CHAPTER 7 None of This Was an Accident #3
“Our relationship.”
She swallowed.
“Our engagement.”
Dante added, “Possibly more.”
Luca looked at him.
“Boss.”
“No.”
Dante’s voice hardened.
“No speculation.”
Sofia understood.
He refused to let the Circle define their son.
Good.
Then a sound came from outside.
An engine.
Luca moved to the window.
“We have company.”
Dante drew his weapon.
“Who?”
“One car.”
“Plates?”
“None.”
Headlights appeared beyond the gate.
The vehicle stopped.
No one exited.
Dante moved toward the door.
Sofia grabbed his arm.
“No.”
“I need to see.”
“From here.”
Luca already had binoculars.
He looked.
Then froze.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“You need to see this.”
Dante took them.
His face changed.
Sofia’s stomach tightened.
“What?”
He handed them to her.
She looked.
A man stepped out of the car.
Older.
Gray hair.
Thin.
Familiar.
Her entire body went cold.
“No.”
The binoculars slipped slightly in her hands.
Dante caught them.
Sofia stared through the window.
The man walked toward the gate.
Her father.
Carlo Bellini.
Alive.
Alone.
He stopped beneath the exterior light and raised both hands.
Then shouted.
“Sofia!”
She could not breathe.
Dante stepped in front of her.
Carlo continued.
“I know you’re there!”
Sofia held Matteo tighter.
Luca looked at Dante.
“Orders?”
Dante said nothing.
Carlo shouted again.
“They are coming!”
Sofia’s heart raced.
Dante opened the intercom.
“You have ten seconds to explain why I shouldn’t shoot you where you stand.”
Carlo looked toward the house.
“Dante.”
“Wrong answer.”
“Wait.”
“Nine.”
“I can explain everything.”
“Eight.”
“They manipulated all of us.”
“Seven.”
Carlo looked desperate.
“Sofia!”
She flinched.
Dante’s face hardened.
“Six.”
“I tried to stop them!”
Sofia stepped toward the intercom.
Dante caught her gently.
“No.”
“I need to hear him.”
“He sold you.”
“I know.”
Her voice broke.
“But I need to hear him.”
Dante stared at her.
Then released her.
Sofia pressed the button.
“Dad.”
Carlo’s face changed.
Relief.
Pain.
“Sofia.”
Her stomach twisted.
“Did you know?”
Silence.
Carlo looked down.
That was answer enough.
Sofia’s eyes filled.
“Did you know they planned to kill me after Matteo was born?”
Carlo did not answer.
“Dad.”
“Yes.”
The word destroyed something final.
Sofia closed her eyes.
Dante stood beside her.
Close.
Not touching.
Waiting.
“Why?”
she whispered.
Carlo looked toward the house.
“Because I thought I could change the plan.”
Sofia laughed bitterly.
“You sold me and then hoped they would be nicer?”
“No.”
“I was trying to save our family.”
“By sacrificing me?”
Carlo’s face twisted.
“I was afraid.”
“So was I.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Her voice hardened.
“You don’t get to say that.”
Carlo looked down.
Then suddenly raised his head.
“You need to leave.”
Dante stepped toward the intercom.
“Why?”
“The safe house is compromised.”
“We noticed.”
“You don’t understand.”
Carlo looked behind him.
“They did not bring you here to kill you.”
Dante’s eyes narrowed.
“Then why?”
“To make you open the bunker.”
Silence.
Sofia looked toward the floor.
“What is inside?”
Carlo’s face went pale.
“Not files.”
Dante’s jaw tightened.
“What?”
“The real vault is beneath the medical level.”
Sofia felt cold.
“What vault?”
Carlo looked directly toward her.
“A genetic archive.”
Her stomach dropped.
Dante’s expression darkened.
“Of whom?”
Carlo answered.
“Every designated child the Circle has produced in the last thirty years.”
Silence.
Sofia could barely breathe.
“How many?”
Carlo closed his eyes.
“Hundreds.”
Matteo shifted in her arms.
Dante looked at him.
Then at Carlo.
“Why do they want us to open it?”
“Because only two people can.”
“Who?”
Carlo’s answer came slowly.
“M-04.”
Dante.
“And S-17.”
Sofia.
Her blood turned cold.
“Our biometrics?”
“Yes.”
“Why us?”
Carlo looked toward Matteo.
“Because together, you are the highest authorization pair still alive.”
Dante’s face hardened.
Sofia whispered, “Still alive?”
Carlo nodded.
“The others are dead.”
Silence.
Then headlights appeared behind Carlo.
Multiple vehicles.
Fast.
His face changed.
“They’re here.”
Dante’s voice became sharp.
“Get inside.”
Carlo ran toward the gate.
Gunfire exploded from the darkness.
Sofia screamed.
Carlo fell.
“Dad!”
She moved.
Dante caught her.
“No!”
“My father!”
“Stay here!”
Luca raised his weapon.
More gunfire.
Matteo began crying.
Sofia held him tightly.
Carlo dragged himself toward the gate.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Dante cursed.
Then opened the door.
“Dante!”
He looked back.
One second.
His eyes found Sofia.
“Trust me.”
Then he ran outside.
Gunfire shattered the night.
Sofia stood frozen.
Three years ago, she had run because she believed Dante Moretti would bring death into her life.
Now she watched him run directly into gunfire to save the father who had betrayed them both.
And for the first time, she understood something the Circle had never accounted for.
They understood obsession.
They understood leverage.
They understood bloodlines, fear, loyalty, and power.
But they did not understand forgiveness.
They did not understand choice.
And they had never understood love at all.