Chapter 12 - Isabella’s Voice
They found an old cassette player at Father Matteo’s rectory.
Nobody spoke when Sofia inserted the tape.
Static filled the room.
Then a woman’s voice began.
Sofia stopped breathing.
“My name is Isabella Marino.”
Riccardo sat down.
The tape continued.
“If this recording is being heard, I may already be dead.”
Sofia covered her mouth.
Her mother’s voice.
Real.
Alive for one impossible moment.
“I have collected proof of an agreement between Lorenzo Marino, Vittorio Marino, Salvatore Greco, and several public officials.”
Riccardo’s eyes closed.
“The agreement allows Greco to control city contracts while the Marino organization takes a percentage.”
A pause.
“My husband, Riccardo, does not know the full extent of this agreement.”
Riccardo looked up.
Elena stared at him.
The tape continued.
“But Riccardo has done terrible things of his own.”
Sofia glanced at him.
He didn’t move.
“I love him.”
Isabella’s voice trembled.
“But I will not pretend love makes those things acceptable.”
Riccardo wiped his eyes.
Sofia had not expected that.
“I have begged him to leave this life.”
Static.
“If he ever hears this, Riccardo, I need you to understand something.”
The tape went quiet for three seconds.
Then:
“Do not avenge me.”
Riccardo’s jaw tightened.
“Save our daughter.”
Sofia started crying.
Isabella continued.
“Break the cycle before she grows up believing power comes from fear.”
The tape clicked.
Then a second voice appeared.
Vittorio.
Riccardo stood so fast the chair fell.
On the recording, Isabella said, “Get away from me.”
Vittorio answered.
“You should have kept quiet.”
“You’re going to prison.”
“No.”
A door slammed.
Then Lorenzo Marino’s voice.
Riccardo whispered, “Father.”
Lorenzo said, “Isabella, give me the ledger.”
“No.”
“Think about Chiara.”
“I am.”
There was a struggle.
Then Lorenzo said quietly:
“If Riccardo chooses you over this family, I lose my son.”
Isabella answered:
“If he chooses this family over his daughter, he has already lost himself.”
Silence.
Then Vittorio spoke.
“What do we do?”
Lorenzo answered.
“Make the problem disappear.”
The recording ended.
Riccardo stood motionless.
Sofia watched him.
For twenty-three years he had probably imagined killing the person responsible for Isabella’s death.
Now the man who gave the order was already buried.
There was no revenge left to take.
Only consequences.
Sofia touched his arm.
“My mother asked you not to avenge her.”
Riccardo looked at her.
“She asked you to save me.”
His eyes filled.
“I failed.”
“You didn’t know I was alive.”
“I should have.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
He looked down.
Sofia continued.
“You can’t change what you were.”
Riccardo met her eyes.
“But you can decide what happens next.”
Antonio entered.
“We have another problem.”
He placed a phone on the table.
“What?”
“Vittorio moved Marco.”
“Where?”
“Marino Tower.”
Riccardo frowned.
“My headquarters?”
Antonio nodded.
“He took over the building twenty minutes ago.”
Riccardo almost smiled.
“He wants my house.”
“He has forty men inside.”
Sofia looked at the tape.
“Then we don’t fight him with guns.”
Everyone turned toward her.
“What do you mean?” Riccardo asked.
Sofia lifted the cassette.
“He wants the ledgers because he’s afraid of evidence.”
She looked at Antonio.
“Can we copy this?”
“Yes.”
“Can we send it to reporters?”
Antonio slowly smiled.
“Yes.”
May you like
Riccardo understood.
Sofia said, “Then we make sure Vittorio loses everything even if we don’t leave that tower alive.”
