Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW HIM AS LEO|
Sophia had met Leo on a rainy evening outside a twenty-four-hour diner in Queens.
She had been twenty-one, exhausted from working two jobs, and newly responsible for a sick mother whose medical bills had swallowed every dollar she earned. Leo had been sitting on the pavement beside a damaged motorcycle, holding a towel against a wound near his ribs.
He had refused to call the police.
Sophia had helped him inside, bought him soup, and found a friend willing to drive him to a small clinic.
He told her his name was Leo.
He never explained why he carried no identification.
For several weeks, he appeared at the diner every evening. He repaired broken appliances for the staff, helped Sophia carry groceries upstairs, and sat beside her mother when the pain became too difficult to bear.
He never promised to make her rich.
He promised to return.
That was the promise she believed most.
When her mother died, Leo stayed beside Sophia through the funeral. He held her hand in the cemetery and sang a quiet melody she had never heard before.
Later, he taught it to her.
"It's a family song," he explained. "My mother used it whenever someone I loved was frightened."
Sophia had laughed.
"Does it work?"
"Only if you sing it honestly."
She sang it to Emma before Emma was born. She sang it during late-night feedings, fevers, and thunderstorms. When Emma began dancing, Sophia showed her the little movements Leo had taught her.
She had never imagined they would lead to the Moretti estate.
Now, sitting in her small apartment above a laundromat, she watched Emma place the rabbit on the pillow.
"Mommy," Emma said, "will Daddy come tonight?"
Sophia swallowed.
"I don't know, sweetheart."
"Did I dance wrong?"
"No. You danced beautifully."
"Then why was the lady crying?"
Sophia brushed her daughter's curls away from her eyes.
"Sometimes grown-ups cry when they remember someone they miss."
Emma considered that.
"I miss Daddy."
Sophia's eyes filled.
"So do I."
After Emma fell asleep, Sophia opened the little box where she kept Leo's belongings. There was a silver button, a photograph with the corners torn away, and a folded note he had given her before disappearing.
She had read it so often that she knew every word.
If anything happens to me, find the woman who wears the crescent bracelet. She knows why my family cannot be trusted.
Sophia had spent years searching for someone who matched the description.
That evening, she had seen Valentina's mother wearing a silver bracelet with a tiny crescent charm.
Her phone rang.
Aleandro's name appeared on the screen.
"Sophia, I need to ask you about something Nico left behind."
She gripped the edge of the table.
"His name was Nico?"
"Yes."
"Then why did he tell me he was Leo?"
"Because my brother was trying to stay alive."
Sophia closed her eyes.
Aleandro continued.
"There is something in his safe that may explain what happened. But there is also something you need to know before we open it."
"What?"
"My father ordered Nico's death."
May you like
Sophia went completely still.
"And if my father was wrong," Aleandro whispered, "then someone in my family has been keeping your daughter's father alive—or hiding his murder—for three years."
