The voice on the phone was calm.
Too calm.
For a moment, Marco didn't speak. The silence stretched in the room like a tightened wire, ready to snap at any second.
Alisha watched his face carefully.
She had never seen him hesitate before.
"Marco?" Enzo said quietly. "Who is it?"
Marco didn't answer.
His eyes remained fixed on the phone as if the voice coming from it had pulled him ten years into the past.
Then he finally spoke.
"You're supposed to be dead."
Alisha felt a chill crawl up her spine.
The voice on the other end chuckled softly.
"That's what everyone believed."
Marco's jaw tightened.
"Where are you?"
"Straight to business," the man replied. "You haven't changed."
Alisha stepped closer, trying to hear more clearly.
Marco didn't stop her.
"That depends," Marco said. "Dead men don't usually make phone calls."
Another quiet laugh.
"Come on, Marco. You of all people should know how hard it is to kill someone who refuses to stay dead."
Enzo muttered under his breath.
"Who the hell is that?"
Marco lowered the phone slightly, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Luca Ricci."
Alisha felt the name hit the room like an explosion.
Enzo's eyes widened.
"That's impossible."
Luca Ricci.
The former heir of the Ricci crime family.
The man Marco supposedly killed five years ago during the bloodiest war the city had ever seen.
Marco lifted the phone back to his ear.
"You're making a mistake by calling me."
"Oh?" Luca said lightly. "I thought you'd be happy to hear from an old friend."
"We were never friends."
"Maybe not," Luca replied. "But we were excellent rivals."
Marco's eyes flicked briefly toward Alisha.
"And now you're hiding behind phone calls."
"Not hiding," Luca corrected.
"Watching."
Alisha felt her pulse quicken.
Watching.
Just like the photograph.
"Was the picture your idea?" Marco asked.
"Of course," Luca said. "I wanted to see your reaction."
Marco's voice turned colder.
"You broke into my building."
"I didn't break in," Luca said.
"I was invited."
The words made Alisha's stomach twist.
Marco's expression darkened instantly.
"By who?"
Luca laughed again.
"You'll find out soon enough."
Marco's patience was fading.
"Why are you doing this?"
There was a pause.
For the first time, Luca's voice lost its playful tone.
"Because you took everything from me."
Marco's eyes hardened.
"You started that war."
"And you finished it," Luca replied.
Alisha watched Marco carefully.
Something in his expression had changed.
Something deeper than anger.
Regret.
"Five years," Luca continued quietly.
"Five years everyone believed I was dead."
"Maybe you should have stayed that way."
"Oh Marco," Luca said softly.
"If I had stayed dead… you wouldn't get the chance to lose everything."
The line went silent for a moment.
Then Luca spoke again.
"Tell me something."
Marco didn't respond.
"That girl with you," Luca continued.
"Alisha, isn't it?"
Alisha froze.
Marco's hand tightened around the phone.
"Leave her out of this."
Luca laughed.
"That's adorable."
Marco's voice dropped dangerously low.
"If you touch her—"
"I already did," Luca interrupted.
The words hit like a gunshot.
Alisha felt Marco go completely still.
"What did you say?" Marco asked.
"I said," Luca repeated calmly, "I already did."
Alisha's heart slammed against her ribs.
Marco's voice turned deadly quiet.
"You have five seconds to explain that."
Luca sighed dramatically.
"You always were impatient."
Then his voice lowered.
"She was never random, Marco."
Alisha's breath caught.
"What are you talking about?" Marco demanded.
"You really don't know?" Luca asked.
"Know what?"
There was a long pause.
And when Luca spoke again, his voice carried a cruel satisfaction.
"She's the reason the war started."
The room fell silent.
Alisha felt the ground shift beneath her.
"That's impossible," Marco said.
"Oh?" Luca replied. "Did you never wonder why the investigation files suddenly appeared in her hands?"
Marco didn't answer.
"Or why she was so close to discovering your operations?"
Alisha shook her head slowly.
"I was doing my job," she whispered.
Luca heard her.
"No, Alisha," he said gently.
"You were doing our job."
Her heart stopped.
"What?"
Marco turned toward her sharply.
"What does he mean?"
"I don't know!" she said.
Luca chuckled again.
"Oh, this is even better than I expected."
Marco's patience finally snapped.
"Start talking, Luca."
"Gladly," Luca replied.
"Five years ago, when our families went to war… it wasn't about territory."
Marco's eyes narrowed.
"It was about information."
"What information?"
"The same information Aisha has been chasing."
Alisha felt dizzy.
"That doesn't make sense."
"It will," Luca promised.
"Because the man who gave you that first file…"
Her hands trembled.
"Who?
Luca's voice softened.
"Was your father."
The world seemed to stop.
Alisha stared at the phone.
"My father is dead."
"Yes," Luca said quietly.
"He is."
"But before he died…
Marco's grip tightened.
"What did he do?"
Luca smiled through the phone.
"He betrayed everyone."
Alisha felt the air leave her lungs.
"No."
Marco looked at her.
"Alisha…"
But Luca wasn't finished.
"And the most interesting part?" he continued.
Marco's voice was sharp.
"What?"
Luca's next words landed like a bomb.
"Your father didn't just betray the Ricci family."
Alisha's chest tightened.
"He also betrayed Marco."
Marco's eyes slowly widened.
Because suddenly…
A terrifying possibility began forming in his mind.
Luca whispered the final sentence.
"The man Marco killed five years ago… wasn't me."
Silence filled the room.
And then Luca delivered the truth that changed everything.
"It was your father."
The call ended.
Alisha's phone slipped from her hand and hit the floor.
Marco stared at her in shock.
Because if Luca was telling the truth…
The woman he had sworn to protect…
Was the daughter of the man he believed he killed.
And now nothing between them would ever be the same again.