Chapter 8 - SAINT AGNES CHAPEL| Saint Agnes Chapel stood on a wooded hill outside New York, its stone walls blackened by the fire that had closed it three years earlier.
The doors were chained, and the stained-glass windows had been covered with plywood. Weeds grew through the cracked pathway, and the bell tower leaned slightly to one side.
Sophia arrived with Emma, Aleandro, Celeste, and a small security team.
She refused to let Emma remain behind.
"If this is connected to her father, she deserves to be near someone she trusts."
Aleandro accepted the condition.
"I'll stay beside her the entire time."
Emma held his hand as they entered the chapel.
Inside, the air smelled of damp stone and smoke. Rows of wooden pews had been moved against the walls. The altar stood beneath a cracked arch, and a faded mural covered the ceiling.
Emma looked up.
"Pretty house."
"It's a chapel," Sophia whispered.
"Like the place where Daddy sings?"
Aleandro stopped.
"Did your father sing in a place like this?"
Emma nodded.
"He showed Mommy the big windows."
Sophia stared at her daughter.
"Emma, when did he show me the windows?"
The child frowned.
"I don't know. In the story."
Sophia remembered the lullaby, the music box, and the little movements Leo had taught her. Perhaps Emma had heard the story so often that memories and imagination had become tangled together.
Aleandro led them toward a small stairway behind the altar.
"The message said the recording was beneath the basement floor."
The stairs descended into a narrow chamber. At the far end stood an old wooden cabinet, half-buried beneath fallen plaster.
Marcus examined the floor.
"There's a loose section here."
He pried up a stone slab, revealing a metal box wrapped in oilcloth.
Inside were two cassette tapes, several photographs, and a sealed envelope addressed to Aleandro.
Aleandro opened the envelope.
His brother's handwriting covered the page.
If you are reading this, I survived the explosion. I do not know who ordered it. I know only that Father wanted me silent, and someone within the Romano family helped him.
Sophia covered her mouth.
"He's alive?"
Aleandro read on.
I have a daughter. Her name is Emma. If anything happens to me, protect her mother. Sophia has done nothing wrong, and she must never be punished for loving me.
Aleandro's hands trembled.
He looked at Emma.
"Your father wrote this before you were born."
Sophia felt tears spill down her face.
"Why didn't he come back?"
Aleandro couldn't answer.
Celeste picked up the cassette tapes.
"These may contain the evidence we need."
A noise sounded above them.
Footsteps crossed the chapel floor.
Marcus drew his weapon and motioned for everyone to remain still.
A man's voice came from the stairs.
"Leave the box where it is."
Aleandro stepped in front of Sophia and Emma.
"Who are you?"
The man appeared at the top of the staircase.
Adrian Cross.
Valentina's adviser.
He looked at the box and shook his head.
"You should have stayed in the ballroom, Mr. Moretti."
Aleandro's expression hardened.
"You worked for my father."
"And I am still working for the people who kept your brother alive."
Sophia stared at him.
"Where is Leo?"
Adrian smiled.
May you like
"Ask the man who has been pretending to be dead."
Then the lights went out.
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