Chapter 10 - Clara’s Brother Knew the Castellano Name
Daniel’s men covered Clara’s eyes before driving away.
She counted turns.
Left.
Right.
Highway.
Rough road.
Twenty-three minutes.
Then metal beneath the tires.
Warehouse or industrial bridge.
Her father had taught her that trick when she was little.
“If you ever get lost, pay attention to sounds.”
Back then it had been a game.
Now it might keep her alive.
When the blindfold came off, Ethan sat fifteen feet away.
“Clara.”
She ran to him.
Daniel allowed it.
Ethan was pale but conscious.
“You okay?”
“I’ve had better dates.”
She laughed through tears.
“You idiot.”
“Family trait.”
Daniel watched them.
“You two sound like Thomas.”
Clara stood.
“Don’t say his name.”
“He was my brother.”
“You killed him.”
“He chose his fate.”
“No. You chose it for him.”
Daniel’s smile disappeared.
“Thomas wanted to destroy everything I built.”
“With stolen money?”
“With opportunity.”
“With blood.”
Daniel walked closer.
“You know what your father never understood? Good people stay poor because they believe rules protect them.”
Clara stared at him.
“My father died with more honor than you’ll ever have.”
Daniel slapped her.
Ethan surged against his restraints.
“Touch her again and—”
“What?” Daniel laughed. “You’re going to stand up?”
Clara’s eyes burned.
She refused to give him tears.
“Where are the twins?”
“Safe.”
“I want to see them.”
“You don’t make demands.”
“Then why am I here?”
Daniel studied her.
“Because Gabriel trusts you.”
Her blood went cold.
“What does he have?”
Daniel smiled.
“There it is.”
Clara realized.
The key had not been everything.
Sofia had given Gabriel something else.
“What?”
“You really don’t know.”
Daniel looked almost disappointed.
“Sofia was clever.”
He gestured toward a photograph on the wall.
It showed a toy astronaut.
The same astronaut Gabriel kept in his wooden box.
Clara remembered it immediately.
“The toy.”
Daniel smiled.
“Inside that astronaut is an access key to an offshore account containing records that could bury half the organization.”
“Then why not take it?”
“Because Gabriel hid it after the accident.”
Clara remembered the box.
But the toy had been there.
Unless Daniel believed the data device was still inside when Gabriel had removed it long ago.
“He doesn’t talk,” Daniel said. “But he talks to you in his own way.”
Clara understood.
They needed her to make Gabriel reveal the hiding place.
“He won’t.”
“You’ll convince him.”
“No.”
Daniel glanced toward Ethan.
Clara’s stomach turned.
“You wouldn’t.”
“I killed my brother.”
His voice became quiet.
“What makes you think I care about his son?”
For the first time, Clara truly understood evil.
Not anger.
Not violence.
Absence.
Daniel had erased every human connection inside himself.
Meanwhile, Dominic refused to obey the ransom instructions.
Not fully.
He brought the original drive to the meeting point.
But Matteo had already sent encrypted copies to a federal prosecutor Sofia had trusted years earlier.
Dominic’s criminal past made approaching federal authorities dangerous.
He did it anyway.
His children mattered more than his freedom.
The prosecutor, Rebecca Sloan, stared at the evidence.
“This could dismantle multiple networks.”
“I don’t care.”
“You should.”
“My children are missing.”
“We’ll coordinate.”
“No raids until they’re safe.”
Rebecca studied him.
“You realize this evidence includes crimes tied to your companies.”
“Yes.”
“You could be charged.”
“Yes.”
“And you came anyway.”
Dominic’s expression did not change.
“Bring my children home.”
Back at the warehouse, Ethan whispered to Clara after Daniel left.
“I know where the twins are.”
She stared.
“How?”
“I heard Mia yelling.”
“That could be anywhere.”
“No. I heard trains.”
Clara listened.
Faintly.
Far away.
A horn.
Ethan smiled weakly.
“You taught me that sounds matter.”
Her eyes filled.
Their father had taught both of them.
Ethan continued.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Dad told me the Castellano name before he died.”
Clara frowned.
“You said you didn’t remember.”
“I remembered when they brought me here.”
He swallowed.
“Dad said if something happened, find Sofia Castellano.”
Clara looked stunned.
“He trusted her.”
“Yes.”
“And he said something else.”
“What?”
“Not all Castellanos are the enemy.”
Ethan looked toward the door.
“He said Dominic might be the only man powerful enough to stop Daniel.”
Clara stared at him.
Her father had placed hope in Dominic years before she ever met him.
Then footsteps approached.
Daniel returned.
Beside him walked Mrs. Alvarez.
Dominic’s longtime housekeeper.
Clara’s heart dropped.
Mrs. Alvarez would not meet her eyes.
“You,” Clara whispered.
The older woman began crying.
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel laughed.
“She’s been useful.”
“Why?”
Mrs. Alvarez looked at Clara.
“They had my son.”
Clara’s anger faltered.
Daniel rolled his eyes.
“Everyone has a price. Money. Family. Fear.”
Mrs. Alvarez whispered, “I told them schedules. Nothing more at first.”
“And Sofia?”
Tears streamed down her face.
“I told Salvatore when she planned to leave.”
Clara’s stomach twisted.
“You helped kill her.”
“I didn’t know!”
Daniel smiled.
“Everyone says that afterward.”
Then a guard entered.
“Dominic arrived.”
Daniel’s face brightened.
“Good.”
May you like
He looked at Clara.
“Time to see how much an angel is worth to a man who has spent his entire life pretending he doesn’t have a soul.”
