Chapter 6: The Woman Behind the Name

Gunfire tore through the Marino estate.

The windows shattered one after another.

Security alarms screamed through the halls.

Lucian pulled me behind the stone pillar beside the study entrance.

"Stay down," he ordered.

I pressed one hand over my stomach.

"My baby..."

"They're not getting near you."

His voice was calm.

Too calm.

The sound of gunfire had always brought out the ruthless side of Lucian Marino.

But this time, I noticed something different.

Fear.

Not for himself.

For me.

Marco rushed into the room with two guards.

"Don, the east wing has been breached."

"How many?"

"At least twelve."

"Who are they?"

"We don't know."

Lucian's expression hardened.

"Seal every exit."

"Nobody leaves the estate."

Marco nodded.

Sophia crouched near the desk, trembling.

"Lucian..."

"Stay where you are," he snapped.

I looked at her.

For the first time, the confident woman who had always seemed untouchable looked genuinely terrified.

Maybe the attack wasn't her doing.

Or perhaps she had finally realized how dangerous the game she started had become.

Another burst of gunfire shook the hallway.

Lucian grabbed my hand.

"We're moving."

"Where?"

"The underground shelter."

He led me through a hidden passage behind the bookshelf.

I had lived in the Marino estate for seven years and had never known it existed.

The walls were reinforced steel.

The corridor descended several levels beneath the mansion.

When the door closed behind us, the gunfire became distant.

Lucian looked at me immediately.

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

"Any pain?"

"No."

He placed his palm carefully over my stomach.

"The baby?"

"Fine."

He finally exhaled.

"Thank God."

I stared at him.

"You really care about this child."

"Of course I do."

"You said you didn't want it."

His eyes lowered.

"I was an idiot."

"That's not enough."

"I know."

He looked at me.

"But I meant it when I said I'd protect you."

My heart tightened.

"You also meant it when you told Marco you were afraid I'd find out about Sophia."

He flinched.

"I deserved that."

I stepped away.

"Don't try to fix seven years in one night."

"I'm not."

"Then what are you doing?"

"Trying to make sure you survive tonight."

The shelter door opened again.

Marco entered carrying a wounded guard.

"Don, we caught one."

"Alive?"

"Yes."

Lucian nodded.

"Bring him down."

A few minutes later, the captured attacker was dragged into the shelter.

His face was bruised.

But his eyes remained defiant.

"Who sent you?" Lucian asked.

The man laughed.

"You still don't know?"

Lucian grabbed his collar.

"Talk."

"Ask your Donna."

I froze.

"Me?"

The attacker smiled.

"Your family has been looking for you for years."

"The Vettori name didn't die with your parents."

My breath caught.

"What are you talking about?"

"Your parents weren't simple casualties of a blood feud."

"They were witnesses."

Lucian's expression changed.

"Witnesses to what?"

The attacker laughed.

"To the largest weapons network in the Mediterranean."

"They discovered who was financing both sides of the feud."

"And they were eliminated before they could speak."

I felt dizzy.

"Who ordered it?"

The man looked directly at me.

"Someone you trusted."

"Someone close to the Marino family."

"Who?" I demanded.

Before he could answer, a gunshot came from outside the shelter.

The attacker collapsed.

Marco immediately checked him.

"He's dead."

Lucian's eyes turned cold.

"Sniper."

He looked at me.

"Someone wanted him silenced."

I stared at the body.

Another unanswered question.

Another piece of my past disappearing.

Then I remembered the photograph Sophia had shown me.

Marco.

The payment.

The altered report.

"Lucian," I whispered.

"What?"

"Marco was the one who handled your family's security files after my parents died, wasn't he?"

His expression hardened.

"Yes."

"And he had access to the original reports."

"Yes."

"Then why did you never investigate him?"

Lucian's jaw tightened.

"Because I trusted him."

I laughed bitterly.

"That's exactly the problem."

He looked at me.

"You're right."

Outside, the gunfire slowly stopped.

Security teams reported that the attackers had retreated.

Lucian ordered every surviving guard to search the estate.

Within an hour, they found something hidden beneath the old wine cellar.

A steel case.

Inside were encrypted financial records.

Lucian opened the first file.

His face changed.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Payments."

"From several organizations."

"All routed through accounts connected to my uncle."

I stared at him.

"Your uncle?"

"The man who controlled the old Marino network before I took over."

"He died six years ago."

"Then someone has been using his accounts ever since."

Marco entered the room.

"Don, we checked the access logs."

"The accounts were last accessed three days ago."

I looked at him.

Three days.

The same day I accepted the research project.

"Someone knew I was leaving."

Lucian looked at me sharply.

"Who knew?"

"My professor."

"The research institute."

"And..."

I stopped.

Sophia.

She had known I was planning to leave.

And she had told someone about my parents.

Could she have leaked the information?

Before I could speak, Marco's phone rang.

He answered.

His expression changed.

"Don..."

"What?"

"Sophia is gone."

Lucian turned instantly.

"What do you mean gone?"

"She left the estate during the attack."

"No security team saw her leave."

I felt a cold chill run down my spine.

"She knew this was going to happen."

Lucian stared at me.

"You think Sophia arranged the attack?"

"I don't know."

"But she knew too much."

"And she had the most to gain from me disappearing."

Lucian's expression became unreadable.

"We will find her."

That night, the estate was surrounded by armed guards.

No one was allowed in or out.

I returned to my room and packed the final things for my departure.

My hands no longer trembled.

I had made my decision.

I would still leave.

But now I knew something I hadn't known before.

My parents' deaths were not random.

My marriage had not been the only thing built on lies.

The entire Marino family had secrets.

And someone was willing to kill to keep them buried.

Lucian appeared in the doorway.

"You're still leaving tomorrow."

I looked at him.

"Yes."

"Even after tonight?"

"Especially after tonight."

He nodded slowly.

"I knew you'd say that."

"You don't owe me anything."

"I know."

"Then why are you looking at me like that?"

He stepped closer.

"Because I finally understand what I'm losing."

"You lost me the moment you chose Sophia."

His eyes lowered.

"Maybe."

"But I'm not asking you to forgive me."

"Then what do you want?"

"A chance to make sure you and the baby are safe."

"After that... I'll let you go."

I stared at him.

For the first time, Lucian wasn't speaking like a Don.

He wasn't giving an order.

He was asking.

"One night," I said.

"That's all you get."

He nodded.

"One night is enough."

Neither of us knew...

That by sunrise, the truth about Sophia would become impossible to hide.

And Lucian would finally discover who had been pulling the strings behind his family for years.