CHAPTER 10 The Woman Who Could Burn the Circle #3
“If you want her dead right now, you shoot through me.”
“Sofia.”
“Because I am not moving.”
His face changed.
“You think I would risk you?”
“No.”
“That is manipulative.”
“Yes.”
He almost laughed from disbelief.
“You learned too much from me.”
“Probably.”
The gun remained raised.
Then slowly lowered.
Dante turned away.
His shoulders were rigid.
Sofia exhaled.
Elena whispered, “Thank you.”
Sofia turned on her.
“That was not for you.”
Elena went silent.
Sofia stepped closer.
“You get one chance.”
Her voice shook.
“Why did you kill Marco?”
Elena looked at Dante.
Then at the archive.
“Because Marco found out who the previous Custodian was.”
Dante turned.
“What?”
Elena swallowed.
“He discovered the Circle had infiltrated the Moretti family.”
“We know that.”
“No.”
Her voice lowered.
“You don’t understand.”
Sofia felt dread.
Elena continued.
“Marco wasn’t going to expose the Circle.”
“But you just said—”
“I lied.”
Dante’s eyes became lethal again.
“Why?”
Elena looked at Sofia.
“To keep something worse hidden.”
Silence.
“What?”
Sofia asked.
Elena’s answer came slowly.
“Marco discovered the identity of M-01.”
Dante frowned.
“What is M-01?”
Carlo went still.
Mercer smiled.
Sofia saw both reactions.
“You know.”
Carlo did not answer.
Dante stepped toward him.
“What is M-01?”
Mercer laughed.
“The first viable Moretti successor.”
Dante’s face hardened.
“That makes no sense.”
“Why?”
“My father had two sons.”
Mercer smiled.
“That you knew about.”
Silence.
Dante stopped.
Sofia felt cold.
Elena looked at him with something like pity.
“Antonio Moretti had another son.”
Dante stared.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Older?”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
Elena closed her eyes.
Dante’s voice became dangerous.
“Where?”
Mercer answered.
“Alive.”
Dante turned.
“Who?”
Mercer smiled through bloody teeth.
“The man who ordered tonight’s attacks.”
Sofia’s stomach dropped.
“The old faction?”
“Yes.”
“Who is he?”
Mercer’s smile widened.
Elena whispered, “His name is Adrian Moretti.”
Dante went still.
Sofia felt his shock.
“Adrian Vale.”
She whispered.
Mercer laughed softly.
The doctor.
The researcher.
The man who had delivered Matteo.
The man who had hunted them.
Dante’s older brother.
Alive.
Hidden.
Raised by the Circle.
Dante looked at Elena.
“You killed Marco because he discovered Adrian.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Marco was going to bring him home.”
Dante stared.
“And?”
Elena’s face collapsed.
“You don’t understand what Adrian is.”
“Then explain.”
“He was taken from Antonio as an infant.”
Sofia felt sick.
“By the Circle?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He was the original succession candidate.”
Dante’s jaw tightened.
“Before Marco.”
“Before you.”
“And they raised him?”
“Yes.”
“As what?”
Elena looked toward Mercer.
He answered with pride.
“The perfect Custodian’s sword.”
Silence.
Dante’s expression became cold.
“So my brother is running the old faction.”
“Yes.”
Sofia looked at Mercer.
“And he wants Matteo.”
“More than anything.”
“Why?”
Mercer smiled.
“Because Matteo is the son Adrian was supposed to have.”
The words made no sense.
Sofia frowned.
“What?”
Elena went pale.
Mercer continued.
“The original union was never meant to be Dante and Sofia.”
Dante’s eyes narrowed.
“Then who?”
Mercer looked at Sofia.
“You.”
Her blood chilled.
“And Adrian Moretti.”
Silence.
Sofia stopped breathing.
Dante’s face became terrifying.
Mercer smiled.
“Dante was the replacement.”
Everything they believed fractured again.
The engagement.
The tests.
The matching.
The designation.
Sofia whispered, “Why was he replaced?”
Elena looked at Dante.
“Because Adrian saw Sofia.”
Dante frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Elena swallowed.
“And became obsessed.”
Dante’s expression darkened.
Mercer laughed.
“The Circle feared he would destroy the program rather than share control.”
Sofia felt nauseous.
“So they switched brothers.”
“Yes.”
“And chose Dante.”
“Yes.”
Dante looked at Sofia.
For one second, neither spoke.
Then Mercer delivered the final blow.
“Adrian never accepted the replacement.”
The vault went silent.
“He waited.”
Mercer continued.
“He watched Sofia marry his younger brother.”
“We never married.”
Sofia whispered.
Mercer smiled.
“Exactly.”
Her blood ran cold.
Dante understood first.
His face changed.
“The threat before the wedding.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Dante stared at her.
“Adrian made Sofia run.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Three years.
Every lost moment.
Every lie.
Every fear.
Not random.
Not only the Circle.
Personal.
Dante’s brother had wanted Sofia.
And when he could not have her, he had made sure Dante could not either.
Sofia looked toward the sleeping world somewhere above them where Matteo waited.
Then at Dante.
This was no longer only about the Circle.
It was about blood.
Brothers.
Obsession.
And a man Sofia had never knowingly met who had spent years shaping her life from the shadows.
Dante took her hand.
His grip was steady.
But his eyes were not.
“What happens now?”
Sofia whispered.
Dante looked toward the archive.
Then at Mercer.
Then at Elena.
Finally back at her.
“Now?”
His voice became cold.
“Now I meet my brother.”