Chapter 2 - Lucas Raced to Rescue Nadia’s Missing Brother—But the Man They Found in the Rossi Warehouse Revealed Her Dead Husband Had Been Working for the Mafia Boss All AlongRain swept across Providence Harbor.
Nadia sat in the second SUV with Lucas.
He had argued for five minutes about leaving her behind.
She had won by opening the door and getting in.
Lucas had stared at her.
“You always this difficult?”
“Only when men mistake orders for arguments.”
Marco laughed from the front seat.
Lucas looked at him.
“Something funny?”
“Nothing.”
Nadia almost smiled.
Then she remembered Victor.
Her hand returned to her belly.
Lucas noticed.
“Pain?”
“No.”
“If anything feels wrong—”
“I’ll tell you.”
He nodded.
That small response surprised her.
No command.
No lecture.
Just acceptance.
Cold Storage Fourteen stood beside the water like an abandoned concrete tomb.
Lucas’s men entered first.
No gunfire.
That worried him.
The building had been cleared.
They found ropes.
Food containers.
Blood.
And one man lying unconscious behind a freezer unit.
“Victor!”
Nadia ran.
Lucas caught her before she slipped.
She dropped beside her brother.
Victor was thirty-one, thinner than she remembered, bruised and bearded.
But alive.
His eyes opened.
“Nadia?”
She sobbed.
Victor reached toward her belly.
“You’re still pregnant.”
She laughed through tears.
“That’s your first observation?”
“I’ve had a difficult year.”
Lucas crouched.
“Who moved you?”
Victor saw him.
Fear flashed.
“Falcone.”
Nadia noticed.
“You know Lucas?”
Victor struggled upright.
“I know what he is.”
Lucas did not argue.
“Who took you?”
Victor looked toward the door.
“We need to leave.”
“Who?”
“The Rossis.”
Nadia closed her eyes.
She had expected it.
Hearing it still hurt.
Then Victor looked at Lucas.
“And someone inside your organization.”
Lucas’s expression sharpened.
“Name.”
“I never saw him.”
“Voice?”
“No.”
“Anything?”
Victor hesitated.
“He wore a Falcone ring.”
Lucas glanced at Marco.
Many senior men carried them.
The drive back was different.
Victor refused a hospital until a doctor could examine him privately.
Lucas arranged it.
At the mansion, Dr. Russo treated fractured ribs, dehydration and an infected wound.
Victor slept.
Nadia sat beside him.
Lucas appeared at the doorway.
“You should rest.”
“So should you.”
“I don’t.”
“That explains your personality.”
Lucas leaned against the frame.
Nadia looked at him.
“Why did Tomas call you?”
Lucas was silent.
“Tell me.”
“He worked for me.”
The words hit like a slap.
“What?”
“Not officially.”
Nadia stood.
“My husband hated organized crime.”
“So did several people who worked for me.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Tomas repaired cranes and cargo equipment. He noticed containers entering Pier Nine under false manifests. He reported it to Victor.”
Nadia stared.
“You knew Victor too?”
“Yes.”
Anger rose again.
Lucas continued before she could speak.
“Victor approached me because he thought my people were responsible.”
“Were they?”
“Some.”
Lucas entered.
“My father built the Falcone organization around gambling, freight theft and protection. When I took over, I stopped narcotics trafficking and several other businesses.”
“People trafficking?”
His jaw tightened.
“My father would have killed anyone for it.”
“And you?”
“The same.”
Nadia believed him.
That disturbed her.
Lucas explained that someone had begun using Falcone-controlled docks to move undocumented migrants and trafficking victims through containers.
Some disappeared into forced labor.
Others into worse.
The operation required insiders from both families.
Victor discovered it.
Tomas helped.
Lucas quietly recruited them as sources.
“You put them in danger.”
“Yes.”
The answer came without defense.
Nadia stared.
“And Tomas died.”
“Yes.”
“You should have protected him.”
“Yes.”
Lucas looked directly at her.
“I failed.”
No excuse.
No speech.
It weakened her anger in a way excuses never could.
“You knew I existed?”
“Tomas mentioned his wife. He never gave me your name.”
“Why?”
“He didn’t trust me enough.”
“Smart man.”
“Yes.”
Lucas almost smiled.
Then Victor woke.
“Nadia?”
She returned to him.
Victor saw Lucas.
“The card.”
“We found it.”
“Then you know.”
“Some.”
Victor closed his eyes.
“Tomas made two copies.”
Lucas stepped forward.
“Where is the second?”
Victor looked at Nadia.
“He gave it to me.”
“Where?”
“I hid it before they took me.”
“Where?”
Victor’s gaze moved toward Toby, who had slipped into the doorway unnoticed.
The boy froze.
Victor stared.
“Who is that?”
“Toby.”
Victor went pale.
“What’s his last name?”
“Marino.”
Lucas saw it too.
“Carlo Marino’s son.”
Victor whispered, “Oh God.”
Nadia looked between them.
“What?”
Victor tried to stand.
Pain stopped him.
“Carlo wasn’t killed during a warehouse robbery.”
Lucas’s expression hardened.
“What are you saying?”
“He was part of the investigation.”
Silence.
Victor explained.
Carlo Marino had discovered trafficked people inside a container.
He took photographs.
He confronted his superior.
Two days later he was dead.
The Falcone organization blamed a rival crew.
Lucas ordered retaliation.
Three men died.
All innocent of Carlo’s murder.
Lucas’s face went empty.
Toby stared from the doorway.
“My dad?”
Everyone turned.
Nadia’s heart broke.
Toby stepped inside.
“You said my dad died protecting the house.”
Lucas looked at the boy.
He had faced prosecutors, killers and enemies.
None had frightened him like this.
“I believed that.”
“Was he bad?”
“No.”
Victor spoke.
“Your father was brave.”
Toby’s eyes filled.
“Then who killed him?”
Victor looked at Lucas.
“The same man who ordered Tomas killed.”
Lucas’s phone rang.
Gino.
Lucas answered.
The old steward’s voice shook.
“Boss. Bianca is here.”
Lucas frowned.
“What?”
“She says she wants her belongings.”
“Don’t let her upstairs.”
Too late.
A scream echoed through the house.
Nadia ran into the hallway.
“Toby?”
The boy was gone.
The side door stood open.
On the floor lay Bianca’s engagement ring.
Lucas picked it up.
His face transformed.
Security footage showed Bianca entering through the front.
While staff argued with her, two masked men entered through the service corridor.
They took Toby.
Bianca disappeared with them.
Nadia stared at the screen.
“She kidnapped an eight-year-old child.”
Victor struggled into the room.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
“She didn’t take him because he’s a child.”
Victor pointed toward the footage.
“She took him because Carlo hid the second copy.”
Lucas understood.
“With Toby.”
Nadia’s stomach tightened.
“How?”
Victor looked devastated.
“Carlo gave Toby something before he died.”
A toy.
A small wooden falcon.
Toby carried it everywhere.
Nadia had seen it beside his bed.
Lucas searched.
Gone.
Toby had taken it.
His father’s evidence had been beside them for two years.
Bianca called.
Lucas answered.
“Put him on.”
She laughed.
“No hello?”
“Bianca.”
“Still cold.”
“Put Toby on.”
A frightened voice came through.
“Lucas?”
Lucas closed his eyes.
“I’m here.”
“Am I in trouble?”
“No.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You did nothing wrong.”
Bianca returned.
“Touching.”
“What do you want?”
“The card.”
“You already know I have it.”
“And the copy inside Toby’s toy.”
Lucas looked at Victor.
Bianca knew.
Someone inside the house was reporting to Rossi.
“Exchange,” Bianca said. “Both cards for the boy.”
“Where?”
“Midnight. Pier Seven.”
The call ended.
Marco cursed.
“It’s a trap.”
“Yes,” Lucas said.
Nadia reached for her coat.
Lucas looked at her.
“No.”
She stared.
“Toby is there because of evidence connected to my family.”
“He is there because Bianca is desperate.”
“And I’m going.”
Lucas stepped closer.
“Nadia—”
“If Toby sees people with guns, he’ll panic. If he sees me, he won’t.”
Lucas hated that she was right.
Victor spoke.
“She’s right.”
Lucas looked at him.
“You’re not helping.”
“I’m not trying to.”
Nadia took her coat.
Lucas caught her arm gently.
“You stay behind me.”
She looked at his hand.
He released her immediately.
“Sorry.”
That mattered.
At 11:52 p.m., they reached Pier Seven.
Fog covered the harbor.
Bianca stood beneath a warehouse light.
Toby sat beside her.
Enzo Rossi was there.
So were six armed men.
Lucas walked forward.
Nadia beside him.
Bianca laughed when she saw her.
“You really do follow her everywhere now.”
Lucas ignored it.
“Toby.”
The boy looked at Nadia.
She smiled.
“You’re okay.”
He nodded bravely.
Enzo extended his hand.
“The cards.”
Lucas held up an envelope.
“Toby first.”
Enzo smiled.
“You seem to forget how negotiations work.”
“No. I simply dislike yours.”
Nadia watched Bianca.
Something was wrong.
Bianca kept looking toward the warehouse roof.
Nadia followed her gaze.
A red dot appeared briefly on Lucas’s coat.
Sniper.
“Lucas!”
She shoved him.
A shot cracked.
Lucas fell.
Chaos exploded.
Marco’s men fired toward the roof.
Nadia hit the ground.
Toby screamed.
Bianca grabbed him.
Nadia crawled forward.
Another shot shattered concrete.
Lucas rose.
He was not hit.
Nadia had moved him in time.
Enzo fled toward a car.
Bianca dragged Toby toward the warehouse.
Nadia followed.
“Nadia!” Lucas shouted.
She ignored him.
Inside, Bianca pushed Toby behind a crate.
She pointed a gun at Nadia.
“You should have stayed invisible.”
Nadia stopped.
“Let him go.”
“You ruined everything.”
“You cut my hair.”
Bianca laughed hysterically.
“You think this is about hair?”
“No. I think the hair was the first time everyone saw who you really were.”
Bianca’s face twisted.
“Lucas was supposed to marry me.”
“Then perhaps you shouldn’t kidnap children.”
“He needs the Rossi docks.”
“He needed them.”
Bianca raised the gun.
“You know what I hate most?”
Nadia said nothing.
“He looks at you like you’re real.”
Nadia almost pitied her.
Almost.
“Toby,” Nadia said softly.
“Remember what we practiced when the kitchen smoke alarm went off?”
Bianca frowned.
Toby understood.
Drop.
The boy hit the floor.
Nadia threw herself sideways.
Lucas entered.
Bianca fired.
The bullet struck his shoulder.
He fired once.
Not at Bianca.
At the overhead chain.
A cargo net dropped.
Bianca screamed as it trapped her.
Marco rushed in.
Lucas pressed his hand against his bleeding shoulder.
Nadia crawled to Toby.
The boy threw himself into her arms.
“You came.”
“Of course.”
Lucas looked at them.
Then at Bianca struggling beneath the net.
Sirens approached.
Bianca stared.
“You called the police?”
Lucas nodded.
“And federal agents.”
Enzo’s alliance had protected him for years because witnesses disappeared.
Lucas had decided not to give him another disappearing witness.
Bianca laughed.
“You think this makes you legitimate?”
“No.”
Lucas looked at Nadia.
“But it makes you arrested.”
Federal agents entered.
Bianca was taken away.
But Enzo had escaped.
Back at the estate, Dr. Russo stitched Lucas’s shoulder.
Nadia stood beside him.
“You could have been killed.”
“So could you.”
“I had a reason.”
“So did I.”
She looked at him.
For a second, something passed between them.
Then Victor entered holding Toby’s wooden falcon.
He had opened it.
Inside was the second microSD card.
Victor inserted it into a laptop.
One video file appeared.
Carlo Marino.
Recorded two days before his death.
“If you’re watching this, I’m probably dead.”
Toby’s face crumpled.
Nadia held him.
Carlo continued.
“The trafficking operation is controlled by Enzo Rossi. But he isn’t alone. Someone inside the Falcone family authorized every container.”
Lucas leaned closer.
Carlo said the name.
The room froze.
“Gino Ferlain.”
Nadia turned.
The old steward stood in the doorway.
His gentle face was gone.
May you like
In his hand was a gun.
And it was pointed directly at Lucas.
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