Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Never Died
Sofia watched the video three times.
Each time hurt more.
Her mother, Catherine Bennett, had supposedly died in a highway accident when Sofia was seventeen.
There had been a funeral.
A closed coffin.
A death certificate.
A cemetery plot.
Everything.
Yet the timestamp showed Catherine alive three months after Sofia had buried her.
Sofia looked at her father.
“You watched me mourn her.”
Benjamin's face collapsed.
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
“Victor was searching for her.”
“And your solution was to let your daughter believe her mother was dead?”
“To keep you alive.”
Sofia turned away.
Dominic stood nearby with his arm bandaged.
He had refused to leave until Benjamin was safe.
Now they were inside another secure Romano property.
Sofia hated how quickly she had learned that Dominic possessed multiple places designed for people being hunted.
“Play the rest,” Dominic said.
Sofia almost snapped at him.
Then she saw his expression.
Not command.
Concern.
She pressed play.
Catherine continued.
“Raven Seventeen contains enough evidence to destroy people who have controlled this city from the shadows for decades. Salvatore created it as leverage. Anthony tried to save lives by stealing it. Benjamin helped him. I helped convert it.”
Sofia stared at her father.
Catherine continued.
“But Victor Hale discovered what we had done. So we divided everything. Anthony disappeared. Benjamin stayed with Sofia. I took the archive.”
The video distorted.
Then:
“Dominic is different from his father. I watched him refuse orders Salvatore expected him to obey. I watched him protect people he had no reason to protect. If the day comes when Raven Seventeen returns, Dominic will have to choose what kind of Romano he wants to be.”
Dominic looked away.
Catherine continued.
“Sofia, the key is where you first learned to keep secrets.”
The video ended.
Sofia frowned.
“Where I first learned to keep secrets.”
Benjamin nodded.
“Your mother insisted you would understand.”
“I was seventeen.”
“Think.”
She did.
Her childhood bedroom.
School.
The old library.
Then she remembered.
A music box.
Her mother had given it to her when she was eight.
Sofia used to hide letters inside it.
Little childish confessions.
Crushes.
Bad grades.
Money.
Where was it now?
“My father's attic.”
Benjamin nodded.
They drove to Connecticut after sunrise.
Dominic came despite Sofia's objections.
“You were shot six hours ago.”
“Grazed.”
“That is still a bullet interacting with your body.”
“I'm fine.”
“You're impossible.”
“So I've been told.”
Anthony leaned from the front seat.
“Repeatedly.”
Dominic glared at him.
It was the first strangely normal exchange between the brothers.
Sofia noticed.
So did Anthony.
For a moment they were not heirs to a criminal dynasty.
They were brothers who had lost eleven years.
Benjamin's house was untouched.
Victor's people had apparently focused on Manhattan.
They entered the attic.
Sofia found the music box beneath old blankets.
Pink wood.
A tiny painted ballerina.
She almost laughed when she saw it.
Dominic watched her.
“You hid secrets there?”
“I was eight.”
“What kind?”
“None of your business.”
“I thought we were past that.”
“We're not that far past it.”
A faint smile crossed his face.
Sofia opened the box.
The ballerina turned.
Music played.
Nothing.
Then Dominic noticed the weight.
“False bottom.”
They removed it.
Inside was a flash drive.
And a letter.
For Sofia.
Her hands shook.
She unfolded it.
My darling girl,
If you find this, then the lies protecting you have finally become more dangerous than the truth.
I am sorry.
Do not blame your father forever.
He chose you every day.
And if Dominic Romano is standing beside you when you read this, then I was right about him.
Sofia stopped.
Dominic looked away politely.
She continued.
The archive must never belong to one family again.
Not ours.
Not the Romanos.
Not anyone.
Use it to expose what should be exposed.
Destroy what would only hurt innocent people.
And remember:
A name can be inherited.
A life cannot.
Choose your own.
Love always,
Mom.
Sofia wiped her eyes.
Dominic said quietly, “She sounds like you.”
“You never met her.”
“No.”
“Then how would you know?”
“Because she tells powerful men what to do from twelve years away.”
Sofia laughed through tears.
Then she noticed another line written along the bottom.
P.S. If Victor is still alive, do not trust the archive until you find page 217.
Anthony inserted the drive into an offline laptop.
Hundreds of encrypted files appeared.
Page 217 was missing.
“So Victor altered it,” Anthony said.
“Or someone else did,” Dominic replied.
Luca entered.
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“Victor went public.”
Dominic frowned.
Luca turned on the television.
News footage showed federal agents entering Romano Holdings.
The headline announced an investigation into organized crime, bribery, and financial corruption.
Sofia stared.
“Victor gave them evidence.”
Anthony shook his head.
“Selective evidence.”
Dominic understood.
“He's framing me for everything in Raven Seventeen.”
Luca nodded.
“Warrants are being prepared.”
Sofia looked at Dominic.
“You have to run.”
“No.”
“You'll be arrested.”
“Probably.”
“Dominic.”
He looked at her.
“I have spent my life cleaning up my father's empire without admitting publicly what it was. Maybe that was cowardice.”
“You didn't create Raven Seventeen.”
“But I inherited the machine that did.”
Anthony stared at his brother.
“What are you saying?”
Dominic looked toward the flash drive.
“We give them everything.”
Luca's face changed.
“Boss.”
“Everything legitimate.”
“That destroys the organization.”
“Yes.”
“You've spent fifteen years building it.”
“I've spent fifteen years pretending I could turn something rotten into something clean without cutting out the rot.”
Silence.
Sofia stared at him.
“Victor will still frame you.”
“Then we find page 217.”
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
Dominic gestured for her not to answer.
She did anyway.
“Sofia?”
A woman's voice.
Older.
Familiar.
Her knees nearly failed.
“Mom?”
Dominic turned.
The voice trembled.
“Sofia, listen carefully. Victor found me.”
Sofia stopped breathing.
“Where are you?”
“I don't have much time.”
“Mom, where are you?”
“Page 217 isn't a page.”
“What?”
“It is a person.”
Sofia gripped the phone.
“Who?”
Her mother's voice dropped to a whisper.
“Dominic's mother.”
Dominic went completely still.
“My mother died twenty-three years ago.”
Catherine heard him.
“No, Dominic.”
A door slammed on Catherine's end.
She gasped.
May you like
Then hurriedly whispered:
“Your mother is alive.”
