Chapter 13 - THE BOY THEY COULDN’T CONTROL
Smoke filled the hidden room.
Carmine could barely see.
“Leo!”
No answer.
“Matteo!”
Elena screamed his name.
The security lights flickered back on.
Carmine looked around.
Sofia was on the floor.
Raines was gone.
His father was gone.
And one of the boys was missing.
Carmine's heart stopped.
“Which one?”
Elena looked around wildly.
“Matteo.”
Carmine immediately ran toward the exit.
“Lock down the estate!”
His security chief shouted orders into his radio.
Every gate closed.
Every vehicle was checked.
Every road around the property was blocked.
But Carmine knew it was already too late.
Raines had planned everything.
He had never intended to fight them inside the mansion.
He wanted the confusion.
He wanted one child.
And now he had him.
Carmine turned to Sofia.
“You knew.”
Sofia was bleeding from her shoulder.
She struggled to stand.
“Yes.”
“You knew they would take Matteo.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you stop them?”
“I tried.”
“You failed.”
Her face tightened.
“I know.”
Carmine grabbed her arm.
“Where did they take him?”
“I don't know.”
“Don't lie to me.”
“I don't know.”
Elena stepped between them.
“Carmine.”
He released Sofia.
His breathing was heavy.
“Find him.”
The security chief approached.
“Sir, we've checked every camera.”
“And?”
“Nothing.”
“Then check again.”
“We found one thing.”
“What?”
He handed Carmine a tablet.
A single frame appeared.
A black van leaving through the eastern service road.
Carmine stared.
“When?”
“Four minutes ago.”
“Plate?”
“Covered.”
“Driver?”
“Unknown.”
Carmine looked at Sofia.
“You know where that road leads.”
Sofia nodded.
“The old docks.”
Carmine turned.
“Move.”
The convoy reached the docks in twenty minutes.
Rain had begun to fall.
The harbor was almost empty.
Containers stood like giant walls beneath the gray sky.
Carmine stepped out.
“Spread out.”
The guards moved.
Elena stayed beside him.
“I'll find him.”
“I know.”
“He's my son.”
Carmine looked at her.
“He's mine too.”
Elena nodded.
Then they heard something.
A faint metallic sound.
From inside a warehouse.
Carmine raised his weapon.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Elena.”
She looked at him.
“I'm not losing another child.”
Carmine didn't argue.
They entered together.
The warehouse was empty.
At the center stood a single chair.
On it was a photograph.
Matteo.
Alive.
Standing beside Victor Raines.
On the back was a message:
YOU HAVE ONE HOUR.
Below it:
COME TO THE LIGHTHOUSE. ALONE.
Carmine crushed the photograph.
Elena stared at him.
“They're trying to separate you.”
“I know.”
“You can't go alone.”
“I won't.”
She looked confused.
Carmine pulled out his phone.
“I'm bringing an army.”
The lighthouse stood on the edge of the cliffs.
Waves crashed against the rocks below.
Carmine arrived alone.
Or so Raines believed.
He entered the lighthouse.
“Raines!”
His voice echoed.
“I'm here.”
A light switched on.
Raines stood at the top of the stairs.
Matteo was beside him.
His hands were tied.
But he was standing.
Carmine looked at him.
“Matteo.”
“Dad.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
Raines smiled.
“He's stronger than you think.”
Carmine looked at him.
“Let him go.”
“You activated the trust.”
“Yes.”
“And now the entire empire belongs to your family.”
“Not yours.”
Raines laughed.
“Still thinking about money.”
“You kidnapped my son.”
Raines's smile disappeared.
“Your son?”
He looked at Matteo.
“He doesn't belong to you.”
Carmine's eyes hardened.
“He does.”
“By blood?”
“Yes.”
Raines stepped closer.
“Then prove it.”
Carmine stopped.
“What?”
“Tell him which one is your biological son.”
Silence.
Matteo looked at Carmine.
Carmine couldn't answer.
Raines smiled.
“That's what I thought.”
Matteo's eyes filled with tears.
“Dad?”
Carmine stepped forward.
“Don't listen to him.”
“Am I really your son?”
Carmine's voice broke.
“Yes.”
“But you don't know.”
“I know enough.”
Raines laughed.
“He doesn't know anything.”
Then another voice came from the shadows.
“He knows exactly what matters.”
Carmine turned.
His mother stepped into the light.
Raines froze.
“You.”
She raised her weapon.
“Let my grandson go.”
Raines stared at her.
“You ruined everything.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You did.”
Raines's face twisted with anger.
“You stole my son.”
Carmine froze.
“Your son?”
Raines looked at Matteo.
“He was mine.”
Carmine stepped between them.
“No.”
Raines shouted:
“Before you were even born, your father took everything from me!”
His voice echoed through the lighthouse.
“My company.”
“My family.”
“My name.”
“And then he took my child.”
Carmine's mother stared at him.
“You abandoned that child.”
“I was protecting him.”
“You were obsessed with power.”
Raines pointed at Matteo.
“He is my blood.”
Matteo looked confused.
“Then why did you hurt me?”
Raines went silent.
The boy's question struck harder than any weapon.
“Why?”
Raines couldn't answer.
Carmine stepped toward Matteo.
“Because blood doesn't make someone a father.”
He looked directly at Raines.
“Choices do.”
Raines raised his gun.
A red laser appeared on Carmine's chest.
Then—
a shot rang out.
Raines's weapon flew from his hand.
Carmine's security team emerged from the shadows.
Raines was surrounded.
He dropped to his knees.
Matteo ran toward Carmine.
Carmine caught him.
“I'm here.”
Matteo buried his face against his chest.
“I knew you'd come.”
Carmine held him tightly.
“I promised.”
Raines was arrested.
But the story wasn't over.
Because Carmine's mother approached with a folder.
“There is still one thing you don't know.”
Carmine looked at her.
“What?”
She handed him the folder.
“The real Project Orion.”
Carmine opened it.
His face changed.
“This isn't about the trust.”
“No.”
“Then what?”
She pointed to the final page.
Carmine read it.
His expression went blank.
PROJECT ORION — SUBJECT ZERO.
Below it was a photograph.
A baby.
Carmine's mother whispered:
“Leo and Matteo weren't the first children.”
Carmine looked up.
“What?”
“There was another.”
“Who?”
She shook her head.
“We don't know.”
Carmine stared at the page.
The mystery had opened again.
And somewhere in the distance—
a phone began ringing.
The phone belonged to Raines.
Carmine picked it up.
One message.
YOU FOUND MATTEO.
Then another.
YOU STILL HAVEN'T FOUND SUBJECT ZERO.
Carmine looked at his mother.
“Who sent this?”
She didn't answer.
A third message appeared.
ASK YOUR FATHER.
Carmine's blood ran cold.
His father.
The man in the hospital.
The man who had betrayed them.
The man who claimed to know everything.
May you like
Carmine whispered:
“Take me to him.”
