I Have a Date Tonight — Part 3
I Have a Date Tonight — Part 3
For three seconds, Damian Moretti didn’t move.
The restaurant was still filled with smoke.
Broken glass covered the floor.
Customers were screaming.
His men were checking every exit.
But Damian heard none of it.
All he could see was the empty space where Hannah had been standing.
Then he saw the blood.
A thin trail disappearing through the service corridor.
His heart seemed to stop.
“Find her.”
His voice was quiet.
Too quiet.
Marco immediately turned to the security team.
“Every exit. Now!”
Men scattered through the restaurant.
Damian followed the blood trail himself.
He reached the service door and found a piece of blue fabric caught on a broken hinge.
Hannah’s dress.
His fingers closed around it.
For the first time in years, Marco saw genuine fear in his boss’s eyes.
“Boss…”
Damian didn’t answer.
He lifted the fabric to his face for half a second.
Then his expression hardened.
“Nobody sleeps tonight.”
Two blocks away, a black van raced through the rain.
Hannah was lying in the back, her wrists tied.
She was conscious.
Terrified.
But she refused to panic.
She had survived three years inside the Moretti estate.
She had dealt with arrogant guests, dangerous rumors, and Damian’s terrifying temper.
She could survive this.
At least, that was what she told herself.
Across from her sat the man she had known as Ethan.
Except he wasn’t Ethan.
He watched her quietly.
“You’re surprisingly calm.”
Hannah glared at him.
“I’m terrified.”
“You don’t look terrified.”
“I’m trying not to give you the satisfaction.”
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“You’re exactly as described.”
Hannah’s stomach tightened.
“Who described me?”
He didn’t answer.
“Why did you bring me here?”
“Because Damian Moretti cares about you.”
Hannah laughed bitterly.
“Damian cares about everyone under his roof.”
“No.”
The man’s smile disappeared.
“He doesn’t.”
Hannah stared at him.
“What do you want?”
“The truth.”
“What truth?”
“About your family.”
Hannah went still.
“My family?”
“You were told your parents died in a car accident.”
Her expression changed.
“That’s what happened.”
“Is it?”
The van turned sharply.
Hannah grabbed the side rail.
“Who are you?”
The man leaned closer.
“My real name is Adrian Vale.”
“I don’t care.”
“You should.”
He pulled out his phone and showed her a photograph.
Hannah stared.
It showed a much younger Damian.
Standing beside a burning warehouse.
Her breath caught.
Behind him stood several armed men.
And in the corner of the photograph was her father.
Hannah’s face went pale.
“No.”
Adrian watched her reaction.
“Your father worked for Victor Salvatore.”
“I know my father.”
“He was an accountant.”
“Yes.”
“That’s the story Damian gave you.”
Hannah shook her head.
“Stop.”
Adrian’s voice softened.
“He wasn’t an accountant.”
He showed her another photograph.
Her father standing beside several crates.
Weapons.
Hannah couldn’t breathe.
“Your father handled money for the Salvatore syndicate.”
“No.”
“And three years before you started working for Damian, he disappeared.”
“My parents died.”
“Your mother died.”
Adrian paused.
“Your father didn’t.”
Hannah stared at him.
“What?”
“He vanished.”
“You’re lying.”
“I wish I were.”
Hannah felt the world tilt.
“Why would Damian know?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Because Damian was there the night your father disappeared.”
At the Moretti estate, Damian stood in the security room.
Every screen showed the same city.
Rain.
Traffic.
Dark streets.
Nothing.
Gabriel worked rapidly at the main console.
“We’ve identified the van.”
Damian turned.
“Where?”
“Queens.”
“Then move.”
“Already sent two teams.”
“Too slow.”
Damian grabbed his coat.
Marco stepped in front of him.
“You’re not going alone.”
“I didn’t say I was.”
“You were thinking it.”
Damian’s eyes hardened.
“She’s out there.”
“I know.”
“Then move.”
Marco nodded.
But before they reached the door, Gabriel spoke again.
“Boss.”
Damian stopped.
“What?”
“We traced the phone call.”
“And?”
“Not Victor Salvatore.”
Damian’s expression changed.
“Who?”
Gabriel hesitated.
“Someone using an old Moretti encryption key.”
Silence.
Marco frowned.
“That’s impossible.”
Damian looked at him.
“Why?”
“That encryption key was destroyed eight years ago.”
Damian’s face became unreadable.
“Who else knew it?”
Marco slowly answered.
“Your father.”
Damian froze.
His father had been dead for eleven years.
Or so everyone believed.
The van stopped beneath an abandoned bridge.
Adrian opened the rear doors.
“Come.”
Hannah refused to move.
“Where are we going?”
“To meet someone.”
“Who?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
Two men pulled her from the van.
Hannah struggled.
“Let go of me!”
Then she heard a voice.
“Hannah.”
She froze.
The voice was familiar.
Impossible.
She slowly turned.
A man stepped from the shadows.
Older.
Thinner.
His hair was streaked with gray.
But Hannah knew that face.
She had seen it in childhood photographs.
Her knees nearly collapsed.
“Dad?”
The man stared at her.
Tears filled his eyes.
“Hannah.”
She couldn’t breathe.
“You…”
Her voice broke.
“You’re alive.”
Her father took one step forward.
“I’ve been trying to find you.”
Hannah backed away.
“Why?”
He looked at Adrian.
Then back at her.
“Because Damian Moretti is not the man you think he is.”
Hannah shook her head.
“No.”
“Listen to me.”
“You said you were dead.”
“I had to disappear.”
“Mom died believing you were dead!”
Her father looked down.
“I know.”
Hannah’s eyes filled with tears.
“Why?”
“Because I betrayed the wrong man.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Your father discovered something about Damian’s family.”
Hannah looked between them.
“What?”
Her father answered.
“Your family wasn’t destroyed by the Salvatore syndicate.”
He paused.
“It was destroyed by the Morettis.”
Hannah felt as though the ground had vanished beneath her.
“No.”
Her father nodded.
“Your mother knew the truth.”
“And Damian?”
“He knew too.”
The black SUV raced through Manhattan.
Damian sat in the back seat, staring at the rain.
Marco sat opposite him.
“You need to tell me everything.”
Damian said nothing.
“Boss.”
Still nothing.
Marco leaned forward.
“Did you know Hannah’s father?”
Damian finally looked at him.
“Yes.”
“How well?”
“Very well.”
“Was he involved in the old war?”
Damian’s eyes darkened.
“He was the reason it started.”
Marco stared.
“What did he do?”
“He stole something from my father.”
“What?”
“A ledger.”
Marco’s expression changed.
“The Salvatore ledger?”
Damian nodded.
“It contained names.”
“Politicians?”
“Judges. Police commanders. Bankers. Businessmen.”
He looked out the window.
“And members of our own family.”
Marco understood.
“Your father wanted it.”
“Everyone wanted it.”
“What happened?”
Damian’s voice became quieter.
“Hannah’s father disappeared with the ledger.”
“And you hunted him.”
“Yes.”
“Did you kill him?”
Damian looked at Marco.
“No.”
A pause.
“But I believed he was dead.”
Marco leaned back.
“Then who killed Hannah’s mother?”
Damian’s jaw tightened.
“I don’t know.”
His phone suddenly rang.
Unknown number.
Damian answered.
Hannah’s voice came through.
“Damian?”
Every muscle in his body froze.
“Hannah.”
She was crying.
“Did you know my father?”
Damian closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“Did you know he was alive?”
“No.”
“Are you responsible for what happened to my family?”
Silence.
That silence told her everything.
“Damian…”
“I never wanted your family hurt.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
He swallowed.
“No.”
Hannah’s voice trembled.
“Then why did you lie?”
“I didn’t know.”
“You knew enough.”
“Hannah, listen to me.”
“No.”
She began crying.
“I trusted you.”
The words cut deeper than any bullet.
Damian’s voice broke slightly.
“I know.”
“Did you ever care about me?”
The car went silent.
Marco looked away.
Damian answered honestly.
“More than I should.”
Hannah’s breathing shook.
“Then prove it.”
“How?”
“Come alone.”
Damian’s eyes narrowed.
“Where?”
She gave him an address.
Then the call ended.
Marco looked at him.
“Boss…”
Damian opened the car door.
“I’m going.”
“Alone?”
“She asked me to.”
Marco grabbed his arm.
“It could be a trap.”
Damian looked back.
“I know.”
“Then why?”
Damian’s expression softened for the first time.
“Because she asked.”
He stepped into the rain.
At the abandoned warehouse, Hannah stood beside her father.
She couldn’t stop shaking.
She didn’t know who to believe.
Her father.
Adrian.
Damian.
Everyone seemed to have a different version of her life.
Then headlights appeared in the distance.
A black SUV stopped.
The driver’s door opened.
Damian stepped out alone.
No guards.
No weapons visible.
Just a dark coat soaked by the rain.
He walked toward her slowly.
“Hannah.”
She stared at him.
“You came.”
“I told you I would.”
Her father stepped forward.
“Damian Moretti.”
Damian’s eyes locked onto him.
For the first time in years, two old enemies stood face to face.
Then Damian looked at Hannah.
“I’m sorry.”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know what to believe anymore.”
Damian took another step.
“You don’t have to believe me.”
He reached inside his coat.
Hannah tensed.
But instead of a weapon, Damian pulled out a small photograph.
He held it toward her.
It showed Hannah as a little girl.
Standing between her mother and father.
On the back was a handwritten message.
Keep her safe. Whatever happens to us.
Hannah recognized her mother’s handwriting immediately.
She looked up.
“Where did you get this?”
Damian’s voice was barely a whisper.
“Your mother gave it to me.”
Hannah froze.
“When?”
“Three days before she died.”
Her father suddenly stepped forward.
“That’s impossible.”
Damian looked at him.
“Because you weren’t there.”
The warehouse fell silent.
Then Damian said the words that changed everything.
“Your mother didn’t die in an accident.”
Hannah’s face went white.
“She was murdered.”
“And I know who ordered it.”
A gunshot suddenly shattered the silence.
Damian grabbed Hannah and pulled her behind him.
Her father dropped to the ground.
Adrian shouted.
“Sniper!”
Damian looked toward the roof.
Then his eyes returned to Hannah.
“Stay behind me.”
But Hannah stared at the blood spreading across the concrete.
And realized the bullet hadn’t been meant for Damian.
It had been meant for her father.
Someone was trying to silence the last person who knew the truth.
And now Damian Moretti had only one choice.
Protect the man who had once been his greatest enemy…
or finally discover who had been manipulating both families for more than a decade.
