Chapter 4 – Secrets and Shadows (part 3)
612 Words
Christina didn’t sleep that night. Her mind churned with questions, connections, memories.
She couldn’t shake the image of the customs record — her father and uncle working together. That wasn’t a coincidence. It was the first crack in a wall that had kept her in the dark her whole life.
And now… she wasn’t sure she wanted to stay in the light.
The next morning, she made a choice.
She walked back into the guest office and opened the encrypted system again. Not to run. Not to expose anyone. But to learn.
⸻
She searched everything she could find about Dock 14 and Dock 17 — cross-referencing dates, surnames, and shipping records. The documents were old, but someone had scanned them. She found coded names — and a few familiar ones.
The Serpents.
Giorgos A.
L. A.
She wasn’t a hacker, but she didn’t have to be. The system Dante had given her access to was powerful — a digital vault of the Moretti family’s history, enemies, and allies. And her father’s name was everywhere in it.
He hadn’t just “helped” Dante’s father.
He’d been one of his most trusted sources — a ghost in the system, hiding illegal shipments from rival families and passing intel from within the customs office for nearly two decades.
And then he’d vanished. Killed in a “natural” death no one ever questioned.
Except Dante.
⸻
Christina sat back in the chair, overwhelmed.
Her father had lived in lies to keep her safe.
And Dante had kept those lies alive to protect her again.
She hated him for it.
And she was starting to understand him more than she wanted to.
⸻
Later that afternoon, a phone rang. Not hers — one of the encrypted desk lines in the guest office.
She hesitated, then picked up.
“Christina,” came a woman’s voice. Calm. Familiar.
Her heart stopped. “Yia-yia?”
“My sweet girl,” her grandmother said softly, in accented English. “I didn’t think I’d ever hear your voice again.”
Christina’s eyes welled up. “How did you—?”
“There is more to our family than you know,” the woman whispered. “You must listen carefully. Giorgos is not who he pretends to be.”
“I saw records—”
“He used your father. And now he wants to use you. He’s looking for something your father hid. Something only you may find.”
Christina gripped the phone tighter. “What is it?”
But the line went dead.
⸻
That night, Dante returned.
He looked exhausted — rumpled shirt, blood on his knuckles, and shadows under his eyes.
“You okay?” she asked before she could stop herself.
He looked surprised. “I should be asking you that.”
She stood by the window, arms crossed. “I know everything.”
He nodded slowly, as if he’d expected this.
Christina turned. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it’s not just about your father,” Dante said. “It’s about you. If they find out who you are, what you know, you become leverage.”
She stepped closer. “And what am I to you?”
He didn’t answer right away. His eyes locked with hers.
“Liability. Distraction. Obsession.”
Then, softer: “Hope.”
Her breath caught.
“You should hate me,” he said.
“I do,” she whispered. “But I still don’t want you dead.”
Their silence wasn’t empty — it pulsed between them like a heartbeat.
⸻
That night, she didn’t sleep in her room.
And he didn’t lock the door.
- Writer
