CHAPTER 4 — The Voice Hidden in the Lullaby
Chicago woke up to my face.
Every television.
Every phone.
Every billboard hacked across the city.
REWARD: FIND LUCIA MARINO. DEAD OR ALIVE.
Within thirty minutes, the reward reached ten million dollars.
Taxi drivers.
Private investigators.
Corrupt police officers.
Even rival crime families.
Everyone suddenly had a reason to hunt the woman who had spent six months cleaning luxury apartments for minimum wage.
"You can't stay here."
Vincenzo spoke while fastening a shoulder holster beneath his jacket.
"They already know every property I own."
"So where do we go?"
"Somewhere my father swore never to return."
The old Russo estate.
Not the mansion.
The chapel beneath it.
Few people knew it even existed.
It had been built during Prohibition as an emergency shelter for the family.
No electricity.
No internet.
Only thick stone walls and secrets buried beneath them.
Three armored SUVs left separately from the penthouse.
Each carried a woman dressed exactly like me.
Same hoodie.
Same jeans.
Same silver cross.
Within twenty minutes...
Two convoys exploded.
The assassins had chosen the wrong vehicles.
"They expected decoys," Salvatore muttered.
"They didn't expect three."
Vincenzo never looked back.
"They'll keep attacking ghosts while we disappear."
The underground chapel smelled of dust and old candles.
On the altar rested a wooden music box.
Salvatore froze.
"It survived..."
"What is it?" I asked.
"Sofia never went anywhere without this."
Inside lay yellowed sheet music.
Only four lines.
No title.
Just handwritten notes.
Vincenzo looked at me.
"Can you sing it?"
"I've never seen it before."
"Try."
The melody felt strangely familiar.
Like remembering a dream.
The moment I sang the first verse...
A loud metallic click echoed through the chapel.
Everyone turned.
Behind the altar...
An entire section of stone slowly slid open.
A hidden room.
Salvatore covered his mouth.
"It wasn't a myth..."
Inside were dozens of ledgers.
Hard drives.
Cassette tapes.
Boxes marked with judges' names.
Senators.
Police commissioners.
Business tycoons.
Enough evidence to destroy half the country's most powerful criminal network.
But that wasn't what terrified Vincenzo.
It was the final envelope.
Written in Sofia's handwriting.
FOR MY DAUGHTER.
Before I could touch it...
A single gunshot shattered the silence.
The bullet struck the wall inches from my head.
Someone had found the chapel.
And they hadn't come alone.
More than forty armed men surrounded the underground entrance.
Their leader stepped into the candlelight.
Tall.
Gray-haired.
Elegant.
He smiled as though greeting family.
"Hello, nephew."
Vincenzo's expression turned to stone.
"Marco."
I looked between them.
"You know him?"
Salvatore whispered only two words.
"Your uncle."
Marco Russo slowly applauded.
"I've searched twenty-four years for that girl."
His eyes settled on me.
"And now..."
"...she finally sings exactly like her mother."
Then he raised one finger.
Every rifle pointed directly at me.
"Hand her over."
"And I only kill half of you."
For the first time in years...
Vincenzo laughed.
The sound echoed through the chapel like thunder.
"You still think she's the prize."
Marco smiled.
"She is."
Vincenzo shook his head.
"No."
"She's the weapon."
And for the first time...
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I realized they weren't hunting me because I was a Russo.
They were hunting me because of something only my voice could unlock.
