UPSIDE DOWN

~ 35 ~

Andrea 

The satellite phone buzzed against my thigh as I stepped out of the black SUV, the late evening casting long shadows over the broken remnants of what used to be our secondary base in Naples. 

Bullet holes peppered the concrete like a plague. The scent of gunpowder and oil still clung to the air, despite the firefight having ended days ago.

Francesco was inside coordinating repairs. The twins were double-checking the perimeter. Aurelio had just sent a coded report to our allies in Geneva.

We were all holding the pieces together.

Barely.

I checked the caller ID. Private Line.

Only one person used that route.

"Papa?"

Worry filled up every part of my body, a feeling that somethign went wrong. 

His voice was low. Careful. Strained. "It's Sylvie."

I tensed instantly.

"What happened? Is she hurt?"

"No," He paused, "not physically. She found the journal. She knows about some of the old business. The dates. The coded entries. She's- she's unraveling."

"What journal?" I ask, not knowing what he's talking about, "What do you mean old businesses?"

"Andrea, there's something I never told you. About Victor."

I stopped pacing. My grip tightened around the phone.

"What do you mean?"

"He wasn't just our enemy. Not always. Years ago he was my partner."

Silence.

I forgot how to breathe.

"Partner?" I repeated. "As in, business? Or blood?"

"Business. Arms deals. Real estate laundering. Trafficking, in the early days. Before I knew what kind of man he truly was."

This is not what broke me, it was what he told after this. 

"And Sylvie's blood." 

I world stopped spinning at that moment. Everything went still. 

I stumbled back a step and pressed my free hand to my forehead.

"You worked with him? The man who orchestrated our sister's kidnapping? Who tried to kill Sylvie, twice? That man, is related to Sylvie?" 

I ask, hoping to not hear what I think it is. 

"Yes." 

"How's he related to her?" I ask, wanting and not wanting to know at the same time. 

"Victor is Sylvie's biological father." He says loud enough and I flinch, not knowing what to process at the moment. 

"When were you planning to say something?"

"Never. If I'm honest. I thought that part of my life was buried with my name. I never wanted you, any of you, to look at me the way I'm sure she does now."

His voice cracked then. But I couldn't offer comfort. Couldn't even feel anger yet. It was too big. Too much.

"All these years," I whispered. "You let us believe you had a purpose, defending the family from Victor."

"I was trying to defend you. I turned on him in the end. That's why he tried to have me killed. That's why I disappeared."

"You created him." There was no rebuttal. No defense.