Alessandro felt something cold settle inside him.
"Who?"
Victor hesitated.
Then he said the name.
"Marco."
For several seconds, Alessandro did not move.
He looked toward the doorway.
Marco was standing there.
His expression was unreadable.
Alessandro slowly turned.
"Tell me he's lying."
Marco looked at him.
"I can explain."
Alessandro's hand moved toward the pistol beneath his jacket.
"Then explain."
Marco lowered his eyes.
"Lucia called me that night."
Alessandro did not blink.
"She told me she had found something. She said Victor was planning to have her followed. I told her to wait until I could arrange protection."
"And?"
"I sent a car."
"Your car?"
Marco nodded.
Alessandro's voice became quieter.
"Was the driver instructed to frighten her?"
"Yes."
"Did you know Victor intended to kill her?"
"No."
"Did you know she was dead before you told me the accident was unavoidable?"
Marco said nothing.
That silence was enough.
Alessandro looked at the man who had stood beside him for twenty years.
The man who had held his daughters when they were born.
The man who had helped carry Lucia's coffin.
"Why?"
Marco finally looked up.
"Because I thought I was saving the family."
Alessandro stared at him.
"From what?"
"From her leaving."
Victor began laughing.
"Now you understand, don't you? Everyone wanted to protect your family. Everyone had a different idea of what that meant."
Alessandro turned toward him.
"You used my wife's death to take control of my accounts."
"Your accounts were vulnerable."
"You murdered her."
"I didn't intend for her to die."
Alessandro took another step.
"That is not a defense."
Victor's smile disappeared.
He looked toward the window.
Outside, a black vehicle had stopped at the curb.
A man stepped out.
Then another.
Alessandro noticed.
"Marco."
"I see them."
Victor smiled again.
"Your organization is not yours anymore."
The first gunshot shattered the window.
The room erupted.
Alessandro pushed Elena to the floor as Marco returned fire. Two security men entered from the corridor.
The attackers had come prepared.
They knew the building.
They knew the entrances.
And they knew exactly where Alessandro would be standing.
A bullet struck the wall beside him.
He dragged Elena behind the desk.
"Where is the journal?"
She reached into her coat.
"I hid a copy."
"Where?"
"At the house."
Alessandro looked at her.
"Where?"
"In Lucia's piano."
Another gunshot.
Alessandro turned toward Marco.
"Get her out."
Marco hesitated.
Alessandro's eyes hardened.
"Now."
Marco moved.
The three men escaped through the rear staircase.
Alessandro remained behind long enough to confront Victor.
But Victor was gone.
Only the empty glass remained on the desk.
And beside it, a photograph.
Lucia.
Standing in front of the Moretti estate.
Holding the twins.
On the back, written in her handwriting, were five words.
YOU MUST CHOOSE YOUR CHILDREN.
Alessandro stared at the photograph.
Then he heard the sound of footsteps.
He turned.
One of the attackers stood in the doorway.
Alessandro raised his weapon.
The man lowered his gun.
"Sir."
It was one of his own guards.
"Your daughters."
Alessandro's stomach tightened.
"What about them?"
"The house has been compromised."
The journey back to the estate took twelve minutes.
Alessandro experienced every second.
He called Margaret twice.
No answer.
He called the head of security.
The line was dead.
Then he called the nursery.
A little voice answered.
"Daddy?"
Alessandro closed his eyes.
"Isabella?"
"Daddy, where are you?"
"I'm coming home."
"Elena came back."
His expression changed.
"What?"
"She came back with a man."
"Where are you?"
"In Mommy's room."
"Is Sofia with you?"
"Yes."
"Listen carefully. Lock the door. Stay together. Don't open it for anyone."
A pause.
Then Isabella whispered.
"Daddy, the man knows our names."
Alessandro's hand tightened around the telephone.
"What man?"
"He says he is Uncle Victor."
The line went silent.
Then a voice spoke.
Not Isabella's.
Victor.
"Hello, Alessandro."
Alessandro looked at Marco.
"Drive faster."
Victor continued calmly.
"Your daughters are beautiful. Lucia would be proud."
"If you touch them..."
"Don't make promises you cannot keep."
Alessandro stared at the road ahead.
"What do you want?"
"The journal."
"You already know where it is."
"Yes. But I want you to bring it to me."
"Where?"
"Your wife's room."
Alessandro's voice became almost gentle.
"You have made one mistake, Victor."
"Which one?"
"You think those girls are bargaining pieces."
Victor laughed.
"Then perhaps you should hurry."
The call ended.
At the estate, the girls were hiding beneath Lucia's old piano.
Isabella held Sofia's hand.
Sofia was crying silently.
The piano had been their mother's favorite possession. Lucia used to sit there every evening and play the same melody until the girls fell asleep.
They remembered it.
They remembered her voice.
And now they were hiding beneath it.