Chapter 5 - THE SECRET DAMIANO BURIED THREE YEARS AGO
Father Thomas Grayson lived behind St. Michael’s Church.
Damiano arrived alone.
The priest opened the door and immediately knew why he had come.
“Mia found the photograph.”
Father Grayson stepped backward.
“You know her?”
“I baptized her.”
Damiano’s jaw tightened.
“My daughter was baptized and nobody thought I should know?”
“Sofia made us swear.”
“Us?”
“Rafael and me.”
Damiano’s anger sharpened.
“Then Rafael knew.”
“Yes.”
The answer nearly broke something inside him.
“All this time?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Father Grayson sat.
“Because three years ago, Sofia discovered Carlo Verrone and Silvio Marchetti were secretly moving money from both families into offshore accounts. They were preparing to trigger a war.”
“Why?”
“To eliminate the older leadership and inherit what remained.”
Damiano understood.
His father's generation had died unusually quickly.
Heart attacks.
Accidents.
Indictments.
Disappearances.
Coincidence had always bothered him.
“Rafael?”
“Was helping Sofia.”
Damiano stared.
“The photograph—”
“Was taken the night we tried to get her out.”
The priest explained.
Rafael had discovered Carlo's scheme.
He secretly approached Sofia because she understood financial records.
Together, they collected evidence.
But Carlo learned of the plan.
Sofia escaped the car crash.
Rafael hid her.
Father Grayson staged the funeral.
“Then why tell her not to trust Rafael?”
“She didn't.”
Damiano frowned.
“That handwriting isn't Sofia's.”
Damiano felt cold.
“Whose is it?”
“Carlo's.”
The photograph had been planted.
Someone wanted Damiano to turn on Rafael.
A divide.
Exactly what Carlo needed.
Then the church door opened.
Rafael entered.
Damiano rose.
For several seconds, neither man spoke.
Finally Rafael said:
“I wanted to tell you every day.”
“You watched me bury an empty coffin.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me mourn.”
“Yes.”
“You watched my daughter grow up without me.”
Pain crossed Rafael’s face.
“Yes.”
Damiano grabbed his jacket and shoved him against the wall.
“Give me one reason.”
“Because Sofia made me promise.”
“That isn't enough.”
“She said if you knew she survived, you would start a war looking for her.”
“She was right.”
“And thousands would have died.”
Damiano released him.
Rafael continued.
“After Mia was born, Sofia was hemorrhaging. She knew she wouldn't survive.”
“Stop.”
“She made me swear you would never know until Carlo and Silvio were exposed.”
“I said stop.”
But Rafael couldn't.
“Her last words were about you.”
Damiano turned away.
“She said, ‘Tell him I didn't leave because I stopped loving him. I left because loving him made our daughter a target.’”
Damiano closed his eyes.
For three years, he had believed Sofia abandoned him in death.
Now he learned she had died protecting his child.
When he finally opened his eyes, they were wet.
“What evidence did she leave?”
Rafael looked at Father Grayson.
The priest answered.
“Something Carlo could never safely destroy.”
“What?”
“A recording.”
“Where?”
Father Grayson looked at Damiano.
“Sofia hid it with the one person Carlo would never suspect.”
“Mia?”
“No.”
May you like
The priest shook his head.
“Your mother.”
