THE MAFIA BOSS WAS FORCED TO MARRY THE “HIDEOUS” MORETTI GIRL—BUT WHEN HE LIFTED HER VEIL, HE REALIZED HIS ENEMIES HAD JUST HANDED HIM THEIR MOST DANGEROUS SECRET

Tomasso reached for his phone.

Marco's number went straight to voicemail.

He called again.

Nothing.

Then he called the secure line that connected directly to the estate's control room. A guard answered, breathing hard.

"Don, we have a problem."

"Where is Marco?"

"He left twenty minutes ago. Said he had orders to move the prisoner."

"Who gave him those orders?"

"You did, sir."

Tomasso went cold.

"I gave no such order."

The guard hesitated.

"Someone used your authorization code."

Tomasso ended the call.

Caterina looked at him.

"Marco has been with you for fifteen years."

"Fourteen."

"What?"

"He joined my father's security team when I was twenty-two. He was never my father's personal guard."

Tomasso replayed the details in his mind: the attack at the children's home, the missing sedan, the false security codes, the threats that always arrived just before they uncovered another secret.

Marco had been present for every major discovery.

He had known where they were going.

He had known whom they were searching for.

He had known exactly when they were vulnerable.

"He's been guiding us," Tomasso said. "Making sure we find enough evidence to keep us moving, but never enough to reach Lorenzo."

Caterina picked up her coat.

"Then we stop following his trail."

They left the lake house in Isabella's vehicle, using back roads to avoid the main highways. Tomasso called two former soldiers who had served under his father and still owed him their loyalty. Within an hour, they had traced Marco's phone to an abandoned freight terminal near the river.

The building was dark when they arrived.

Tomasso entered through a side door with Caterina beside him. They found Mateo tied to a chair in an office overlooking the loading floor. His face was bruised, but he was conscious.

Marco stood beside him.

He held a pistol in one hand and a folder in the other.

"Don," he said, almost sadly. "You shouldn't have come."

Tomasso raised his weapon.

"Step away from him."

Marco shook his head.

"You still don't understand. I have spent fifteen years protecting you."

"By selling my movements to Lorenzo?"

"By keeping you alive."

Caterina stepped forward.

"You attacked us at the children's home."

"I arranged the attack. I made sure the men would miss."

"People were shot."

"People who would have killed Mateo if I hadn't intervened."

Tomasso's expression hardened.

"You expect me to thank you?"

"No. I expect you to listen."

Marco opened the folder.

Inside were photographs of the original trust deed, the bank transfers, and the letter Vittorio had written before his death.

"I worked for your father," Marco said. "He discovered that Lorenzo had arranged the warehouse fire. Before he could expose him, Enzo tried to stop the investigation. The two men fought. Lorenzo used the confusion to kill Vittorio and frame the Morettis."

"Why hide the truth?"

"Because the truth would have destroyed the families. Enzo was involved in the smuggling operation. Lorenzo controlled the police. Your father wanted to end the war, but he had made enemies on both sides."

Marco looked at Caterina.

"Elena asked me to protect you. She believed that if Lorenzo thought you were powerless, he would leave you alone."

"So you helped maintain the rumors about me," Caterina said.

"I helped make you invisible."

"You helped make me a prisoner."

Marco lowered his gaze.

"Yes."

Tomasso took one step forward.

"Who is working with Lorenzo now?"

Marco looked toward the loading floor.

A slow clap echoed through the building.

Lorenzo Moretti emerged from the shadows, flanked by armed men.

"Excellent," he said. "Everyone has finally arrived."

He looked at Tomasso's weapon.

"Put it down, nephew."

Tomasso did not move.

Lorenzo smiled.

"Or should I call you something else?"

Caterina's face tightened.

"What does that mean?"

Lorenzo lifted a small photograph.

It showed a newborn baby wrapped in a hospital blanket. Beside the baby stood Elena Moretti, much younger, and a nurse whose face had been scratched away.

"Your husband isn't the only person whose identity was changed," Lorenzo said.