Chapter 10 - THE FATHER WHOSE NAME COULD START A WAR
Mom sat down.
That frightened me.
“What did he mean?”
She looked twenty years older.
“Daniel loved you.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“He was your father in every way that mattered.”
“Mom.”
She closed her eyes.
“Your biological father was Vittorio Rossi.”
The room disappeared.
Luca went utterly still.
His father.
My father.
I turned toward him.
“No.”
Mom spoke quickly.
“Emily, listen to me.”
I couldn’t.
If Vittorio Rossi was my father—
Luca was my half-brother.
The kiss.
The attraction.
The things he had almost said.
Nausea rose.
Luca stepped backward as though physically struck.
Mom rushed:
“It isn’t true.”
I stared.
“What?”
She looked furious.
“Anthony is repeating what Bellini believes.”
I could barely think.
“What does that mean?”
“Vittorio thought you might be his daughter.”
“Might?”
“I never slept with Vittorio.”
Silence.
“What?”
“He helped us. People assumed things.”
“Then why would Bellini believe it?”
“Because Daniel used Vittorio’s identity to protect you.”
My head spun.
After the tracking device was removed when I was ten, Mom and Daniel needed new medical records that Bellini couldn’t easily challenge.
Vittorio agreed to register himself secretly as my biological father in a protected Rossi medical system.
A false paternal identity.
That explained Bellini’s interest.
My DNA could supposedly unlock family-controlled medical trusts.
“But who was my biological father?”
Mom’s voice softened.
“Daniel.”
Relief hit so hard I started crying.
Luca closed his eyes.
Marcus exhaled loudly.
Sarah muttered, “That was a terrible five minutes.”
I almost laughed.
Almost.
Then Mom added:
“There is a DNA test in the deposit box.”
“Why?”
“Because Vittorio insisted the truth should exist somewhere.”
Luca looked at her.
“My father protected Emily?”
“Yes.”
“He never told me.”
“He protected many things badly.”
Luca gave a humorless smile.
“That sounds like him.”
The attack outside ended within twenty minutes.
Federal agents detained several men.
Anthony escaped.
Bellini remained missing.
But a captured attacker revealed their next destination.
St. Vincent’s.
The hidden archive.
Anthony and Bellini intended to remove the files before sunrise.
Mom looked at Luca.
“We need to let the authorities handle it.”
Luca nodded.
No argument.
That surprised her.
Then he looked at me.
“You stay here.”
I raised an eyebrow.
He sighed.
“Would you prefer if I asked?”
“Yes.”
“Emily, will you stay somewhere secure while trained people raid a criminal medical archive?”
I considered.
“Yes.”
He almost smiled.
“Progress.”
Then Marcus received a call from the federal team.
The hidden basement had already been breached.
Not by Anthony.
Not by Bellini.
By a woman.
She had entered alone.
Removed one storage drive.
Then deliberately triggered the alarms.
Security captured her face.
Marcus turned the image toward us.
Sarah screamed.
The woman was identical to my mother.
Mom stared.
And whispered:
May you like
“My sister.”
The twin nobody had ever told me existed.
