Chapter 2 - The Night Roman Found Sophia
Five years earlier, Sophia Moretti believed her father repaired antique furniture.
Daniel Moretti had never been wealthy.
He drove a twelve-year-old Ford.
He wore the same brown jacket every winter.
He complained about grocery prices and kept coins in a coffee tin beside the refrigerator.
Nothing about him suggested secrets.
That was exactly how Daniel wanted it.
Sophia was working the closing shift at a downtown hotel when her phone rang at 11:42 p.m.
“Dad?”
Daniel sounded strange.
“Sophia, where are you?”
“At work.”
“Stay there.”
She laughed nervously.
“Why?”
“Don't go home.”
Something in his voice erased her smile.
“Dad, what's happening?”
“I need you to listen.”
“Okay.”
“There may be a man coming to see you.”
“What man?”
“His name is Roman Duca.”
Sophia knew the name.
Everyone did.
“Dad—”
“He's going to help you.”
“Why would Roman Duca help me?”
Daniel was silent.
Then he said something she would remember for the rest of her life.
“Because years ago, I helped him.”
The call ended.
Sophia tried calling back.
Nothing.
At 12:15, she left work despite her father's warning.
At 12:37, she reached their apartment.
The door stood open.
Daniel was gone.
Nothing appeared stolen.
But his desk had been searched.
Drawers lay open.
Papers covered the floor.
Sophia called the police.
Then she noticed a black car parked across the street.
A man stepped out.
Tall.
Dark suit.
Early thirties.
Roman Duca.
Sophia grabbed the nearest thing she could find—a heavy brass candleholder.
Roman stopped in the doorway.
“If you're planning to hit me with that, aim higher.”
“Get out.”
“Your father called me.”
Sophia froze.
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“I wish I were.”
Roman looked around the apartment.
His eyes stopped on the broken desk drawer.
Someone had been searching for something.
“What did he tell you?” Roman asked.
“Nothing.”
“Think.”
“He told me you would help.”
Roman looked genuinely surprised.
Then worried.
“He shouldn't have told you my name.”
“Why?”
Roman walked toward the window.
The black car remained outside.
“We need to leave.”
“I'm not going anywhere.”
“Sophia.”
“How do you know my name?”
Roman turned.
“Because your father has been keeping my family alive for twelve years.”
Sophia laughed in disbelief.
“My father fixes furniture.”
“No.”
Roman's answer was quiet.
“He fixes problems.”
Daniel Moretti had once worked as a forensic accountant.
Years earlier, he discovered a network of shell companies used to steal millions from several Chicago businesses—including companies controlled by the Ducas.
Instead of going public immediately, Daniel secretly preserved the records.
His information had prevented Roman's father from losing everything.
But Daniel disappeared from that world after Sophia's mother died.
He wanted a quiet life.
Carlo Duca didn't want him to have one.
Roman explained only part of this that night.
Enough to make Sophia understand that her father had lived two lives.
Not enough to destroy her image of him.
Then Roman's phone rang.
He answered.
His face became still.
“Where?”
Silence.
“We're coming.”
Sophia's heart stopped.
“Is it my father?”
Roman didn't answer.
She stepped closer.
“Roman.”
“He's alive.”
“Where?”
“At Saint Vincent.”
The hospital was fifteen minutes away.
They arrived in nine.
Daniel was conscious when Sophia entered.
Barely.
She ran to him.
“Dad.”
Daniel looked at Roman over Sophia's shoulder.
Something passed between the two men.
Recognition.
Guilt.
A promise.
Sophia noticed.
“What happened?”
Daniel took her hand.
“I'm sorry.”
“Don't talk like that.”
“You deserved a normal father.”
“You are a normal father.”
Daniel smiled faintly.
“No, sweetheart.”
He looked at Roman again.
“Promise me.”
Roman didn't respond.
Daniel's voice became stronger.
“Roman.”
“I promise.”
Sophia looked between them.
“Promise what?”
Neither man answered.
Daniel squeezed her hand.
“Trust him.”
Those were the last words Sophia heard her father speak.
Daniel died before sunrise.
For years afterward, Sophia believed Roman had arrived in her life because Daniel asked him to look after her.
That part was true.
What Roman never told her was that he had met Daniel several hours before Sophia received that phone call.
At the abandoned Mercer Street station.
Back in the mansion dining room five years later, Roman finally told her.
“Your father gave me something that night.”
Sophia stared at him.
“What?”
“A ledger.”
Carlo's face hardened.
Roman continued.
“It contained records showing someone had been stealing from Duca companies for seventeen years.”
Matteo swore quietly.
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“Who?”
Roman looked at Carlo.
Nobody needed the answer.
Carlo smiled.
“You always were dramatic.”
“Daniel had proof.”
“Daniel had numbers.”
“He had your signature.”
Carlo's smile disappeared.
Sophia felt sick.
“My father discovered you were stealing?”
“Your father discovered many things,” Carlo said.
Roman moved closer.
“Careful.”
Carlo laughed.
“Still protecting her?”
“Yes.”
“Even now?”
Roman didn't hesitate.
“Especially now.”
Sophia looked at the photograph again.
“What happened after the train station?”
Roman's silence frightened her.
“Tell me.”
Roman finally nodded.
“Daniel gave me the ledger. Then he told me Carlo knew he had it.”
Sophia looked at Carlo.
“And?”
“Your father asked me to take you somewhere safe.”
“But you didn't.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel changed the plan.”
Roman's voice became heavier.
“He said he had discovered something bigger than the stolen money.”
Sophia's heart began racing.
“What?”
Roman looked at Isabella.
His mother lowered her eyes.
“Something about your mother.”
Sophia stopped breathing.
“My mother died when I was thirteen.”
“I know.”
“What could Carlo possibly know about her?”
Roman did not answer.
Isabella did.
“Everything.”
Sophia turned toward her.
Isabella looked suddenly twenty years older.
“Sophia, your mother wasn't who Daniel told you she was.”
“What are you talking about?”
Isabella's eyes filled with tears.
“Her name wasn't Anna Moretti when Daniel met her.”
Sophia stared.
“What was it?”
Isabella looked toward Roman.
Roman closed his eyes briefly.
Then Isabella whispered:
“Her name was Anna Duca.”
Sophia's knees nearly gave way.
Matteo went pale.
Around the table, people began whispering.
Sophia stared at Isabella.
“No.”
“Sophia—”
“No.”
She looked at Roman.
“You knew?”
Roman didn't answer quickly enough.
Sophia understood.
“You knew.”
Her voice broke.
“My mother was part of your family?”
Roman stepped toward her.
Sophia backed away.
“No.”
“Sophia.”
“What aren't you telling me?”
Roman stopped.
Across the table, Carlo began to smile again.
And Sophia realized the worst secret of the night had not been revealed yet.
May you like
Because if her mother had been a Duca—
then Sophia had married into a family she might already belong to.
