CHAPTER 3 — The Maid They Were Ordered to Kill
The first thing Vincenzo did after the sniper attack wasn't chasing the assassin.
It was checking whether I was breathing.
That surprised both of us.
"I'm fine."
"No."
His voice remained calm.
"You were the target."
I stared at him.
"I'm a cleaning lady."
"Not anymore."
Within minutes, armored SUVs surrounded the building.
Every elevator was locked.
Every rooftop occupied.
The city believed the Russo organization was protecting its boss.
Only Vincenzo knew the truth.
They were protecting me.
Hours later, his oldest adviser arrived.
Eighty-year-old Salvatore Romano.
The only man allowed to criticize Vincenzo without consequences.
The old man looked at me once...
...and dropped his cane.
"Holy Mother of God..."
He stepped closer.
Tears filled his eyes.
"The eyes..."
"The same eyes."
Vincenzo frowned.
"You recognize her?"
Salvatore reached into his wallet.
From inside he removed a faded photograph.
A wedding picture taken decades earlier.
The bride.
The same woman from the office photograph.
She looked almost identical to me.
"This is Sofia Russo."
"Your mother."
I laughed.
"No."
"My mother died giving birth to me."
"So you were told."
The room fell silent.
Salvatore's voice trembled.
"Twenty-four years ago, Sofia vanished while pregnant."
"Everyone believed both mother and baby were murdered."
He slowly looked at me.
"But no body was ever found."
My knees weakened.
"That's impossible."
"I have my birth certificate."
"Documents can be forged."
"I have pictures."
"So do orphans."
I turned toward Vincenzo.
He wasn't denying it.
Because he had already seen something I hadn't.
The silver cross hanging around my neck.
A cheap necklace my grandmother had insisted I never remove.
He lifted it carefully.
Hidden inside was a tiny engraving.
R.R.
Russo.
The family initials.
The room spun.
"No..."
"My grandmother..."
Salvatore closed his eyes.
"She wasn't your grandmother."
"She was Sofia's bodyguard."
"She saved you."
"She ran."
"She spent twenty-four years hiding the last Russo heir."
Before anyone could speak again...
Every light in the penthouse went black.
Emergency generators failed.
The security monitors died.
Then one phone rang.
Only one.
Vincenzo answered.
A distorted voice laughed softly.
"So..."
"...the Lost Daughter has finally come home."
"You've protected her for twenty-four years."
"But now..."
"...we're coming to finish what your father started."
The call ended.
Seconds later...
Every television in Chicago interrupted its broadcast.
One photograph appeared across every screen.
Mine.
Below it, six terrifying words glowed in white letters:
REWARD: FIND LUCIA MARINO. DEAD OR ALIVE.
In one single night...
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The invisible maid became the most hunted woman in America.
And the secret hidden inside her voice was powerful enough to bring down an empire.
