The Blood of My Enemy

Part 2 — The Secret Sofia Took to Her Grave

“Show me her death certificate.”

My voice was dangerously quiet.

Marco placed his phone on the bedside table. A photograph of an official document appeared on the screen.

Sofia Bennett. Age: forty-two. Cause of death: apparent cardiac arrest.

I stared at the date.

Three days ago.

“No,” I whispered. “Sofia didn’t have a heart condition.”

“We checked her medical history,” Marco replied. “She was healthy. The report was signed by a doctor at a private clinic that closed two years ago.”

I slowly lifted my eyes.

“Someone forged her death certificate.”

“That’s what I believe.”

I looked at Elena, who was still unconscious.

“Find out where Sofia was buried. And I want every person who handled her case identified.”

Marco nodded.

Then I noticed something beneath Elena’s hospital blanket.

A small leather pouch was tied around her wrist.

I carefully untied it.

Inside was a folded photograph.

My hands went completely still.

It was a picture of Sofia holding a newborn baby. She looked exhausted but happy, her dark hair falling across her shoulders.

On the back, in her familiar handwriting, were six words:

Our daughter. Her name is Elena. Forgive me.

I sat down.

For seventeen years, I had believed Sofia had abandoned me.

But she hadn’t simply disappeared.

She had given birth to my child.

And she had raised her alone.

“Mr. Mancini?”

Elena’s weak voice broke the silence.

I immediately leaned forward.

“I’m here, sweetheart.”

She opened her eyes slowly.

“Where’s my mom?”

I couldn’t answer.

Her expression changed.

“No…”

Tears gathered in her eyes.

“Please tell me she’s okay.”

I gently took her hand.

“I’m sorry, Elena.”

She began crying.

“She promised she’d come back. She said we were going to leave Chicago together.”

My jaw tightened.

“Leave Chicago? Why?”

Elena looked toward the door.

“Because bad men were following us.”

“Who?”

She swallowed painfully.

“Mom said they worked for a man named Richard Vale.”

The name hit me like a bullet.

Richard Vale.

My father’s former right-hand man.

Seventeen years ago, he had been responsible for several operations involving the Mancini family. After my father died, Richard disappeared with millions of dollars and some very valuable information.

I had searched for him for years.

And now his name had appeared in my daughter’s story.

“What did your mother know about him?” I asked.

Elena shook her head.

“She wouldn’t tell me everything. But she kept saying that he wanted something your family had.”

“What?”

She reached toward the leather pouch.

“There’s a letter. Mom told me to give it to you if anything happened to her.”

I opened the pouch again.

A sealed envelope lay beneath the photograph.

My name was written across it.

Luca Mancini.

I recognized Sofia’s handwriting immediately.

I broke the seal.

Luca,

If you’re reading this, then I have failed to protect our daughter.

I never wanted you to know about Elena. When I discovered I was pregnant, I was terrified. Richard Vale had threatened to destroy you if I stayed. He showed me photographs of your enemies, your business, and your family.

He told me that if you ever discovered you had a child, he would use her to destroy you.

I believed him.

I left because I thought distance would keep Elena safe.

But three months ago, Richard found us.

He told me your father had hidden something before his death. Something connected to the Mancini bloodline. He believes Elena’s existence can lead him to it.

Luca, I don’t know what he wants. But I know he won’t stop until he gets it.

Please protect our daughter.

And please don’t let her grow up believing that her father never wanted her.

I loved you.

Sofia.

I lowered the letter.

For a moment, I couldn’t hear anything except the steady beeping of Elena’s heart monitor.

Seventeen years.

Seventeen years of believing she had betrayed me.

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Meanwhile, she had been protecting my daughter from the monsters surrounding my family.

I stood.

“Marco.”

“Yes, boss?”

“Double the security on this floor. Nobody enters this room without my permission. Nobody.”

“Understood.”

“And find Richard Vale.”

Marco hesitated.

“Luca, there’s something you should know. We checked the hospital security footage.”

“What did you find?”

“A man entered Sofia’s room at the private clinic shortly before she died.”

He turned his phone toward me.

The image was blurry, but the man’s face was recognizable.

My own uncle.

Antonio Mancini.

My father’s younger brother.

The man who had attended my birthday dinners, shaken my hand, and called Elena’s mother a liar when her name was mentioned years ago.

I stared at the photograph.

“Bring him to me.”

Marco nodded.

But before he could leave, Elena grabbed my sleeve.

“Dad?”

I turned.

She looked frightened.

“Please don’t leave me alone.”

Something inside my chest broke.

I pulled a chair beside her bed.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

For the first time in seventeen years, I had a reason to be afraid of losing someone.

And I would burn Chicago to the ground before allowing anyone to take her from me.