CHAPTER 3 The Mafia Boss Finally Found the Woman Who Sold His Daughter... But Her Last Words Revealed the Child Standing Beside Him Was Never the Real Target
By midnight, New York belonged to Gabriel Varrick again.
Every dock.
Every warehouse.
Every safe house.
Every informant.
Thousands searched for one name.
Valentina Russo.
Known across Europe as "The Broker."
The woman who never kidnapped children.
She simply arranged who bought them.
Forty-eight hours later...
She was found hiding inside an abandoned church in Brooklyn.
Gabriel entered alone.
No guards.
No guns drawn.
Valentina smiled despite the bruises on her face.
"I knew you'd come."
Gabriel placed Lily's drawing onto the table.
"You sold my daughter."
Valentina laughed.
"No."
"I sold your future."
Gabriel grabbed her by the throat.
She never resisted.
Instead...
She looked toward Claire.
Then quietly asked,
"Has she told you who her father is?"
Claire frowned.
"My father died before I was born."
Valentina smiled wider.
"No."
"That's what your mother wanted you to believe."
Gabriel slowly released his grip.
Valentina continued.
"Twenty-five years ago..."
"Margaret Donnelly worked for your father."
"She witnessed something she never should have seen."
"A newborn baby..."
"A secret adoption..."
"A murdered witness..."
"And two infant girls."
Claire's heart pounded.
"What are you talking about?"
Valentina leaned closer.
"You think Lily was the child everyone wanted."
"She wasn't."
"They wanted you."
The church fell completely silent.
Gabriel stared at Claire.
Valentina whispered her final confession.
"The lullaby wasn't Isabella's."
"It belonged to the women of the Donnelly family."
"It was sung only to daughters carrying the Black Ledger bloodline."
Claire shook her head.
"No..."
"My mother would've told me."
Valentina smiled sadly.
"She couldn't."
"She spent twenty-five years hiding you."
"Because your real father..."
"...was the only man powerful enough to destroy every criminal empire on two continents."
Gabriel's breathing stopped.
"No..."
Valentina slowly turned toward him.
"You've been protecting the wrong child."
"Claire..."
"...is your sister."
Before anyone could react—
A sniper's bullet shattered the stained-glass window.
Valentina collapsed before she could reveal the final name.
Chaos erupted.
As Gabriel shielded Claire and Lily, he caught sight of a single black envelope sliding from Valentina's coat.
Inside was one photograph.
Two infant girls.
One was Claire.
One was Lily's late mother, Isabella.
Written across the back in faded ink:
"Only one daughter will survive long enough to open the Black Ledger."
Gabriel looked up.
For the first time in his life...
The feared mafia boss understood that every war he had fought...
May you like
Had only been the first chapter.
The real enemy had been waiting in the shadows for twenty-five years.
