The chapel seemed to hold its breath.
Damien kept his gun trained on the stranger.
Marco stood beside him, confused by the tension between them.
Elena looked from Damien to the mysterious man, her heart pounding.
“You know him,” she whispered.
Damien didn’t look at her.
“Yes.”
The stranger smiled faintly.
“After all these years, Damien.
Still protecting everyone except yourself.”
“Enough, Adrian.”
Elena’s eyes widened.
“Adrian?”
The stranger stepped into the faint moonlight.
It was Adrian Russo.
One of the most dangerous men in the underground world.
But there was something different about him tonight.
He wasn’t there to kill Damien.
He was there to warn him.
Marco raised his weapon.
“Put your gun down, Russo.”
Adrian ignored him.
His eyes remained on Damien.
“Antonio isn’t the one who ordered the attack.”
Damien’s expression hardened.
“Then who did?”
Adrian reached inside his coat.
Marco immediately aimed his gun at his chest.
“Slowly.”
Adrian pulled out a small black envelope.
He tossed it onto the floor.
Damien stared at it.
“What is that?”
“Everything you need to know.”
Damien stepped forward and picked it up.
Inside was a single photograph.
He looked at it.
His face changed.
Marco noticed.
“What is it?”
Damien didn’t answer.
Elena stepped closer.
“Damien?”
He slowly handed the photograph to her.
Elena looked down.
Her breathing stopped.
It showed her mother standing outside the Rossi family estate.
But the photograph wasn’t old.
It had been taken only three months ago.
Elena’s hands began to shake.
“She’s alive…”
Adrian nodded.
“Yes.”
Tears filled Elena’s eyes.
“Why would my father lie to me?”
“Because your father wasn’t protecting you,” Adrian replied.
“He was protecting the person controlling him.”
Silence. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Damien looked at Adrian.
“Who?”
Adrian’s expression became serious.
“Luciano Vieri.”
Marco’s face went pale.
“No.”
Damien’s eyes narrowed.
“Vieri died fifteen years ago.”
“That is what everyone believes.”
Adrian looked toward the chapel entrance.
“He didn’t die.”
A cold silence followed.
Marco lowered his weapon slightly.
“If Luciano is alive…”
“He’s been building an empire underneath yours,” Adrian said.
Damien clenched his fist.
“How long?”
“Fifteen years.”
Damien stared at him.
“And you knew?”
“I discovered the truth six months ago.”
“Why didn’t you come to me?”
Adrian’s expression darkened.
“Because anyone who tried to contact you disappeared.”
Marco looked at Damien.
“That’s impossible.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“Is it?”
He pointed toward the chapel floor.
“Look around you.”
Bodies lay scattered across the stone.
“Antonio’s men weren’t sent here to kill you.”
Damien looked at the dead men.
“They were sent to make sure you never left.”
Elena suddenly noticed something.
“Damien…”
She pointed toward one of the bodies.
There was a symbol carved into the man’s wrist.
A black crown.
Damien’s eyes darkened.
He recognized it.
“The Black Crown.”
Adrian nodded.
“Exactly.”
Marco stepped back.
“I thought that organization disappeared.”
“It never disappeared,” Adrian said.
“It went underground.”
Damien slowly turned toward Elena.
She was crying silently.
He walked toward her.
“Elena.”
She looked at him.
“My mother is alive.”
“I know.”
Damien hesitated.
That hesitation broke something inside her.
“You knew?”
“Elena, listen to me—”
“You knew my mother was alive?”
“I suspected.”
“You suspected?”
Her voice cracked.
“You’ve been protecting me, making decisions for me, telling me what I needed to know… and you never told me?”
Damien stepped closer.
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
“I don’t need you to decide what I can handle!”
The words echoed through the chapel.
Damien fell silent.
Elena wiped her tears.
“I want the truth.”
Adrian watched them quietly.
Then he spoke.
“You want the truth?”
Elena turned toward him.
“Yes.”
Adrian looked at Damien.
“Then ask your husband why his father killed your mother.”
Damien’s eyes widened.
“Adrian…”
Elena froze.
“My mother…”
Adrian continued.
“Your mother wasn’t abandoned.”
“She was betrayed.”
Damien’s face became stone.
And somewhere outside the chapel, a phone began to ring.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Damien slowly reached into his pocket.
He looked at the screen.
UNKNOWN NUMBER.
He answered.
A distorted voice spoke.
“Damien Moretti…”
Damien said nothing.
The voice continued.
“You have until sunrise to bring Elena to the old Rossi estate.”
Damien’s eyes narrowed.
“Who are you?”
A quiet laugh came through the phone.
Then the voice whispered:
“Ask your wife what happened the night her mother disappeared.”
The call ended.
Elena stared at Damien.
“What did they mean?”
Damien slowly lowered the phone.
For the first time in years, the Mafia King looked genuinely shaken.
Because he knew exactly what happened that night.
And he had promised a dying man he would never tell Elena.
To be continued…