Chapter 4 - THE BABY WHO DISAPPEARED BEFORE SOPHIE
Rachel heard the gunfire above them.
She heard men shouting through the old convent corridors.
She heard the bell continue ringing.
But for several seconds, none of it mattered.
“Granddaughter?”
Caroline stepped toward her.
Rachel backed away.
“No.”
“Please.”
“You were dead.”
“I know.”
“I buried you.”
“I know.”
“You let Ben cry at your funeral.”
Caroline’s face broke.
“I know.”
Rachel slapped her.
The sound was sharp inside the stone room.
Caroline accepted it.
Rachel’s hand shook.
“You deserved worse.”
“Yes.”
“Who am I?”
Caroline looked at the photographs.
“You are Rachel Bennett.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
A gunshot sounded above them.
Dust drifted from the ceiling.
Caroline grabbed Rachel’s arm.
“We have to leave.”
Rachel pulled away.
“Not until you tell me.”
Caroline studied her daughter’s face.
Then nodded.
“Your biological mother was Alessandro DeLuca’s daughter.”
Rachel stared.
“Gabriel had a sister?”
“Half sister.”
“Who?”
Caroline looked toward the photograph.
“Her name was Lucia.”
Rachel looked at the woman standing beside Caroline.
She had always assumed it was Isabella.
Now she saw subtle differences.
Lucia and Isabella had looked remarkably alike.
Almost like sisters themselves.
“Why did Gabriel never know?”
“Alessandro had an affair before Gabriel was born. Lucia’s mother wanted nothing from him. No money. No name. Nothing.”
“Then why hide me?”
“Because Lucia eventually came looking for her father.”
Caroline’s voice softened.
“She was twenty-two. Pregnant. Terrified.”
“With me.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“She learned something about Alessandro’s organization.”
Rachel shook her head.
“No more vague answers.”
Caroline flinched.
“She discovered that Victor Salerno and several DeLuca captains were moving money through charities and arranging murders that Alessandro never authorized.”
Rachel thought of Victor.
“What does that have to do with Sophie?”
“Everything.”
Caroline explained quickly.
Lucia had gathered evidence.
Victor found out.
Lucia went into hiding shortly before giving birth.
Isabella Moretti—who would later marry Gabriel—had been Lucia’s closest friend.
Caroline had been a nurse working with Victor and secretly helping Isabella.
The three women created a plan.
When Rachel was born, they hid her identity.
Thomas Bennett, Caroline’s husband, agreed to raise Rachel as his own daughter.
Rachel’s throat tightened.
“My dad knew?”
“From the beginning.”
“Did he love me?”
Caroline’s eyes filled.
“More than anything.”
That was the first answer that brought Rachel relief.
“What happened to Lucia?”
Caroline looked away.
“She disappeared.”
Rachel’s heart sank.
“Victor?”
“We believed so.”
“Believed?”
“We never found her body.”
Rachel laughed bitterly.
“Apparently bodies are optional in this family.”
Caroline almost smiled despite everything.
Then her expression changed.
“When Sophie was born, Isabella became afraid history would repeat itself.”
“Because Sophie was another DeLuca girl?”
“Yes.”
“Why would that matter?”
Caroline glanced toward the door.
“Alessandro created a trust.”
Rachel waited.
“A very large trust.”
“How large?”
“Control of several legitimate DeLuca companies, properties, and voting rights worth hundreds of millions.”
Rachel frowned.
“For women in the family?”
“For Alessandro’s female descendants.”
Rachel stared.
“Why?”
“Because he discovered his own organization had been corrupted by men competing to inherit his criminal empire. He wanted part of his legitimate fortune placed beyond them.”
“So Lucia had rights to it.”
“Yes.”
“And then me.”
“Yes.”
“And Sophie.”
“Yes.”
Rachel understood.
“If Victor could make female heirs disappear…”
“He could redirect control through trustees he influenced.”
“Like Teresa?”
Caroline hesitated.
That answer was enough.
“You trusted Gabriel’s mother?”
“At first.”
“Why?”
“Because Teresa loved Sophie.”
Rachel shook her head.
“People keep using love as an explanation for destroying children.”
Caroline looked ashamed.
Above them came another crash.
Rachel stepped closer.
“Where is Sophie?”
“I don’t know.”
“You were at her school—”
“I was trying to get Ben before Victor’s people did.”
Rachel froze.
“You sent the threat?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“Cassandra.”
Rachel stared.
Caroline continued.
“She discovered you were connected to Lucia. Victor told her enough to understand you were dangerous to their plan.”
“What does Cassandra get?”
“Marriage.”
“To Gabriel?”
“And access to the trust through Sophie’s presumed death.”
Rachel felt sick.
“She was going to marry a grieving father while knowing his daughter was alive.”
“Yes.”
“And Teresa?”
Caroline closed her eyes.
“Teresa believed hiding Sophie was the only way to keep her alive.”
“For seven years?”
“She planned to return her.”
“When?”
“When Gabriel dismantled the organization’s internal threat.”
“He didn’t know there was one.”
“That was the mistake.”
Rachel stared.
“No. The mistake was deciding a father didn’t deserve to know his child was alive.”
Caroline lowered her head.
“Yes.”
Footsteps approached.
Rachel tensed.
The door opened.
Gabriel appeared.
His suit was torn at one shoulder.
Blood marked his forehead.
Rachel’s stomach jumped.
“Sophie?”
“Gone.”
Caroline went pale.
“What?”
“Someone moved her during the attack.”
“Victor?”
“I don’t know.”
Gabriel saw Caroline.
For a moment, neither spoke.
“So,” he said, “the dead nurse.”
Caroline looked at him.
“You look like Alessandro.”
Gabriel’s expression hardened.
“Do not use my father to avoid my question.”
“I’m not.”
“Where is my daughter?”
“I don’t know.”
Gabriel stepped closer.
“You helped hide her.”
“Yes.”
Rachel looked sharply at her mother.
Caroline continued.
“I helped Isabella plan the original escape route before the bridge.”
Gabriel went still.
“Isabella planned it?”
“Yes.”
The words hit him visibly.
“She knew the accident was coming?”
“She knew Victor was going to make a move.”
“Where was Isabella supposed to go?”
“Canada.”
“With Sophie?”
“Yes.”
“Then why was a body found?”
Caroline looked stricken.
“Because the plan failed.”
Gabriel’s voice dropped.
“Isabella is alive.”
Caroline did not answer.
Rachel stared at her.
“Mom.”
Caroline closed her eyes.
Gabriel approached until only a few feet separated them.
“Is my wife alive?”
Caroline whispered:
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not good enough.”
“She survived the bridge.”
Gabriel stopped breathing.
Rachel felt tears burn unexpectedly behind her eyes.
Caroline continued.
“Victor found her first.”
Gabriel looked as if someone had struck him.
“How long?”
“We lost contact three days later.”
“The recording.”
“She made it while hiding.”
“And after?”
“We thought Victor killed her.”
“You thought?”
“Yes.”
Gabriel turned away.
Seven years.
His daughter alive.
Possibly his wife too.
Everything he had mourned had become uncertain.
Marco entered the room.
“Boss. We need to move.”
“Find Sophie.”
“We’re working on it.”
“Work faster.”
Marco looked toward Caroline.
Then froze.
“You.”
Caroline stared at him.
Rachel noticed something pass between them.
Recognition.
Not surprise.
Gabriel noticed too.
“You know each other.”
Marco’s jaw tightened.
Caroline said nothing.
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed.
“Marco.”
Marco looked at Gabriel.
“I met her years ago.”
“When?”
“The night Sophie disappeared.”
The room went silent.
Gabriel stared at his security chief.
“You told me you were in Manhattan that night.”
“I lied.”
Rachel watched Gabriel’s face become unreadable.
Marco continued.
“Your father gave me instructions before he died. If Isabella ever activated a certain emergency protocol, I was supposed to get Sophie out.”
Gabriel walked toward him.
“You knew?”
“Not that she survived.”
“You helped?”
“I drove a second vehicle.”
“And you never told me?”
“Isabella ordered me not to.”
Gabriel shoved Marco against the wall.
“You took orders from my wife to steal my daughter?”
Marco did not resist.
“I believed I was saving her life.”
“For seven years?”
“No.”
“When did you lose contact?”
“The same night.”
Gabriel released him.
Rachel saw betrayal settling deeper than anger.
Everyone Gabriel had trusted had made decisions for him.
His mother.
His wife.
Victor.
Marco.
Caroline.
Perhaps even Alessandro.
Gabriel looked suddenly exhausted.
“Who took Sophie tonight?”
Marco handed him a phone.
“We recovered one camera.”
Footage showed the rear courtyard.
During the gunfire, Sophie ran out through a side entrance.
A woman grabbed her.
Not violently.
Sophie ran toward her willingly.
The woman pulled Sophie into a gray car.
Gabriel leaned closer.
The woman turned toward the camera for less than one second.
Rachel heard Caroline gasp.
Gabriel froze.
The woman was in her early forties.
Dark hair.
Thin face.
A faded scar along her jaw.
Caroline whispered:
“Lucia.”
Rachel stared at the screen.
“My mother?”
Caroline shook her head.
“No.”
“Then who—”
“Your biological mother.”
Rachel couldn’t breathe.
Lucia DeLuca was alive.
And she had just taken Sophie.
Gabriel replayed the footage.
Sophie did not look frightened.
She looked relieved.
Then the footage captured something else.
Lucia opened the passenger door.
Someone sat inside.
Only a profile was visible.
Gabriel enlarged the image.
Rachel saw him recognize the woman before she did.
May you like
He whispered one word.
“Isabella.”
