Chapter 6 - THE LIE BURIED WITH HIS MOTHER
Dante did not move.
For twelve years, he had believed his mother died in a car accident.
For another eighteen, he had accepted that his father was a complicated man who loved his family despite the violence surrounding him.
Now Isabella sat across from him and claimed Antonio Moretti had ordered his own wife's murder.
"Choose your next words carefully," Dante said.
Isabella folded her hands.
"Your mother knew too much."
"About what?"
"About the agreement between our fathers."
Dante's eyes narrowed.
"What agreement?"
"Victor and Antonio built their empires together. Then your mother discovered how they were financing them."
"Through the charities."
Isabella looked surprised.
"So you found the records."
"I found enough."
"Then you know she threatened to expose them."
Dante stepped closer.
"That doesn't prove my father killed her."
"No," Isabella said. "But this does."
She reached into her purse.
Dante's hand moved instinctively toward the pistol beneath his jacket.
Isabella noticed.
"Oh, relax."
She withdrew a small digital recorder.
Then pressed play.
A man's voice filled the room.
Antonio Moretti.
Dante recognized it immediately.
I want the problem handled before she talks.
Another voice answered.
Your wife?
A pause.
Then Antonio said:
Do what you have to do.
The recording ended.
Dante stared at the device.
His father's voice.
His father's words.
But something was wrong.
The background noise changed between the two sentences.
He had heard enough edited recordings in his life to recognize a splice.
"Where did you get that?"
"My father."
"Of course."
Isabella stood.
"You can deny it all you want. Tomorrow, the truth comes out."
"Is that a threat?"
"It's a promise."
She walked toward the door.
Dante did not stop her.
"Isabella."
She turned.
"Why did you really agree to marry me?"
For the first time, something resembling sadness crossed her face.
"Because my father told me you were the only way to make things right."
"Make what right?"
She looked at him for a long moment.
Then whispered:
"My mother wasn't the only woman your father destroyed."
And she left.
Dante waited until her car disappeared through the gates.
Then he called Marco.
"Get me the original recording."
"How?"
"Find out who made it."
Marco hesitated.
"Boss, there's something else."
"What?"
"The DNA results came back."
Dante closed his eyes.
"Tell me."
"Luca is not Victor Costa's son."
Dante opened his eyes.
"Are you certain?"
"Ninety-nine point nine percent."
A wave of relief moved through him.
Then Marco continued.
"But he isn't Antonio Moretti's son either."
Dante went still.
"Then whose son is he?"
"We don't know yet."
"Run every comparison you can."
"Already working on it."
Dante ended the call.
He walked into the hallway and found Elena waiting beside the staircase.
She had heard raised voices.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
Dante almost said yes.
It was his usual answer.
Instead, he shook his head.
"No."
Elena stepped closer.
"Can I help?"
He looked at her.
Four years under his roof, and he had never truly known her.
Yet she was the only person who had asked whether he was all right without expecting anything in return.
"My father may have been responsible for my mother's death."
Elena's face softened.
"I'm sorry."
"And my brother isn't who I thought he was."
She hesitated.
"Sometimes families keep secrets because they're ashamed."
Dante looked toward the dark windows.
"Sometimes they keep secrets because they're monsters."
Elena reached for his hand.
He let her.
For a moment, the mansion felt less cold.
Then her phone rang.
An unknown number.
She answered cautiously.
"Hello?"
A woman's voice spoke.
"Elena Vasquez?"
"Yes."
"This is Dr. Margaret Ellis from Boston Children's Hospital."
Elena frowned.
"What is this about?"
"It's about your daughter."
Her stomach dropped.
"Is Sophia okay?"
"That's why I'm calling. We received an anonymous request to review her birth records."
Elena gripped the phone.
"Why?"
The doctor hesitated.
"Because someone submitted a court petition claiming Sophia Vasquez is not your biological child."
Elena stared at Dante.
May you like
Then the doctor spoke again.
"And the person who filed that petition is Isabella Costa."
