Chapter 12 - The Secret of the Twin
The command center beneath the mansion turned into a war room within minutes. Monitors flashed with satellite imagery of the San Lorenzo ruins—an abandoned, fog-drenched cathedral located on the cliffs of northern Italy.
Dominic stood over the main tactical table, his expression turned to cold stone. “How was this kept from me, Clara? When you gave birth five years ago, I was told there was only one child!”
Clara sat in a leather chair, her face pale, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Vincenzo sedated me during the delivery! When I woke up, he held Lily in his arms and told me the second baby was stillborn. I believed him! I thought my other daughter was dead!”
Dominic slammed his fist onto the table, cracking the glass screen. “Vincenzo didn't sell her to an orphanage. He gave her to your father, Don Marco Valenti.”
“Don Marco is dead,” Julian’s replacement, a loyal commander named Marcus, chimed in. “We confirmed his death during the cartel purge three years ago.”
“We confirmed what he wanted us to confirm,” Dominic spat, pulling an assault rifle from the rack and loading heavy armor-piercing rounds. “Marco Valenti is a phantom. He orchestrated Vincenzo’s coup from the shadows. He used his own daughter as bait, and now he’s using my missing child as leverage.”
From behind the heavy steel door, small footsteps padded across the floor. Lily stood in the doorway, clutching her stuffed rabbit. She looked at her parents with eyes far too mature for a five-year-old.
“Daddy,” Lily whispered softly. “My heart hurts in two places tonight.”
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Dominic dropped to his knees, taking her small hands in his. “What do you mean, sweetheart?”
“I can feel her,” Lily said, pointing to her chest. “She’s cold, Daddy. She’s crying in the dark.”
