PART 2 — The Man Who Was Never Dead
"No," Dante said. "He didn't."
The words echoed through the ballroom louder than the orchestra ever could.
Ellie stared at him.
"I buried my father."
"You buried a closed casket."
The room disappeared.
Daniel frowned.
"What game are you playing?" he demanded.
Dante didn't even acknowledge him.
Instead, he lifted one hand.
His security team quietly formed a wall between Ellie and everyone else.
The wedding guests suddenly understood something important.
The dangerous stories about Dante Russo had never been exaggerated.
He simply preferred not to prove them.
Until now.
...
Ellie's heartbeat refused to slow.
"My father died in a warehouse fire."
"So everyone believed."
"My mother identified him."
"No."
Dante's answer came instantly.
"She identified his watch."
Ellie felt her knees weaken.
Images crashed through her mind.
The funeral.
The empty coffin.
Her mother's silence afterward.
Years of unanswered questions.
She whispered,
"Who are you?"
For the first time all evening...
Dante hesitated.
"I promised someone I wouldn't tell you until you were ready."
"Who?"
He looked directly into her eyes.
"Your father."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Even Daniel stopped breathing.
Vanessa laughed nervously.
"This is ridiculous."
No one joined her.
One of Dante's men stepped forward carrying a leather briefcase.
Inside were photographs.
Old photographs.
One showed a younger Dante.
Standing beside...
Ellie's father.
Alive.
Smiling.
She grabbed the picture with shaking hands.
"No..."
Another photograph.
Christmas.
Her father holding a little girl from behind.
Only half her face was visible.
But Ellie recognized the sweater.
Her favorite red sweater from second grade.
Someone had been watching her.
For years.
...
Daniel suddenly spoke.
"Enough."
His voice sounded strangely desperate.
"This is fake."
Dante finally looked at him.
"Interesting."
"What?"
"You weren't surprised."
Daniel swallowed.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You weren't surprised that Richard Sullivan might still be alive."
Ellie slowly turned toward Daniel.
He refused to meet her eyes.
Dante continued quietly.
"Almost like someone warned you never to ask questions."
Daniel's silence became its own confession.
...
"What did you know?"
Ellie's voice barely existed.
Daniel shook his head.
"I only knew your father disappeared because of money."
"What money?"
Dante answered.
"Forty years ago your father built a financial encryption system."
Ellie blinked.
"He was an accountant."
"He wanted everyone to believe that."
Another file landed on the table.
Government contracts.
Patents.
Hidden corporations.
Millions.
No.
Billions.
Everything her family had never possessed...
had once belonged to her father.
Someone had stolen it.
Someone powerful.
Someone who believed the Sullivan bloodline had ended.
May you like
Until Ellie survived.
And someone started looking for her again.
