The Ghost From the Past

My entire body froze.

The cold barrel pressed harder against the back of my neck.

For one terrifying second, I forgot how to breathe.

The tunnel was silent except for the distant groan of shifting stone.

Beside me, Alessio went completely still.

Dangerously still.

The kind of stillness that came right before violence.

"Don't move," the voice repeated.

My heart slammed against my ribs.

I knew that voice.

I knew it.

But that was impossible.

Because the man it belonged to was supposed to be dead.

Alessio's eyes narrowed.

"That's not possible."

A soft chuckle sounded behind me.

"Funny."

The voice moved closer.

"That's exactly what I said when they tried to kill me."

My stomach dropped.

No.

No, no, no.

It couldn't be.

The man stepped into view.

And for the first time, I saw him.

Dark hair.

Sharp features.

A scar running across his jaw.

A face I hadn't seen in years.

A face from my childhood.

A face that should have been buried.

My breath caught.

"Uncle Marco?"

The man smiled.

But there was nothing warm about it.

"Hello, Lucia."

Shock hit me so hard I almost stumbled.

Marco Moretti.

My father's younger brother.

The uncle everyone said had died fifteen years ago during a failed mafia operation.

The uncle whose funeral I vaguely remembered attending as a child.

The uncle my father never spoke about.

Alessio's expression darkened immediately.

"You."

Marco's smile widened.

"Nice to see you too, Romano."

My mind raced.

This couldn't be real.

I looked from Marco to Alessio.

Then back again.

"What is happening?"

Marco sighed dramatically.

"That's the problem, sweetheart."

His eyes locked onto mine.

"Nobody ever tells you anything."

The tunnel trembled again.

Dust fell from the ceiling.

Nobody moved.

Nobody blinked.

Because suddenly the collapsing tunnel wasn't the biggest problem anymore.

The dead had just come back to life.

Alessio stepped slightly in front of me.

Immediately.

Instinctively.

Protectively.

Marco noticed.

Of course he did.

"Still hiding behind him?" Marco asked.

"Still threatening women with guns?" Alessio replied coldly.

The smile vanished from Marco's face.

Good.

I preferred him angry.

At least then he looked human.

"What do you want?" Alessio asked.

Marco laughed.

"What do I want?"

His gaze shifted briefly.

Toward the darkness.

Toward the direction Matteo disappeared.

Then back again.

"I want the truth."

Something about the way he said it made my stomach tighten.

Because he believed it.

Whatever this was.

Whatever insanity had brought him here.

He genuinely believed he was right.

Those were always the dangerous ones.

Another violent tremor shook the tunnel.

A crack appeared in the ceiling above us.

Marco ignored it.

Alessio didn't.

Neither did I.

"We don't have time for this," Alessio said sharply.

"Actually," Marco replied calmly, "you don't have much time for anything."

The gun remained pointed at me.

I hated that.

Not because I was scared.

Though I absolutely was.

But because Alessio looked one second away from killing someone.

And I wasn't entirely sure which outcome was worse.

Marco's eyes returned to me.

"You look like your mother."

The random comment caught me off guard.

"What?"

He shrugged.

"Same eyes."

My skin crawled.

"Stop talking like we're family."

Something flashed in his expression.

Pain.

Gone almost immediately.

But I saw it.

So did Alessio.

Interesting.

Marco lowered the gun slightly.

Not enough.

But slightly.

"I was family once."

"No," I said quietly.

"You abandoned family."

His jaw tightened.

The tunnel fell silent.

Then—

Marco laughed.

A bitter sound.

"That's what Dante told you?"

My stomach dropped.

Because suddenly I wasn't sure.

Not completely.

Not anymore.

Marco shook his head.

"Of course he did."

"Don't," Alessio warned.

Marco looked at him sharply.

"Don't what?"

"Manipulate her."

Marco's smile returned.

"I don't need to manipulate anyone."

His eyes found mine again.

"The truth does the work itself."

Great.

Fantastic.

Exactly what we needed.

More cryptic nonsense.

The tunnel groaned loudly.

Stone cracked somewhere nearby.

Alessio took one quick glance around.

Assessing.

Planning.

Always planning.

Then he made a decision.

Fast.

Without warning—

he moved.

Everything happened at once.

Alessio lunged forward.

Marco reacted instantly.

The gun fired.

The sound exploded through the tunnel.

I screamed.

A flash of light.

Then chaos.

The bullet slammed into the wall instead of me.

Stone shattered everywhere.

Marco stumbled backward.

Alessio crashed into him.

Both men hit the ground hard.

I backed away immediately.

Heart racing.

The tunnel shook again.

More violently this time.

The collapse was getting worse.

Much worse.

Marco punched Alessio.

Alessio punched him harder.

Blood appeared instantly.

Neither seemed to care.

They rolled across the floor.

Fighting like animals.

Not businessmen.

Not mafia heirs.

Not powerful men.

Just two people who genuinely hated each other.

The gun slid across the stone.

Toward me.

I stared at it.

No.

Absolutely not.

I was not becoming part of this fight.

Another tremor.

The floor shifted slightly beneath my feet.

The gun moved closer.

Alessio noticed immediately.

"Lucia!"

I looked up.

Bad timing.

Marco used the distraction.

He slammed Alessio into the wall.

Hard.

Really hard.

My stomach dropped.

"Alessio!"

"I'm fine," he growled.

Liar.

Blood ran from a cut near his eyebrow.

Marco stood.

Breathing heavily.

The collapse sounds were getting louder now.

Closer.

The tunnel was dying around us.

And still nobody wanted to leave.

Men.

Honestly.

Marco wiped blood from his mouth.

Then looked at me.

"Ask him."

"What?"

His eyes burned.

"Ask him what Roman Romano really did."

Alessio's entire body went rigid.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

Because that reaction wasn't anger.

It was recognition.

My stomach tightened.

"What is he talking about?" I asked.

Neither answered.

That silence was enough.

Marco laughed.

"There it is."

"Shut up," Alessio snapped.

"Oh?"

Marco stepped forward.

"Afraid she'll learn where all this really started?"

Another crack split across the ceiling.

Huge.

Dangerous.

Stone rained down.

I jumped backward.

"We need to leave!"

Nobody listened.

Of course.

Because apparently survival wasn't today's priority.

Marco's eyes never left Alessio.

"You think Matteo is the villain?"

His smile widened.

"You haven't even found the beginning yet."

My pulse spiked.

Because suddenly everything connected.

Bianca.

Matteo.

The hidden tunnels.

The attacks.

The lies.

This wasn't recent.

This had been building for years.

Maybe decades.

Alessio knew it too.

I could see it.

Marco pointed directly at him.

"Tell her."

Alessio remained silent.

"Tell her what your father did."

Nothing.

My stomach twisted.

"Alessio?"

His jaw clenched.

Hard.

Too hard.

For the first time since I'd met him—

he looked uncertain.

Not scared.

Not weak.

Uncertain.

That terrified me.

Because Alessio Romano was never uncertain.

Another explosion echoed somewhere deep beneath us.

The tunnel lights flickered violently.

Half the ceiling collapsed behind Marco.

Stone crashed down.

Blocking the path we came from.

We all stared.

Silence.

The collapse had reached us.

For real.

No more warnings.

No more countdown.

The system was failing.

Marco looked at the rubble.

Then back at us.

His expression changed.

Decision.

Urgent decision.

"There's one exit left."

Alessio immediately moved toward me.

Protective as always.

"Where?"

Marco pointed into the darkness ahead.

"Core Chamber."

My stomach dropped.

The exact place Bianca warned us about.

Wonderful.

Just wonderful.

"No," Alessio said instantly.

"It's the only way."

"How do you know?"

Marco's expression hardened.

"Because I built it."

Silence.

Complete silence.

My breath stopped.

Alessio's eyes narrowed.

"What?"

Marco smiled.

Not proudly.

Regretfully.

"I designed these tunnels."

The floor shook beneath us.

Hard enough to throw everyone off balance.

And suddenly—

everything made sense.

Why Marco wasn't surprised.

Why he knew the routes.

Why he appeared here.

Why he wasn't dead.

He wasn't a victim.

He was connected.

Deeply connected.

Maybe from the beginning.

Then a voice echoed through hidden speakers above us.

Calm.

Familiar.

Dangerous.

Matteo.

"Congratulations."

All three of us froze.

The speaker crackled.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to figure it out."

My pulse skyrocketed.

Matteo laughed softly.

Then said the one thing none of us expected.

"Tell her the truth, Marco."

A pause.

Then—

"Tell Lucia who her real father is."

The world stopped.

And beside me—

for the first time since I had met him—

Alessio looked genuinely shocked.