Page 95 of Star Claimed Omega
Status: Missing. Presumed dead.
Reward for information: 800,000 credits.
Contact: Unified Witness Protection Directorate.
Warning: Approach with caution. May be accompanied by hostile agents.
Soleil sucked in a sharp inhale.
The silence that followed was louder than any shout.
Santi’s rumble was gentle. ‘Care to explain,cariño, why your face aligns with that of a certain Scarletta D.? Also, why was this ID last updated over a decade ago?’ He paused.
‘I, I’m her,’ she finally whispered. ‘Soleil is my second name. Scarletta is my first. As for the old ID, I changed aliases to protect myself.’
The gravity of the words echoed in the room.
‘Why are you listed as missing?’
‘Because I’d like to remain that way.’
Her legs buckled, and he guided her down to sit on the bench behind his desk.
Miral dimmed the holo and stepped back, giving Soleil room to speak.
Eventually, she found her words. ‘My mother, Alina, married into a ruthless mafia family. She didn’t know the truth until it was too late, when she was a prisoner in her own home, her own life. She found out her husband used their marriage to gain leverage within the mafia community. She was a bait and a shield. He didn’t give afokkabout her and made it evident; he beat and abused her every day.’
Her throat tightened, but she forced the words out.
‘She escaped once. She walked into a police station and offered to collaborate. She had information, accounts, rackets, names, so they put her somewhere safe and interviewed her about the family’s history: murders, trafficking, loan-sharking, political bribes, all of it. But my father wasn’t going to let her get away. He knew she’d never be free without me. I was the tether.’
Santi crouched in front of her now, his hands resting on her knees, gaze steady.
‘They forced her to return. Said if she didn’t, I’d vanish. She gave up everything for me. Again.’
Her voice broke. ‘We escaped again, together, which led to there being years of running, of hiding in safe houses, and using burner names. Then, he got into my head. Through me, he reeled her back. Told her he’d changed. That he missed her, she believed him and met up with him on a pleasure ship.’
Her breath trembled as she spoke the next part.
‘After that, she vanished. With no trace, not even her remains were found. Nothing. Then her sister, Raissa, my aunt, went after her. She too disappeared. It was as if the family wiped her from existence. I was twenty. I worked out she was dead and that my life was in danger. So I went underground and hid from my father.’
She didn’t say what came after.That they hunted her down, kidnapped her, and claimed her body, her time, her spirit, like she was a pound of flesh to be sold, used, and silenced.
Santi was quiet, but she sensed the power rippling through him, like an electrical storm beneath his skin.
‘Who’s your family?’ he asked at last.
Her slight frame convulsed in terror. ‘Nada. I can’t tell you. I won’t.’
‘Soleil.’
Santi’s murmured rasp was laced with an undertone of compassion and chiding as his hands stroked her spine to calm her.
‘If I say their name, I’m dead. We’re dead. Everyone you love will be slaughtered. They will not stop. They do not forgive or forget.’
Santi clenched his jaw, his scorching eyes on her.
After a beat, he seemed to come to a workable conclusion.
