Chapter 6 - THE MAFIA BOSS WHO KNEW MY NAME BEFORE WE MET
I opened the church door.
Dominic stood beneath the yellow porch light wearing the same charcoal suit from the restaurant.
But his expression had changed.
He looked tired.
Troubled.
Human.
"How did you find me?" I asked.
"Agatha told the police you might come here. Father Matteo gave them permission to relay that information to me."
I glanced toward the priest.
He nodded.
Dominic continued.
"My father wants to speak with you."
I crossed my arms.
"Your father had twenty-nine years."
"I know."
"And now, suddenly, he wants to explain everything?"
"Yes."
I stared at him.
"Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?"
"Completely."
His honesty caught me off guard.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then I asked, "Where's Agatha?"
"Mount Sinai. She's being treated for a head injury and a fractured wrist."
My stomach tightened.
"Who hurt her?"
"We believe men working for Carlo."
"Your uncle?"
Dominic nodded.
I looked at him.
"And what are you going to do about it?"
His jaw tightened.
"Cooperate with the investigation. Provide the records we have. Make sure the people responsible are held accountable."
I studied his face.
"That's not what people expect from a Moretti."
"No."
"Why are you different?"
For the first time, something painful crossed his expression.
"Because I've spent my entire adult life watching powerful men confuse fear with respect."
He paused.
"And I'm tired of living inside that mistake."
We drove to the hospital with a police escort arranged through the investigating officers.
Dominic sat beside me, but he didn't touch me.
He didn't ask questions.
He simply let me breathe.
When we arrived, Agatha was awake.
Her wrist was wrapped.
A purple bruise spread along her cheek.
The moment she saw me, she began crying.
"Penny."
I rushed forward.
"Oh, Agatha."
I hugged her carefully.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
She closed her eyes.
"I wanted you to have a childhood."
"Was any of it real?"
Her eyes opened.
"Every moment of love was real."
The answer broke me.
I sat beside her bed and held her uninjured hand.
"Who am I?"
Agatha took a long breath.
"You're Penelope Bellini. Daughter of Lucia Romano and Antonio Bellini."
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"And your father loved you more than his own life."
"Where is he?"
Agatha glanced toward Dominic.
Then she whispered something in Sicilian.
A sentence I hadn't heard since childhood.
The sea keeps what the mountains cannot.
Dominic went still.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
Agatha looked directly at him.
"It means your father knows where Antonio was taken."
Dominic's expression hardened.
"Taken?"
Agatha nodded.
Then she said something that made the room freeze.
"Antonio Bellini didn't disappear."
May you like
She looked toward the hospital door.
"Salvatore Moretti has been hiding him for twenty-nine years."
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