"Not without telling you. And I will never let anyone hurt you again."
She slowly reached for his hand.
"Can you stay until I sleep?"
Alessandro nodded.
"Of course."
He removed his jacket and placed it over the chair.
Then he sat beside her bed and held her hand.
For the first time in seven years, he did not think about his empire.
He did not think about the negotiations scheduled for the following morning.
He did not think about the men waiting for his orders.
He thought only about the little girl beside him.
And as Sofia finally fell asleep, he made a decision.
The Moretti empire would change.
Not because he had suddenly become an innocent man.
Not because he had forgotten the crimes that had built his fortune.
But because he had finally understood that protecting a family meant more than protecting its name.
The following morning, Alessandro summoned every senior member of his organization.
They gathered in the underground conference room beneath the mansion.
It was a place where difficult decisions had been made for decades.
Men had lost fortunes there.
Alliances had been formed and destroyed.
And more than one person had received a final warning.
Alessandro entered at exactly ten o'clock.
Victor followed him.
Nobody spoke.
On the table lay several documents, Lorenzo's financial records, and copies of the security footage.
Alessandro stood at the head of the table.
"Yesterday, something happened in this house."
The men exchanged glances.
"A child was frightened in front of people who considered themselves powerful."
He looked around the room.
"Some of you saw it. Some of you heard it. And some of you knew what was happening long before I returned."
One of the older captains lowered his eyes.
Alessandro noticed.
"Who knew?"
Silence.
He placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Sofia standing alone in the corridor, holding her stuffed rabbit.
"She is six years old. She has no parents. She has no power. And she believed that the people in this house were supposed to protect her."
His voice became quieter.
"Instead, you taught her to fear them."
Nobody answered.
Alessandro looked at the men one by one.
"I built this organization on loyalty. But loyalty does not mean obeying a man who abuses his position. It does not mean protecting someone because he carries the same surname."
He paused.
"It means protecting the people who cannot protect themselves."
One of the captains finally spoke.
"Don Alessandro, what would you have us do?"
Alessandro looked at him.
"Start by telling me everything."
The investigation continued for several days.
It uncovered more than Lorenzo's cruelty.
There were missing household funds.
Payments to unknown accounts.
Messages between Lorenzo and an outside businessman.
And a series of suspicious transactions connected to the accident that had killed Sofia's father.
Alessandro had initially believed the accident was unrelated to his family.
Now he began to suspect that the past was not finished with them.
Victor brought him the first major discovery.
"Sir, we traced the payments."
Alessandro examined the documents.
"Who received them?"
"A company registered in Malta. The company belongs to a man named Adrian Voss."
Alessandro recognized the name immediately.
Adrian Voss had once been his closest business rival.
Five years earlier, Voss had attempted to take control of several Moretti shipping routes.
The conflict had ended after a violent confrontation that left both organizations weakened.
Voss had disappeared shortly afterward.
Alessandro slowly put the papers down.
"Why was Lorenzo paying him?"
"We don't know yet."
"Find out."
Victor hesitated.
"There is another problem."
Alessandro looked up.
"The payments began six months before Elena died."
For the first time, Alessandro felt something colder than anger.
Fear.
Not fear for himself.
Fear that the tragedy that had destroyed his sister's family had been deliberate.
He immediately ordered a complete review of the old case.
Meanwhile, Sofia slowly began to recover.
She started eating breakfast in the main dining room.
She began speaking to the staff.
She asked Maria to teach her how to bake cookies.
And every evening, Alessandro returned home before sunset.
At first, he did not know how to behave around her.
He was accustomed to giving orders, not answering questions about stuffed animals and bedtime stories.
One afternoon, Sofia approached him while he was reviewing documents.
"Uncle?"
He looked up.
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"Anything."
"Why do you always wear black?"
Alessandro glanced at his suit.
"Because I like it."
"Do you have other clothes?"
He almost smiled.
"Of course."
"Then why don't you wear them?"
He considered the question seriously.
"Perhaps I should."
Sofia nodded with satisfaction.
Then she climbed onto the chair beside him and placed her rabbit on the desk.
"His name is Oliver."
Alessandro looked at the toy.
"Oliver?"
"Yes. Mommy gave him to me."
"That's a good name."
Sofia hesitated.
"Can Oliver sit with us when we eat?"
Alessandro looked at her.
"Oliver is family. He can sit wherever he wants."
The little girl smiled.
It was a small smile.
But to Alessandro, it felt like the sun had entered the room.
Three days later, Victor returned with information that changed everything.
The car accident that killed Sofia's father had not been random.
The vehicle had been tampered with.
The original police investigation had been closed after a substantial payment was made to a local official.
And the person who arranged the payment was connected to Adrian Voss.
Alessandro read the report twice.
Then he looked at Victor.
"Does Lorenzo know?"
"We believe he knew about the financial arrangement. We haven't confirmed whether he participated in the original operation."
"Bring him in."
Lorenzo had been staying at a private apartment under security supervision.
When he entered the study, he looked exhausted.
Alessandro placed the report on the desk.
"Explain this."
Lorenzo glanced at the document.
His face immediately changed.
"I don't know anything about it."
"Your accounts paid the company."
"I was following instructions."
"Whose instructions?"
Lorenzo remained silent.
Alessandro stood.