Chapter 4 - THE CHILD WHO DISAPPEARED
Rosie stared at the photograph.
"His brother?"
Antonella nodded slowly.
"Lorenzo was only a boy when his father died. His younger brother was an infant."
"What happened to him?"
"Someone took him."
Rosie looked at the smiling baby in the photograph.
"Who?"
Antonella's fingers tightened around the leather notebook.
"The same people who killed his father."
A terrible silence settled over the bedroom.
Rosie sat on the edge of the bed.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"We tried."
"Who is we?"
"Your grandfather and I."
Antonella opened another photograph.
Antonio Bellini stood beside Lorenzo's father, Vittorio Bianca, outside a beautiful villa.
Both men were smiling.
"They were friends long before Antonio began managing the family accounts," Antonella explained. "Vittorio trusted him with everything."
Rosie studied the image.
"Even his children?"
"Especially his children."
Antonella sat beside her.
"After the ambush, the family descended into chaos. Carlo Vescari took control of the accounts. Lorenzo was sent away for protection."
"And the baby?"
"Disappeared during the evacuation."
Rosie frowned.
"How old was he?"
"Eleven months."
She looked at her grandmother.
"Did Lorenzo know?"
"He was told his brother died."
Rosie felt sick.
"Then why did you keep his photograph?"
Antonella hesitated.
"Because I never believed the child was dead."
"Why?"
"Your grandfather discovered payments to a private adoption agency in America."
Rosie's heart began pounding.
"Chicago?"
Antonella nodded.
"Yes."
Rosie looked toward the closet where old family albums had been stored for decades.
Something about the story troubled her.
"Nonna, when did Mom meet Dad?"
Antonella stiffened.
"Why?"
"Just tell me."
"Your mother met him in Chicago."
"When?"
"Twenty-nine years ago."
Rosie stared at the photograph again.
The baby in Antonella's arms had dark hair.
So had Rosie.
The child had a small birthmark near his left ear.
Rosie's mother had once told her that her father carried the same mark.
Her stomach tightened.
"Nonna..."
Antonella looked frightened.
"Rosalina, don't."
"Was my father adopted?"
The old woman's silence answered before her words did.
Rosie stood.
"Oh, my God."
Antonella reached for her.
"Sweetheart—"
"My father was Lorenzo Bianca's brother?"
Antonella began crying.
"I didn't know for certain."
Rosie backed toward the door.
"Then why did you tell me he abandoned us?"
"Because that's what your mother believed."
Rosie stared at her.
"What do you mean?"
Antonella opened the notebook to its final pages.
There was a photocopied adoption certificate.
An American name had been written across the bottom.
Michael Hastings.
Rosie's father.
Beneath it was a handwritten note from Antonio Bellini.
If Michael ever discovers who he is, the Vescari family will come for him.
Rosie looked up.
"Where is he now?"
Antonella wiped her tears.
"I don't know."
But Rosie could see the lie.
She stepped closer.
"Nonna."
Antonella's voice trembled.
"Your father didn't abandon you, Rosalina."
May you like
Rosie stopped breathing.
"He disappeared because someone told him you would be killed if he stayed."
