CHAPTER 4 — The Girl Beneath the Stained Glass
CHAPTER 4 — The Girl Beneath the Stained Glass
Aria Torino had inherited her father’s eyes.
That was what everyone said.
Dark. Steady. Difficult to read.
But sitting beneath the shattered blue window of Elmsworth Chapel, Aria wished she had inherited his fearlessness too.
Her wrists were tied, but not tightly.
Marcus had made sure of that.
He wanted her frightened, not injured.
He had always understood appearances.
If anyone saw bruises, there would be questions.
If she cried on camera and signed the papers willingly, there would be sympathy.
Marcus walked slowly in front of her, holding a folder in one hand.
“You always thought you escaped this family,” he said.
Aria lifted her chin.
“I did.”
Marcus smiled.
“No. Your father only built you a prettier cage.”
The chapel smelled of rain, dust, and old wax.
Two men stood near the doors.
A third watched the side entrance.
Aria had counted them.
She had also counted the seconds between their radio check-ins.
Her father had taught her that when she was twelve.
Not because he wanted her in his world.
Because he was terrified his world would find her anyway.
Marcus crouched in front of her.
“Your father is finished. By morning, the city will know he confessed to killing Judge Halden, stealing from his own people, and arranging attacks on his allies.”
“He didn’t kill Halden.”
Marcus tilted his head.
“You sound very sure.”
“I knew the judge.”
That made Marcus pause.
Aria saw it.
A crack.
She leaned forward.
“He came to my campus two weeks before he died. He asked me about you.”
Marcus’s smile vanished.
“What did you tell him?”
“The truth. That you were ambitious, insecure, and not half as smart as you thought.”
One of the guards laughed before catching himself.
Marcus stood and slapped the folder against the pew hard enough to echo.
Aria did not flinch.
Inside, she was shaking.
But outside, she was Vincent Torino’s daughter.
Marcus leaned close.
“You will sign these documents. You will state that your father confessed privately to you. You will say he threatened your life if you spoke.”
“No.”
Marcus sighed like a disappointed teacher.
“Aria, your father is a criminal.”
“And what are you?”
He smiled again.
“The future.”
A phone buzzed in his hand.
Marcus glanced at the screen.
His expression tightened.
“What do you mean he vanished?”
Aria’s heart jumped.
Vincent was alive.
Marcus turned away, lowering his voice.
“No, search the whole property. Elena too. She helped him.”
Aria blinked.
Elena?
The quiet maid with kind eyes who once sent her home with soup when she visited the mansion during finals?
The woman who seemed to hear everything and say nothing?
Marcus ended the call and turned back.
For the first time, Aria saw fear beneath his anger.
“Your father is more annoying than wise.”
Aria smiled.
That earned her a hard stare.
Outside, thunder rolled.
Marcus pointed to one of the men.
“Lock the side door. If Vincent comes, I want him coming through the front like a grieving father.”
The man moved toward the side hall.
He never made it.
A hand reached from the darkness and pulled him backward without a sound.
Aria saw it.
Marcus did not.
Then the lights flickered.
The chapel went black.
One guard cursed.
Another raised his gun.
Marcus shouted, “Nobody moves!”
A voice answered from the darkness.
“Too late.”
It was Bruno.
The old ghost.
Aria knew the name from stories whispered by men who thought children were asleep.
A crash erupted near the entrance.
Glass shattered.
A gun clattered across the floor.
Someone groaned.
Marcus grabbed Aria by the shoulder and pulled her up, pressing a knife near her side.
“Lights!” he screamed.
Emergency lamps flickered red.
Vincent stood at the end of the aisle.
Rain dripped from his coat.
His face was not angry.
That scared Marcus more than anger would have.
Elena stood slightly behind him, pistol raised.
Bruno moved from the shadows like a mountain.
Marcus laughed shakily.
“Touch me and she dies.”
Vincent’s eyes went to Aria.
“Are you hurt?”
“No,” she said.
Her voice cracked.
Vincent nodded once.
Only then did he look at Marcus.
“I raised you.”
Marcus’s mouth twisted.
“You trained me.”
“I loved you.”
“You loved control.”
Vincent took one step forward.
Marcus pressed the knife closer.
Elena’s finger tightened on the trigger.
Vincent lifted one hand, stopping her.
“No.”
Marcus smiled.
“There he is. The noble father. The great Vincent Torino, finally begging.”
Vincent reached into his coat.
Marcus stiffened.
But Vincent only pulled out the brass key.
Marcus’s eyes narrowed.
“What is that?”
Vincent looked toward the altar.
“Your mistake.”
Elena moved first.
She fired one shot into the chain above the chapel bell.
The bell crashed down behind Marcus’s men, sending dust and wood exploding into the air.
Marcus turned for half a second.
Aria used it.
She drove her heel into his foot and twisted away exactly as her father had taught her years ago.
Vincent crossed the aisle before Marcus recovered.
He struck Marcus once.
Not hard enough to kill.
Hard enough to end the conversation.
Marcus hit the floor.
Bruno disarmed the last guard.
Elena cut Aria’s ties.
Aria fell into Vincent’s arms.
For a moment, the boss disappeared.
Only the father remained.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered into her hair.
Aria cried then.
Not because she was weak.
Because she was safe.
But Elena was already at the altar.
She pushed aside the torn cloth and found a small iron door beneath the stone.
Vincent handed her the key.
Elena opened it with trembling fingers.
Inside was a metal box.
Marcus, bleeding from the lip, began to laugh from the floor.
“You think a box saves you?”
Elena opened it.
Inside were ledgers, photographs, recordings, and a sealed passport.
But beneath all of it was one picture.
A recent picture.
Rafael Marquez.
Alive.
Standing beside Judge Halden.
Elena covered her mouth.
Vincent stared at the photo.
And Marcus stopped laughing.
May you like
Because the dead man was not dead.
And the truth had just come home.
