broke that rule?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because he realized the people protecting his family were becoming the greatest threat to it."
Sofia looked at Alessandro.
He understood immediately.
"The Covenant."
Dante nodded.
"Your father wanted out."
"And they wouldn't let him."
"No."
Sofia's voice trembled.
"So he made a deal."
"Yes."
"What did he give them?"
Dante hesitated.
"Information."
"What information?"
"I don't know."
She stared at him.
Dante continued.
"But I know what he kept."
"What?"
Dante looked at the letter in her hand.
"His daughter."
Sofia's eyes burned.
"He protected me."
"Until the very end."
She looked down.
A tear escaped.
Alessandro came to her side.
He didn't say anything.
He simply took her hand.
Sofia squeezed it.
Dante watched them.
Then looked away.
After a moment, Sofia asked,
"If my father is alive, where is he?"
Dante shook his head.
"I don't know."
"But you said he contacted you."
"Yes."
"Then contact him again."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because the number was used only once."
Alessandro looked at him.
"Then how did you know it was him?"
Dante reached into his pocket.
He pulled out an old photograph.
He placed it on the table.
Sofia picked it up.
Her heart stopped.
It showed her father standing beside a wooden door.
Above the door was a number.
17.
She looked at Dante.
"When was this taken?"
"Three months ago."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"Then what good is it?"
Dante pointed to the background.
A small sign was visible behind her father.
Sofia leaned closer.
She recognized it.
"The harbour."
Dante nodded.
"The same harbour where you disappeared."
Alessandro stared at the photograph.
"There are dozens of buildings there."
"Not anymore," Dante said.
He pointed to the door.
"That building was demolished eleven years ago."
Sofia's heart began pounding.
"Then why is Dad standing there?"
Nobody answered.
She looked at Alessandro.
His expression had become thoughtful.
"Unless the photograph wasn't taken three months ago."
Sofia frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Alessandro took the photograph.
"The timestamp could have been altered."
Dante's face changed.
"You're right."
Luca looked up from his phone.
"I can check."
He took the photograph.
Sofia watched him closely.
A few seconds later, he looked up.
"This picture wasn't taken three months ago."
Her heart sank.
"How old?"
"At least eleven years."
Silence.
Sofia closed her eyes.
For a moment, hope and disappointment collided inside her.
Her father might still be alive.
Or someone was using an old photograph to make them believe he was.
Alessandro placed his hand on her shoulder.
"We'll find out."
Sofia looked at him.
"Promise?"
His eyes held hers.
"I promise."
She stepped closer.
"Don't make promises you can't keep."
His voice softened.
"That one I'll keep."
Their eyes met.
For a moment, the danger outside disappeared.
Sofia reached up and touched his cheek.
Alessandro covered her hand with his.
Neither moved.
Then she leaned forward and kissed him.
It was brief.
Tender.
A quiet moment in the middle of chaos.
When she pulled away, Alessandro whispered,
"You're becoming brave."
Sofia smiled.
"No."
She looked into his eyes.
"I'm becoming tired of being afraid."
His expression softened.
"There's a difference."
"I know."
Outside, thunder rolled across the sky.
Inside, Sofia looked down at the photograph one more time.
The image was old.
Her father's whereabouts remained unknown.
But now they had something they hadn't had before.
A name.
A trail.
And a reason to keep going.
Dante suddenly stood.
"There's one more thing."
Sofia looked at him.
"What?"
He pointed to the number above the door.
17.
"Your father wasn't standing outside that building by accident."
Sofia frowned.
"Why?"
Dante's face became serious.
"Because number seventeen wasn't a building."
Alessandro looked at him.
"Then what was it?"
Dante answered quietly.
"A room."
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