Chapter20: “The man called Marcus”

Tayla's POV

I barely slept after finding the photograph.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Noah walking out of school while someone watched him from across the street.

Someone had stood there long enough to take that picture.

Long enough to study him.

Long enough to know exactly where he was.

The thought made me sick.

By six in the morning, I was already sitting at the kitchen island with a cup of coffee that had gone cold an hour ago.

The photograph remained in front of me.

I kept telling myself to put it away.

Instead, I stared at it.

Again.

And again.

And again.

The front door opened just after seven.

Luca stepped inside carrying breakfast.

Bagels.

Coffee.

Orange juice.

The same routine he'd followed almost every morning since Damian's arrest.

For a second, guilt hit me.

Because part of me still appreciated everything he'd done for Noah and me.

Then I looked at the photograph again.

The guilt disappeared.

"You're awake early."

His voice sounded normal.

Comfortable.

I looked up.

"I couldn't sleep."

His eyes immediately found the photograph.

The smile left his face.

"What happened?"

I slid it across the counter.

For several seconds, he studied it.

His expression hardened.

Not dramatically.

Just enough for me to notice.

"Where did you get this?"

"It was on the kitchen counter."

Luca looked up sharply.

"What do you mean it was on the counter?"

"It was there when I came downstairs."

Silence.

A long silence.

Then Luca muttered a curse under his breath.

I watched him carefully.

The reaction seemed genuine.

But lately I wasn't sure what genuine looked like anymore.

"Noah doesn't leave my sight until we figure this out."

The protective tone in his voice should have comforted me.

Instead, it raised another question.

Why did he suddenly seem more nervous than I was?

Later that morning, Tayla met Damian's lawyer.

This time she didn't call ahead.

She simply arrived.

The lawyer looked exhausted.

Like a man who hadn't slept much recently.

"Mrs. Russo."

She closed the office door behind her.

"I need answers."

The lawyer removed his glasses.

"About what?"

"Marcus."

The name changed everything.

His posture stiffened immediately.

And that alone told her she was finally asking the right questions.

The lawyer leaned back slowly.

"Where did you hear that name?"

"Someone was asking questions about Noah."

The lawyer's expression darkened.

Then he opened a file drawer and removed a thin folder.

He hesitated.

Clearly debating whether to show her.

Eventually he pushed it across the desk.

"Read it."

Tayla opened the folder.

Inside were photographs.

Police reports.

Witness statements.

Old newspaper clippings.

Her stomach tightened.

The face staring back at her belonged to a man in his forties.

Broad shoulders.

Hard eyes.

A face that looked permanently angry.

"This is Marcus Bell."

She turned another page.

And another.

Each page seemed worse than the last.

Extortion.

Assault.

Illegal gambling.

Witness intimidation.

Yet somehow the man had avoided serious prison time.

Again and again.

And again.

"Why is he connected to Damian?"

The lawyer's answer came quietly.

"He isn't."

Tayla looked up.

The lawyer held her gaze.

"He's connected to Luca."

The room became silent.

The kind of silence that changes everything.

Because this wasn't suspicion anymore.

This wasn't a feeling.

This was real.

Something tangible.

Something dangerous.

The rest of the day passed in a haze.

Tayla drove home feeling as though the ground beneath her life had shifted.

For weeks she'd been trapped between two versions of reality.

The one Luca showed her.

And the one Damian had warned her about.

Now those realities were beginning to collide.

When she arrived home, Noah was in the living room building a tower out of blocks.

The sight made her smile despite everything.

Children had a way of making the world feel normal.

At least for a few minutes.

"Mom, look."

The tower wobbled.

Then collapsed immediately.

Noah groaned dramatically.

Tayla laughed.

"You should be an actor."

"I'm serious."

"I know."

He began rebuilding it immediately.

Completely unfazed by failure.

Something about that made her emotional.

Adults forgot how to do that.

Adults carried every disappointment forever.

Children simply started again.

That evening, Luca arrived later than usual.

He looked tired.

Distracted.

As though something was bothering him.

Noah ran over immediately.

"Uncle Luca!"

Luca smiled and ruffled his hair.

But Tayla noticed something strange.

The smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

Not tonight.

During dinner, Noah talked nonstop.

School.

Friends.

Soccer.

Cartoons.

Everything except the things adults worried about.

Luca barely touched his food.

His attention seemed elsewhere.

Finally, Noah excused himself to finish a school project.

The moment he disappeared down the hallway, Luca spoke.

"You've been avoiding me."

The directness caught Tayla off guard.

She looked up.

"I've been busy."

Luca laughed softly.

"That's not true."

His voice wasn't angry.

But it wasn't lighthearted either.

The conversation suddenly felt dangerous.

"I don't know what you want me to say."

For a moment he simply stared at her.

Then he leaned back in his chair.

"I want you to tell me what's really going on."

Tayla's pulse quickened.

Because she couldn't.

Not yet.

If Luca truly was involved in whatever Damian had uncovered, confronting him now would be a mistake.

A huge mistake.

So she forced a smile.

"I'm tired."

The lie hung between them.

Obvious.

Unconvincing.

Luca knew it.

She knew it.

Neither mentioned it.

Across the city, Damian sat alone inside his cell.

The investigator had just left.

And the news he'd delivered continued replaying inside Damian's head.

Marcus Bell.

Following Tayla.

Following Noah.

The move made no sense.

Unless Luca was losing control.

Unless Tayla had discovered something important.

Something worth threatening her over.

The possibility filled Damian with dread.

Because he knew his brother.

Better than anyone.

Luca never acted unless he felt cornered.

And if Luca felt cornered now...

Things were about to become much worse.

Close to midnight, Tayla sat alone in Damian's office.

The room felt different lately.

Like it belonged to a stranger.

She opened one of the remaining cabinets she hadn't searched before.

Most of it contained ordinary documents.

Contracts.

Financial records.

Old business proposals.

Nothing useful.

Then she found a small key taped beneath a shelf.

Her breath caught.

She stared at it for several seconds.

A hidden key.

Damian had hidden a key.

Which meant it opened something important.

Something he didn't want anyone else finding.

Her heart started pounding.

Slowly, she slipped the key into her pocket.

And for the first time in days, she felt something other than fear.

Hope.

Because somewhere out there was a lock.

And behind that lock might finally be the truth.

The complete truth.

Not Luca's version.

Not Damian's version.

The truth.

The only problem?

She had no idea who might be trying to stop her from finding it.