"The Mafia Boss Fell Asleep Holding My Daughter
"Part 2
“Price,” I whispered.
“Caleb Price.”
Roman’s face became unreadable.
He slowly rose from the couch without disturbing Lily, then carried her toward me with a gentleness that made the fear in his eyes even worse.
“Take her.”
I gathered Lily against my chest.
Roman crossed to his desk, unlocked the bottom drawer, and removed a photograph.
He placed it in front of me.
The man in the picture was thinner, younger, and dressed in an expensive black suit.
But the crooked smile was unmistakable.
“That’s him,” I said.
Roman’s jaw tightened.
“His real name was Caleb Callahan.”
The room seemed to tilt.
I stared at the photograph, searching for some sign that Roman was mistaken.
“He told me he had no family.”
“He was protecting you.”
“From whom?”
Roman looked toward the locked office door.
“From me.”
Before I could speak, Lily woke and reached toward the photograph.
Her tiny fingers tapped Caleb’s face.
“Daddy,” she murmured.
Roman closed his eyes.
For one second, the feared man disappeared, leaving only a brother who had spent seventeen months searching for a ghost.
Then his phone rang.
He answered immediately.
A voice spoke too softly for me to hear.
Roman’s expression hardened.
“Bring him upstairs.”
Two guards entered moments later, dragging in the manager who had threatened to fire me that morning.
His name was Victor Sloan.
He looked at Lily, then at the photograph.
Every trace of color vanished from his face.
Roman noticed.
“You recognize my brother.”
Victor shook his head too quickly.
Roman moved closer.
“Caleb disappeared after stealing from the Bellini family.”
Victor began trembling.
“He didn’t steal money.”
“What did he take?”
Victor’s eyes shifted toward Lily.
I stepped back instinctively.
Roman seized his collar.
“What did he take?”
“A ledger,” Victor gasped.
“A list of judges, officers, and politicians owned by the Bellinis.”
Roman released him.
“And where is it?”
Victor laughed nervously.
“Caleb hid it where nobody would search.”
Lily suddenly tugged at the silver locket around her neck.
Caleb had given it to me the night before he vanished.
Roman stared at it.
Then a gunshot shattered the office window.
He threw himself over Lily and me as glass exploded across the floor.
A red laser settled on the locket.
May you like
Roman looked at me and whispered, “Caleb didn’t leave you a keepsake.”
“He left you the reason they killed him.”
