Chapter 6 - THE MAN WHO STOLE A SON
Dante did not speak for almost twenty minutes.
I could understand why.
For nine months, he had been Leo’s father.
He had fed him.
Held him.
Woken at night.
Probably memorized every little sound.
One document had just told him biology disagreed.
Dante finally looked at Judge Morelli.
“DNA test.”
“Yes.”
“Independent.”
“Yes.”
“No Rosselli doctors.”
“Agreed.”
We left immediately.
Private lab.
Samples from Dante.
Leo.
Me.
The results came the next afternoon.
Dante Rosselli:
Excluded as biological father.
Alina Valdez and Leo Rosselli:
99.8% probability of full siblings.
I read it until the words stopped looking real.
My baby brother.
Nine months old.
Raised by a man I had feared since he entered my restaurant.
Dante sat alone in the hallway.
I approached slowly.
“You okay?”
“No.”
Honest.
I sat beside him.
“He’s still your son.”
Dante looked at me.
“Is he?”
“Did you change his diapers?”
“Yes.”
“Did you sit awake when he had a fever?”
“Yes.”
“Did you love him before you knew any of this?”
His jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
“Then yes.”
He looked away.
“Julian is his biological father.”
“So?”
“That matters.”
“It matters legally.”
“And emotionally.”
“Only if you let it replace nine months.”
Dante almost smiled.
“You are remarkably bossy.”
“You brought armed men into my workplace.”
“Fair.”
Then Leo began crying inside the testing room.
Dante stood automatically.
Did not think.
Just moved.
I watched him pick Leo up.
Leo stopped crying.
That answered more than the test.
Then Marco entered.
“We found Julian.”
Every muscle in Dante tightened.
“Where?”
“Cambridge.”
A small apartment.
False identity.
When we arrived, the door was unlocked.
Julian sat inside.
Alive.
Silver-gray eyes.
My eyes.
He looked at me first.
“Lena.”
I stopped.
Nobody except my mother had used that name with love.
“You’re my father.”
He closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
I wanted to hit him.
Hug him.
Scream.
Instead:
“Where is my mother?”
Julian’s expression broke.
“I don’t know.”
“You followed her.”
“I was trying to protect her.”
“From who?”
He looked at Dante.
“From him.”
Dante became still.
Julian continued.
“Dante thinks he inherited our father’s empire.”
“I did.”
“No.”
Julian shook his head.
“You inherited a trap.”
“What does that mean?”
“Francesco knew Lucia, Sofia, and Elena had evidence against him.”
Dante’s jaw tightened.
“He’s dead.”
“The evidence isn’t.”
Julian opened a floor safe.
Empty.
His face changed.
“No.”
“What?”
“The ledger.”
“What ledger?”
“Francesco’s original accounts.”
“Gone?”
“Yes.”
Then Julian turned toward me.
“Your mother had the only other copy.”
My stomach dropped.
“Is that why she disappeared?”
“Yes.”
“Who took her?”
Julian looked at Dante.
“Someone inside his house.”
And Dante immediately knew who.
May you like
Marco.
His trusted security chief.
