Chapter 13 - The Man With Alessandro’s Face
For a moment, Alessandro thought grief had finally split his mind.
The man near the nurses’ station looked like him.
Not exactly.
His hair was slightly longer. His jaw carried a scar Alessandro did not have. His clothes were simple: dark jeans, black coat, no watch, no expensive tailoring.
But the face was unmistakable.
Same eyes.
Same height.
Same mouth.
The stranger saw him staring.
He did not run.
He set the lilies gently on the nurses’ counter and walked toward them.
Sophia stepped instinctively in front of Emma’s hospital room.
The man noticed.
Good, Alessandro thought.
Let him know the child is protected.
The stranger stopped ten feet away.
“Alessandro.”
His voice was lower.
Rougher.
Alessandro’s hand tightened around his phone.
“Who are you?”
The man gave a sad smile.
“The version they couldn’t use.”
Sophia looked between them.
“You’re his brother.”
“His twin,” the man said. “My name is Adrian.”
Alessandro’s chest tightened around the name.
Adrian Duca.
A name that should have existed beside his own in every family record.
“Why are you here?” Alessandro asked.
Adrian glanced toward Emma’s room.
“To warn you. And to thank the child.”
Sophia’s eyes narrowed.
“Stay away from her.”
Adrian lifted both hands.
“I will.”
Alessandro stepped closer.
“Who sent the messages?”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“If you mean the warning, I did.”
“You told me not to look for you.”
“I told you not to look because looking puts people near you in danger.”
“They’re already in danger.”
Adrian looked at Sophia.
“I know.”
Sophia did not like the way he said it.
As if he knew more about her life than he should.
Alessandro noticed.
“What do you know?”
Adrian sighed.
“Marco Alvarez contacted me before he died.”
Sophia went completely still.
“My husband knew you?”
“He found my name in files at Warehouse 12. He thought I was another victim of the Duca family.”
“Were you?” she asked.
Adrian’s smile turned bitter.
“Yes.”
Alessandro’s voice sharpened.
“Explain.”
Adrian glanced toward the end of the hall.
“Not here.”
Sophia almost laughed.
“That’s what everyone says before something terrible happens.”
Adrian nodded.
“Fair.”
He reached slowly into his coat and removed a small envelope.
Sophia stiffened.
He placed it on the floor and stepped back.
“For you,” he said.
Sophia did not move.
Alessandro picked it up and handed it to her.
Inside was a folded letter.
Marco’s handwriting.
Sophia’s knees nearly gave out.
She opened it with shaking fingers.
Sophia,
If a man named Adrian comes to you, listen. He is not one of them. He helped me copy the files. He tried to get me out. If I don’t come home, protect Emma. She notices what adults ignore. That gift may save her. Or endanger her.
Sophia pressed the letter to her mouth.
Adrian looked away, shame crossing his face.
“I tried to reach him that night,” he said. “I was too late.”
Sophia’s voice was barely audible.
“Why didn’t you come to me?”
“Because Drake was watching you. Beatrice put you inside the estate to control you. If I came near you, they would have moved faster.”
Alessandro stepped forward.
“And now?”
“Now the house is exposed. They’ll panic. Which means they’ll clean up everything still hidden.”
“What’s still hidden?”
Adrian looked at him.
“The living witness.”
Alessandro frowned.
“Drake?”
“No.”
Adrian’s eyes moved to Emma’s room.
“The doctor who signed your father’s death certificate. The same doctor who signed Marco’s.”
Sophia’s breath caught.
Dr. Royce appeared from the room behind them.
“That is impossible.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Not you.”
He handed Alessandro a second envelope.
Inside was a copy of a medical record.
At the bottom was one signature.
Dr. Samuel Voss.
Alessandro knew the name.
Everyone in New York society knew it.
Samuel Voss was not just a doctor.
He was the private physician of judges, senators, and billionaires.
He had certified Lorenzo Duca’s heart attack.
And eight months ago, he had certified Marco Alvarez’s natural death.
Adrian’s voice lowered.
“Voss is leaving the country tonight.”
Alessandro looked at Sophia.
Sophia looked at Emma.
May you like
Then she said the words that changed everything.
“Then we stop him.”
