Chapter 12 - The Shot That Changed Everything|
I don't remember deciding to move.
One moment, Sophia was stumbling away from Antonio.
The next, I was running toward her.
I heard shouting.
A gunshot.
Then the awful sound of someone hitting the pavement.
I caught Sophia around the shoulders and pulled her behind a concrete support.
We fell together.
My burned hand struck the ground.
Pain shot through my fingers.
But I barely noticed.
"Sophia!"
She was crying.
"I'm okay!"
I stared at her.
Her dress was torn.
There was dirt on her cheek.
But she was alive.
She was breathing.
I wrapped my arms around her.
"Don't move."
More shouting echoed through the loading yard.
Then a voice called out.
"Weapon secured!"
I lifted my head.
Antonio lay on the pavement several yards away.
An officer had fired when Antonio raised his weapon toward Sophia.
Antonio was wounded in the shoulder.
He was conscious.
And he was being handcuffed as emergency medical personnel rushed toward him.
Luca ran toward us.
"Sophia!"
She scrambled out of my arms.
"Daddy!"
He dropped to his knees and caught her.
For several seconds, he couldn't speak.
He simply held her.
His shoulders shook.
I looked away.
Some moments are too private even when they happen in front of dozens of people.
Then Sophia whispered, "I knew you'd come."
Luca pressed his forehead against hers.
"Always."
She began crying again.
"I'm sorry."
His expression changed.
"For what?"
"For leaving the room."
"Sweetheart—"
"I thought Miss Elena was sick. The woman said she needed help."
Luca closed his eyes.
Sophia's voice broke.
"I thought I was doing something good."
He held her face between his hands.
"Listen to me."
She looked up.
"You did nothing wrong."
"But—"
"Nothing."
He kissed her forehead.
"The adults who lied to you are responsible for what happened."
Sophia began sobbing against his chest.
I stayed where I was, trying to catch my breath.
Then Luca looked toward me.
"Megan."
I started to stand.
My legs wouldn't cooperate.
He noticed immediately.
He handed Sophia to Daniel, who had hurried over, and rushed toward me.
"Are you hurt?"
"I'm okay."
He looked at my hand.
The skin was swollen.
The blister had broken when I fell.
His expression darkened.
"You're not okay."
"It's just my hand."
"Megan."
I looked up.
His voice softened.
"You saved my daughter's life."
Tears filled my eyes.
"I only grabbed her."
"You ran toward a man holding a gun."
I swallowed.
"I couldn't leave her."
Luca stared at me.
For a moment, I saw something beneath his familiar stern expression.
Something vulnerable.
Something grateful.
He carefully helped me stand.
Then Sophia ran back and wrapped her arms around my waist.
"Miss Megan!"
I hugged her with my good arm.
She began crying again.
"I was so scared."
"I know, sweetheart."
"Uncle Antonio said Daddy wouldn't choose me."
My chest tightened.
I looked toward Luca.
His eyes filled.
Then Sophia whispered, "But Mommy told me Daddy always comes home."
I pressed my lips together.
Caroline had been gone for three years.
Yet somehow, she'd still found a way to protect her daughter.
An ambulance arrived.
Medical personnel examined Sophia.
Another team treated Antonio before transporting him under police guard.
Vanessa sat in the back of a patrol car.
Her face was wet with tears.
When Luca walked past, she called his name.
"Luca!"
He stopped.
"Please."
He turned slowly.
Vanessa pressed her hand against the window.
"I never wanted Caroline dead."
Luca stared at her.
"Then why did you help the men who threatened her?"
Vanessa began sobbing.
"My mother told me Caroline was trying to destroy us."
"And you believed her?"
"I was young."
Luca's face hardened.
"You were thirty-three."
Vanessa looked down.
He stepped closer.
"You weren't a child."
She couldn't answer.
"You followed my wife. You helped hide what happened. Then you came into my home and convinced my daughter she should be ashamed of remembering her mother."
Vanessa covered her face.
Luca's voice became very quiet.
"You didn't just betray me."
He looked toward Sophia.
"You betrayed a little girl who wanted someone to love her."
He turned away.
Vanessa called after him.
"Please don't hate me!"
Luca stopped without looking back.
"Hatred would require giving you more of my life."
Then he continued walking.
I watched him kneel beside Sophia as a paramedic checked her pulse.
For the first time since Caroline's death, he seemed to understand that justice and revenge were not the same thing.
But the story wasn't finished.
Because as investigators searched the warehouse, they discovered something inside Antonio's office.
A locked filing cabinet.
Filled with documents bearing Victoria Bellini's signature.
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And one envelope addressed to a woman none of us expected.
MEGAN COLLINS.
