Chapter 5 - THE VIPER'S NEST
"Elena?" Damiano whispered, taking the paper from my shaking hands. He stared at his sister’s looping, unmistakable signature. The paper crinkled under his tightening grip.
"Your sister," I breathed, the betrayal wrapping around my throat like a vine. "Your sister tried to kill my baby. And she’s the one who found us. She approached Nico at the park!"
I grabbed Nico, pulling him onto my lap, wrapping my arms around him defensively. He squirmed, confused by my sudden panic.
Damiano was a statue. Elena wasn't just his sister; she was the matriarch of the family since their mother died. She was the one who had practically raised him.
"She wouldn't," Damiano said, his voice hollow. "Elena loves me. She wanted me to have a family."
"Look at the paper, Damiano!" I cried out. "She authorized it! And she approached my son! How did she even know we were alive?"
Damiano’s eyes darkened, the shock giving way to the terrifying, calculated coldness of a mob boss. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. He put it on speaker and set it on the coffee table.
It rang twice before a smooth, cultured woman's voice answered.
"Damiano. I see my package was delivered."
"Elena," Damiano said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "Care to explain why you approached my dead wife's son at a public park?"
A soft sigh echoed through the phone. "Because he has your eyes, Damiano. I saw them at the grocery store last week. Claire the waitress, right? I had a private investigator follow her. Imagine my shock when I realized my grieving brother’s wife had been serving pie in Connecticut for six years."
"You ordered the drugs," Damiano growled. "You tried to poison her."
"I did no such thing!" Elena’s voice spiked with sudden, fierce anger. "Look closely at the document, Damiano! Yes, it's my signature. But look at the date!"
I leaned over, looking at the top right corner of the photocopy.
October 14th.
"October 14th," I whispered. "That was the day we were in Rome. Damiano, we were on our honeymoon."
"Exactly," Elena said bitterly over the phone. "I was in Rome with you. Someone forged my signature, Damiano. Someone who had access to the family accounts, someone who knew I was out of the country and couldn't defend myself if it ever came to light."
"Enzo," Damiano realized, the pieces finally clicking into place.
"Enzo," Elena confirmed. "He’s been poisoning the well for a decade. He manipulated the doctors, he forged my name, and he drove Sienna away. And now, Damiano, he’s coming for you. He knows Sienna is alive. He knows about the boy."
"How?" Damiano demanded.
"Because I'm not the only one who saw them," Elena said, her voice trembling. "Enzo has Dot’s Diner surrounded. He has the safehouse surrounded too, Damiano. I sent the envelope to warn you. You need to get out. Now."
The line went dead.
The silence in the room was deafening. Then, a sharp, metallic clink echoed from the front of the cabin.
Someone was picking the locks.
Damiano moved with lethal speed. He grabbed his coat, shoving his spare magazines into his pockets. He scooped Nico up in one arm and grabbed my hand with the other.
"To the basement," he ordered.
We rushed down the wooden stairs into the dark, damp cellar. Above us, the front door splintered open with a massive crash. Heavy footsteps thumped across the floorboards.
Damiano pushed me behind the heavy oil furnace, tucking Nico into my chest. "Do not make a sound," he mouthed.
He stepped out from behind the furnace, raising his gun toward the wooden stairs.
A shadow fell over the top step. "Damiano!" a voice called out playfully. "Come on, brother. Let’s not do this the hard way."
It was Enzo.
"You forged her name," Damiano called up, his voice dripping with venom. "You tried to kill my child."
"I was trying to protect the family!" Enzo yelled back. "You were soft, Damiano! You wanted to be a father, a husband. This family needs a king, not a family man!"
Suddenly, a small, terrifying sound broke the silence. Nico, terrified by the yelling, let out a soft whimper.
Enzo laughed, a cruel, echoing sound. "Bring the boy up, Damiano. Let Uncle Enzo say hello."
Damiano didn't speak. He just raised his weapon.
But as he aimed, a bright red laser dot appeared directly on Damiano’s chest, shining from a tiny basement window behind him. A sniper.
Damiano saw it a second too late.
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"Damiano, down!" I screamed.
The glass shattered. Damiano threw himself backward, taking the bullet in his shoulder instead of his heart. He hit the dirt floor hard, his gun skittering away into the darkness.
