Chapter 4
My mother ran toward me.
The guards blocked her.
“Don’t touch her,” the boss said.
My mother’s eyes filled.
“Mara, give me the baby.”
“No.”
The word came before thought.
Nico stirred in my arms.
My mother looked terrified.
Not of the baby.
Of the man behind the bar.
“Mara, we have to leave now.”
I stared at her.
“Who is Sofia?”
Her face broke.
The boss stepped forward.
“Answer her.”
My mother trembled.
“You don’t understand what his family does.”
“I understand that woman looks exactly like me.”
“She was dangerous.”
“She was dead,” the boss said.
My mother flinched.
I looked at him.
“You said she died two years ago.”
His voice dropped.
“She was killed.”
The word hit me hard.
My mother covered her mouth.
“I tried to save one of you.”
One of you.
My chest tightened.
“So she was my sister.”
My mother began crying.
“I was young. Your father owed money. The Bellagios were at war. The twins were born in panic, and your aunt begged me to take one child away before the enemies found both.”
“My aunt?”
“Sofia’s mother,” she whispered. “Your real mother.”
The room tilted.
“No.”
“I raised you because I loved you.”
“You raised me on fear.”
“To keep you alive.”
The boss stared at her.
“Who told you Sofia died at birth?”
My mother shook her head.
“No one. I thought Mara was the hidden one. I thought Sofia stayed safe.”
“She did not.”
His voice almost broke.
“She spent her life believing her sister was dead.”
I looked at Sofia’s photograph.
A sister.
A twin.
A whole life breathing beside mine, stolen by fear.
Nico woke and touched my cheek.
My mother sobbed.
“He thinks you’re her.”
The boss whispered, “No.”
I looked at him.
He stepped closer, carefully.
“He knows blood.”
A phone rang.
My mother stiffened.
The boss looked at her coat pocket.
“Answer it.”
She shook her head.
Matteo took the phone and checked the screen.
His face darkened.
“Boss. It says Marco.”
The boss went still.
“Put it on speaker.”
Matteo answered.
A man’s voice snapped, “Elaine, tell me you got the girl out before Dante saw her.”
The boss’s face turned deadly.
My mother closed her eyes.
May you like
The voice continued.
“If he finds out Sofia had a twin, everything we buried comes back.”
