Chapter 9 - THE DOCTOR WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Dr. Evans had delivered half the babies born into wealthy Boston families.
He had also treated Norah for four years.
Matteo wanted him found immediately.
Arthur found him first.
The doctor was packing.
Passport.
Cash.
One suitcase.
Arthur brought him to a secure office.
Evans looked terrified.
“Marco forced me.”
Norah stood beside Matteo.
“Forced you to do what?”
Evans swallowed.
“Monitor the pregnancy.”
“Why?”
“For genetic compatibility.”
Matteo’s expression hardened.
“Compatibility with what?”
Evans looked at the floor.
“Marco has leukemia.”
Silence.
“He needs a stem-cell donor.”
Norah instinctively protected her stomach.
Evans continued.
“Close biological relatives offer the strongest chance.”
Matteo understood.
Marco did not only want voting control.
He wanted the baby medically.
“He planned to use my child.”
“No.”
Evans spoke quickly.
“He planned cord-blood collection at birth. Possibly later marrow testing. I never agreed to harm the baby.”
“But you gave him medical information.”
“Yes.”
“Appointments?”
“Yes.”
“Ultrasounds?”
“Yes.”
Norah’s face turned white.
“Did you tell him the sex?”
Evans hesitated.
Matteo looked at Norah.
“You didn’t know?”
She shook her head.
They had decided to be surprised.
Evans closed his eyes.
“It’s a girl.”
For one second, everything stopped.
A daughter.
Matteo’s daughter.
Norah’s hand moved over her stomach.
Neither smiled.
The revelation was too tangled with fear.
Then Evans said:
“There’s something else.”
Matteo almost laughed.
Of course there was.
“Marco believed the baby might not be yours.”
Norah stared.
“What?”
“He ordered prenatal DNA testing without telling you.”
Matteo went cold.
“Without consent?”
“I used maternal blood already collected for routine testing.”
Norah looked like she might strike him.
“Result?”
Evans looked at Matteo.
“99.99 percent paternity.”
The baby was his.
Matteo felt relief, then shame for feeling relief.
Norah caught it.
“That mattered to you?”
“No.”
He corrected himself.
“It shouldn’t have.”
Better.
Evans explained Marco needed certainty because only Matteo’s biological child offered the trust rights and donor probability he wanted.
Then Arthur entered.
“Federal agents are moving.”
Matteo had expected it.
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“Charges?”
“Racketeering. Financial conspiracy. Providence fire under review.”
Norah looked at him.
Matteo nodded.
“I’m not running.”
Then Arthur added:
“Harper is cooperating with the FBI.”
That surprised everyone.
“Why?”
“She made a deal.”
“With who?”
“Federal prosecutors.”
Harper had recorded Marco.
Recorded Matteo.
Recorded meetings.
Some material hurt him.
Some helped.
But one recording mattered most.
Marco admitted orchestrating the Providence fire.
He had knowingly sent Thomas inside before feeding Matteo false intelligence.
Matteo still gave the order.
But Marco engineered the death.
Norah listened once.
Then again.
Tears ran down her face.
Matteo did not ask what she felt.
He no longer assumed he had the right.
Then the recording continued.
Marco laughed.
If Norah finds out, she’ll leave Matteo. If she doesn’t, Harper will make sure she does.
Harper asked:
And if Norah forgives him?
Marco answered:
Then we make sure she never reaches delivery.
May you like
Matteo stood so quickly the chair fell backward.
Because Harper had recorded that conversation only six days earlier.
