SHADOWS OF THE PAST

CHAPTER TWO

★ Cassie's POV ★

I couldn't sleep. Again.

The nightmares always left me restless, my mind spinning with fragments I could never quite grasp. So I did what I always did, I wandered the house, hoping the movement would quiet my thoughts.

The hallway was dark, silent except for the tick of the grandfather clock. I was heading toward the kitchen when I heard voices drifting from Uncle Javin's study.

At this hour?

I knew I should keep walking. Nothing good ever came from my uncle's late-night meetings. But something made me pause. a name carried on the air that sounded almost familiar.

Cassandra.

That was my full name. The one no one ever used.

My heart began to race as I crept closer, pressing myself against the wall beside the study door. It was cracked open just enough for voices to slip through.

"Cassandra should be nineteen already," a man's voice said, deep, unfamiliar. "And you know what that means. The threats against us will never stop. The Morettis are determined to get her, and we can't let that happen. Too much is at stake already. We can't afford more."

The sharp crack of a fist hitting wood made me flinch.

"Those good-for-nothing Morettis." Uncle Javin's voice was venomous. "I've done everything to keep her away from them. erased her from every record, buried every trace as deep as I could. But they never back down."

"Of course they won't, Father." That was Sam, his voice cold and measured. "They're her father's family. They believe everything her parents left should be in their possession."

My breath caught. Her father's family? My father?

"But I will never let that happen," Javin snarled. "Do they expect me to just hand over that kind of power and wealth? My sister should be grateful I even kept her daughter alive. The power our parents passed down to her as the firstborn, she never once considered giving it to me. She deserved far worse than death."

The hatred in his voice made my blood run cold.

My mother. He was talking about my mother.

The other man spoke again, calmer now. "Then you need to be more careful, Javin. What if Cassandra starts to remember..."

"She doesn't know," Javin cut him off sharply. "And it stays that way."

"But what if she starts asking questions?" The man's voice was measured, cold. "If she remembers anything..."

"She won't." Sam's voice was hard as stone. "We've made sure of that."

Made sure of that? What does that mean?

My mind reeled. Nothing made sense. The Morettis. My parents. Power and inheritance I knew nothing about. And they'd done something to ensure I wouldn't remember?

I needed to hear more. I leaned closer, shifting my weight.

Creak.

The floorboard beneath my foot groaned like a scream in the silence.

Everything stopped.

"What was that?" Sam's voice cut through the pause.

Panic shot through me. I stumbled backward, but it was too late. Footsteps approached rapidly.

The door swung open.

Sam stood there, his eyes locking onto mine with cold recognition. A slow, cruel smile spread across his face.

"Well, well," he said, his voice dripping with malice. "Look what we have here."

Uncle Javin appeared behind him, his expression darkening as he stared at me. The other man was tall, broad-shouldered, with eyes like a hawk as he stepped into view as well.

"Cassie." Javin's voice was dangerously calm. "What are you doing here?"

My throat went dry. "I... I was just getting some water."

Sam's smile widened. "At midnight? Outside my father's study?"

"I got lost," I stammered, backing away. "The house is dark, I...."

"She's been listening." The stranger's eyes bored into me with an intensity that made my skin crawl. "She heard everything."

Javin's jaw clenched. "Cassie. Come inside."

Every instinct screamed at me to run. But where would I go? I couldn't outrun them. Not in this house. Not anywhere.

My legs felt like lead as I forced myself forward, stepping into the study. The stranger closed the door behind me with a soft click that sounded like a prison lock.

"So, Cassie." Sam circled around me like a predator. "What did you hear?"

"Nothing," I said quickly, shaking my head. "I didn't hear anything. I swear."

The stranger's laugh was low and menacing. "Don't lie to us, Cassandra. We know you were listening."

Cold sweat broke out across my skin. How did this man know my full name? How did he know me at all?

Sam leaned forward, his eyes gleaming with something that looked almost like excitement. "Tell us, Cassie. What do you remember?"

"Remember? I don't....I don't understand...."

"About that night," Sam pressed. "About your parents. About who you really are."

My mind went blank. I had no idea what he was talking about. Fragments of nightmares flickered through my thoughts, shadows, screaming, blood, but nothing concrete. Nothing real.

"I don't remember anything!" The words came out as a desperate sob.

Panic overwhelmed me. I turned and bolted for the door, but the stranger was faster. His hand clamped around my arm like a vice, yanking me back.

"Let me go!" I screamed, struggling against his grip.

He pulled a cloth from his pocket. Before I could react, it was pressed firmly over my nose and mouth.

A sickly-sweet chemical smell filled my lungs. I thrashed, trying to hold my breath, but my body betrayed me. My vision blurred. My legs gave out.

The world tilted sideways.

The last thing I saw was Uncle Javin approaching with a syringe, his face emotionless as stone.

Then everything went black.

---

When consciousness began to creep back in, it came in fragments.

Voices, distant and muffled.

"And what was that for?" The stranger's voice.

"It suppresses her memories." Uncle Javin sounded clinical, detached. "If she does remember hearing us, this will erase it. I've been giving her a low dose for years. She won't remember a thing. No one will ever find out."

Years?

The word echoed in the darkness of my fading awareness.

He'd been drugging me. For years.

But the thought slipped away like water through my fingers as the drug pulled me deeper into unconsciousness.

---

★ Rafael's POV ★

The world could burn for all I cared, as long as she stayed safe.

I stood in the hallway, watching Isadora from the doorway. Her tiny hands wrapped around her sippy cup as Alma braided her dark hair on the edge of the couch. Her innocent laughter echoed softly, a sound that somehow managed to soothe the darkness that clung to my chest like smoke.

She was four years old,wild, curious, sweet beyond reason, and the only soul in this cruel world that made me feel anything remotely human.

Alma looked up, catching my gaze. "She's been asking when you'll take her to the beach again." Her tone was gentle but pointed. "For kids her age, I don't think it's healthy to always keep them locked inside."

"I will," I muttered, my voice tight. "Soon."

She nodded, returning to hum some soft tune only a child would know. I turned away before the warmth in my chest could betray the ice I'd carefully built around it.

In my office, Nicolas was already waiting.

I lit a cigar and stepped into the dim space, the smoke curling around me like familiar ghosts. "Talk."

"She's a ghost," Nicolas said without hesitation, sliding a thin folder across my desk. "Cassie Roglas. No digital footprint, no documented past, no official records. Not in the system, not in any files. Just a name and a face that shouldn't exist."

I opened the folder. A single photograph stared back at me. a young woman with haunted eyes, walking with a bag clutched to her chest, head down like she was trying to disappear.

"People like her don't just appear from nowhere," I said coldly.

"That's the thing, Rafael." Nicolas leaned forward. "The few people who do know her? They're either keeping very quiet... or they've gone permanently silent."

My jaw clenched.

If the Morettis wanted her, if they had her on their radar, she wasn't just some random girl. She was either leverage, a threat, or a key to something much bigger.

"Dig deeper," I ordered. "Friends, old addresses, schools, habits, medical records if you can find them. I want to know every single detail about her. Where she came from, who's protecting her, and why people are dying over her."

"Understood." Nicolas stood to leave.

I rose from my chair, walking to the tall windows overlooking the city. Venice's lights blinked in the darkness like tiny lies. A storm was coming. And Cassie Roglas was sitting right in the eye of it, whether she knew it or not.

I didn't like what I didn't know. And I hated being kept in the dark.

Just as I turned to dismiss Nicolas, my burner phone buzzed on the desk.

Unknown number.

I picked it up, already on guard.

"Who is this?"

A distorted voice came through, mechanical and cold. "She's not what you think. Back off. Or lose everything."

The line went dead.

My blood froze for half a second. Then the anger boiled over, hot and vicious.

Someone had the nerve to threaten me. They were fully aware they were playing with death, yet they called anyway.

I don't take threats lightly. Ever.

But the fact that they knew I was digging meant Sophia had been right. there were multiple players in this game. And they were watching my every move.

"Nicolas!" I barked, my voice cutting through the silence like a blade.

He was at the door in seconds.

"Double security on Isa," I ordered, my eyes dark with fury. "No one and I mean no one gets near her. Triple the perimeter guards. I want eyes on every entrance, every window, every shadow within a hundred yards of this house."

He nodded, already reaching for his weapon. "Consider it done."

After he left, I stood alone in the darkness, my mind racing.

Who the hell was Cassie Roglas?

And why were the monsters suddenly crawling out of the shadows for her?

One thing was certain: I'd find out. And when I did, whoever threatened my daughter would learn exactly why people feared the name Rafael Montez.

I poured myself a glass of whiskey, staring at Cassie's photograph on my desk.

"Who are you?" I murmured to the empty room.

The city lights offered no answers. But I'd get them soon enough.

I always did.