Chapter 8 - Alessandro Reveals His Own Secret Connection To Étienne
We descended the narrow stone steps leading into the subterranean depths beneath L’Étoile Noir. The air grew damp and cold, smelling of old dust, vintage oak casks, and heavy iron rust.
Alessandro walked a step ahead of me, carrying a heavy tactical flashlight that cut through the absolute darkness. "Your father saved my father's life twenty years ago in Marseille," Alessandro said quietly over his shoulder.
I stumbled slightly on the worn stone stair, catching myself against the damp brick wall. "What? My father was a quiet diplomat; he wasn't a fighter," I protested in utter confusion.
"He wasn't a soldier, Sophie, but he had a ledger," Alessandro explained, turning his head back toward me. "When a rival faction tried to assassinate my father during a port negotiation, Étienne smuggled him out."
"He never told me," I whispered, my mind racing to process this staggering new piece of information. "Because he was protecting you from our world," Alessandro said bitterly. "And in return, my family failed to protect him when Black Star framed him."
A heavy iron gate loomed ahead at the base of the staircase, secured by a massive electronic keypad lock. "Laurent didn't have the code for this door," Alessandro noted, stopping in front of the reinforced steel barrier.
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"My father gave me a numerical sequence before he passed away," I remembered suddenly, stepping past him. I reached out my trembling fingers and punched in a seven-digit sequence based on the fox's eye geometry.
With a loud, mechanical click, the heavy electromagnetic locks disengaged and the iron gate swung open. Alessandro stared at me in quiet astonishment, realizing I held the key to his family's deepest secrets.
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