Chapter 6 - The Betrayal Inside the Family
The hospital became a fortress.
Doctors worked for hours.
My father survived.
Barely.
Niko didn't leave my side.
But someone had gotten close enough to poison him.
That meant there was a traitor.
Inside the Santoro organization.
Niko gathered everyone.
His mother.
His cousins.
His captains.
His security team.
I stood beside him.
"Someone here betrayed us."
Nobody moved.
Niko looked around.
"Find them."
Hours passed.
Then one of the security logs disappeared.
The person responsible was Niko's closest lieutenant, Vincent.
Vincent had been with him for ten years.
Niko confronted him privately.
I wasn't supposed to hear.
But I did.
"You sold us."
Vincent cried.
"I had no choice."
"Everyone has a choice."
"Marco had my daughter."
Silence.
Niko's anger softened.
"Where is she?"
"Safe."
"Then help me."
Vincent looked stunned.
"You'll forgive me?"
"No."
Niko's voice was cold.
"But I'll give you a chance to make it right."
Vincent revealed Marco's location.
An abandoned theater in Brooklyn.
Niko planned the operation.
I insisted on coming.
"No."
"Yes."
"Elena."
"I know Marco wants me."
"Exactly."
"Which means I'm the bait."
He hated the idea.
So did I.
But it worked.
At midnight, I entered the theater alone.
Marco stepped from behind the curtains.
"You look like your mother."
"I never knew her."
"You wouldn't."
"Where is my father?"
"Alive."
"Then let him go."
Marco smiled.
"You have your grandfather's records."
"I don't."
He laughed.
"You still think I'm stupid."
I looked around.
"You're the one who needed to kidnap a woman to get a memory card."
His smile vanished.
"You have no idea what power you're holding."
"Neither do you."
A sound came from above.
Niko.
Marco looked up.
Gunfire erupted.
Men rushed through the theater.
Chaos.
Marco grabbed me.
A knife pressed against my throat.
"Niko!"
Everything stopped.
Niko stared at him.
"Let her go."
Marco smiled.
"You always were predictable."
Then he whispered to me:
"Your husband doesn't know the truth."
"What truth?"
Marco's smile widened.
"Ask him why Gabriel really died."
I froze.
Niko's expression changed.
Marco pushed me away.
Then disappeared through a hidden exit.
We found my father.
Alive.
But Marco was gone.
On the ride home, I asked Niko the question.
"Why did Gabriel really die?"
He didn't answer.
"Niko."
"I don't know."
"Marco said you did."
His hands tightened on the steering wheel.
"I didn't."
"Then who did?"
"I don't know."
Silence.
When we arrived at the penthouse, Niko went directly to his office.
I followed.
He opened a locked drawer.
Inside was an old photograph.
Gabriel.
Niko.
And another man.
My father.
I stared.
"What is this?"
Niko closed his eyes.
"Your father and Gabriel knew each other."
"What?"
"They were working together."
"On what?"
"The investigation."
I felt betrayed.
"You knew?"
"I found out after we married."
"You never told me."
"I was protecting you."
"No."
My voice cracked.
"You were controlling the truth."
He looked devastated.
"You're right."
I walked away.
"Elena."
"I need space."
He didn't follow.
For the first time since our wedding, I wanted distance from him.
Not because I stopped loving him.
Because I was afraid love would make me ignore things I needed to know.
That night, I slept alone.
In the morning, I found an envelope beneath my door.
Inside was a photograph of Gabriel.
May you like
On the back:
He died because your father betrayed him.
