Chapter 4 - The Secret My Father Left Behind
The security alarms screamed as I held my daughter close, whispering: "Please tell me I can still trust you." When Damian Voss watched Alessandro Castellano enter his estate, he found an old photograph hidden inside my father's forgotten file. But one name was written on the back: "Alessandro." Damian suddenly realized my husband had been connected to my family long before I knew him.
I couldn't move.
I couldn't breathe.
For months, I had been running from Alessandro Castellano.
But somehow...
He had followed me to the one place I thought he couldn't reach.
Damian stood beside me, staring at the security monitor.
The calm expression he always wore was gone.
That frightened me more than anything.
Because I had seen powerful men lose control before.
But Damian Voss was different.
People like him survived because they never allowed fear to show.
Yet now...
He looked worried.
"Why is she here?"
I looked at the screen.
Isabella stood beside Alessandro outside the gate.
My sister.
The woman who destroyed my marriage.
The woman who smiled at me while secretly taking everything from me.
I felt anger rise inside my chest.
But underneath that anger was something worse.
Confusion.
"She came with him?"
Damian didn't answer.
"Damian."
His eyes stayed on the monitor.
"Yes."
I looked at him.
"You knew she was involved."
It wasn't a question.
I could see it in his face.
He knew something.
Something he hadn't told me.
"I knew she was dangerous."
My fingers tightened around my daughter's blanket.
"That's not what I asked."
Damian finally turned toward me.
"You deserve the truth."
I almost laughed.
That sentence again.
Everyone always said that.
But nobody ever told me anything until it was too late.
"Then tell me."
The alarm continued.
The sound filled the room.
Like a countdown.
Damian walked toward the table where my father's envelope was sitting.
"Your father discovered something about Alessandro before he died."
I looked at the envelope.
"What?"
"He discovered that Alessandro wasn't building his empire alone."
I frowned.
"Alessandro has always had partners."
"Not partners."
Damian opened the file.
"Family."
I felt a chill.
"What does that mean?"
He pulled out another photograph.
A younger Alessandro.
Much younger.
Standing beside my father.
I stared at the image.
"No."
My voice came out quietly.
"My father knew him?"
Damian nodded.
"Before you met him."
I took the photograph from his hand.
The man standing beside my father was impossible to mistake.
It was Alessandro.
But he looked different.
Younger.
Less cold.
Almost human.
On the back of the photograph was a date.
A date from twenty years ago.
Before my relationship with Alessandro ever began.
Before I even knew his name.
My hands shook.
"Why would my father keep this from me?"
Damian looked away.
"Because he was trying to protect you."
I looked at him.
"From Alessandro?"
"From the people behind Alessandro."
The words made my stomach turn.
I looked toward the entrance.
The security monitor showed Alessandro standing outside.
Waiting.
Not attacking.
Not forcing his way in.
Waiting.
That was somehow worse.
Because Alessandro never waited.
He took.
"What does he want?"
Damian's expression hardened.
"Your daughter."
My body immediately reacted.
I stepped backward.
"No."
"He believes your child is the key to something your father left behind."
I shook my head.
"My daughter is not a key."
"I know."
Damian's voice became softer.
"That's why I need to keep her away from him."
A loud sound came from the gate.
Alessandro's men had entered the property.
Damian looked toward his security team.
"How many?"
"Too many," one guard answered through the speaker.
I looked at Damian.
"You said this place was safe."
"It was."
"Was?"
He didn't answer.
That answer told me everything.
Damian Voss had protected me from the moment he found me.
But even he wasn't prepared for this.
I held my daughter closer.
"What are we going to do?"
Damian looked at me.
And for the first time, I saw something unexpected.
Not a crime boss.
Not a rival.
A man who had lost something before.
"We fight."
I stared at him.
"I don't know how to fight people like you."
"You don't have to become like me."
"Then what do I do?"
Damian stepped closer.
"You survive."
The mansion shook as another explosion came from outside.
My heart jumped.
The baby started crying.
I immediately focused on her.
"I'm sorry."
I whispered.
"I'm sorry you were born into this."
Damian watched me.
Then he said something I didn't expect.
"She is the reason you are still standing."
I looked at him.
"What?"
"Before her, you would have broken."
His words hit me.
Because he was right.
Three months ago, I would have begged Alessandro for answers.
I would have asked Isabella why.
I would have searched for the woman I thought I was.
But now...
I wasn't fighting for myself.
I was fighting for my daughter.
A guard entered the room.
"Mr. Voss."
Damian turned.
"Report."
The guard looked nervous.
"They're inside the east wing."
Damian's expression changed.
"Impossible."
"They had access codes."
Silence.
Everyone looked at each other.
Access codes.
Only someone close to Damian could have provided those.
I slowly looked toward the security monitor.
Isabella.
My blood went cold.
"She knew where we were."
Damian didn't deny it.
Because he knew.
She had betrayed him too.
The room became quiet.
Then my phone vibrated.
I looked down.
Unknown number.
Another message.
My hands froze.
Because this time...
The message wasn't from Alessandro.
It was from my father.
Impossible.
My father had been dead for years.
The message contained only one sentence.
"Nadine, don't trust Damian Voss."
I stopped breathing.
Damian saw my face.
"What happened?"
I slowly looked at him.
I couldn't speak.
Because the man who saved my life...
The man I had started believing...
Was suddenly the person my father warned me about.
Damian stepped closer.
"Nadine."
I held up the phone.
His eyes moved to the screen.
And for the first time since I met him...
Damian Voss looked afraid.
Not because Alessandro had arrived.
Not because his mansion had been attacked.
Because of the message.
Because he knew exactly who sent it.
Then another message appeared.
This time with a photograph attached.
I opened it.
My hands went numb.
May you like
Because the picture showed my father...
Standing alive beside Damian Voss.
