Chapter 21

• The vans rolled through the back alleys in complete silence. Leo sat in the passenger seat of the lead vehicle, staring at the dark streets ahead. The revelation from the USB files still sat heavy in his chest. He was not a Rossi. He had never been one. The man who had raised him, the man he had spent his entire life trying to impress and survive, was not his father. His real father was a cartel boss named Marco Moretti, and Maria had hidden that truth for twenty-seven years.
• Kai drove with one hand on the wheel and the other resting on the gear shift close to Leo’s knee. He did not push for conversation. He simply stayed present, a steady anchor in the middle of everything that was crumbling.
• In the second van behind them, Elena rode with Luca and Kai’s mother. They had decided to split the group slightly for safety, but they stayed close enough to support each other if things went wrong.