Chapter 6 - The Child Luca Left BehindThe meeting point was a church in Queens.
She laughed.
They stood in the penthouse living room where twenty-four hours earlier Amara had been given her ultimatum.
Two suitcases waited beside the elevator.
Selena stared at them.
“You’re serious?”
“Yes.”
“Because Amara threw a tantrum?”
Dante’s expression changed.
“She didn’t throw anything.”
“That’s worse.”
“What?”
“She scared you.”
Dante looked at her.
Selena smiled.
“I can see it.”
“Leave.”
“Dante—”
“Now.”
Her smile disappeared.
“You told me I was done hiding.”
“I made a mistake.”
“You made promises.”
“I promised you an apartment, protection, and money. You have all three.”
“You promised me you’d choose.”
Dante said nothing.
Selena’s eyes sharpened.
“And now that you discovered your sweet little wife has billions, suddenly you remember your vows?”
“This isn’t about money.”
“Everything with you is about power.”
She stepped closer.
“That’s why you wanted me.”
Dante’s voice lowered.
“Be careful.”
Selena laughed again, though less confidently.
“I know exactly what you are.”
“No. You know what I allowed you to see.”
A buzzer sounded.
Security.
Marco entered holding a tablet.
“We need to talk.”
Dante glanced at Selena.
“Outside.”
Marco shook his head.
“She should hear it.”
That changed the air.
Selena folded her arms.
“What?”
Marco placed the tablet on the table.
“Orpheus.”
Dante moved closer.
“We found records.”
“How?”
“Amara’s audit team flagged transfers from one of Lorenzo’s old foundations.”
Selena’s face changed.
Barely.
But Dante saw it.
Marco saw it too.
“You recognize the name?” Dante asked.
“No.”
Too quick.
Dante stared at her.
“Selena.”
“I said no.”
Marco touched the screen.
A photograph appeared.
An older man leaving a hotel in Switzerland.
Dr. Emil Varga.
“Biotech researcher,” Marco said. “Genetic authentication. Private inheritance disputes. Discreet clients.”
Dante frowned.
“Why would my father pay him?”
“We found payments until Lorenzo died.”
Marco changed the image.
A photograph of Selena appeared.
Taken six months earlier.
Leaving the same clinic.
Dante did not move.
Selena went pale.
“What were you doing there?”
She shook her head.
“It’s not what you think.”
“Then explain.”
“I had tests.”
“What tests?”
Silence.
Dante stepped closer.
“What tests?”
Selena’s chin trembled.
“Fertility.”
Marco stared at her.
Dante did not believe it.
“Try again.”
“That’s the truth.”
“Then why did Varga’s company access Leo’s medical file?”
Her eyes widened.
That was enough.
Dante felt something cold settle inside him.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“You knew someone accessed my son’s records.”
“I didn’t—”
He grabbed the tablet and threw it against the wall.
Selena screamed.
Dante didn’t touch her.
He didn’t need to.
The room had changed around him.
“Tell me everything.”
Selena backed away.
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
“He’ll kill me.”
“Who?”
She shook her head.
“Who?”
“Dante…”
“WHO?”
“Your uncle.”
Silence.
Dante stared at her.
“Vincenzo?”
Selena began crying.
Not elegant tears.
Real panic.
“He found me before you did.”
Dante’s mind raced.
Vincenzo Moretti.
His father’s younger brother.
Retired.
Supposedly living in Sicily most of the year.
A man Dante had trusted since childhood.
“What do you mean before me?”
Selena wiped her face.
“You think we met accidentally at Monaco?”
“Yes.”
“We didn’t.”
Dante’s stomach twisted.
“Go on.”
“Vincenzo arranged it.”
“Why?”
“He said you were lonely. That your marriage was weak. He wanted someone close to you.”
Marco cursed under his breath.
Dante’s voice became frighteningly calm.
“You were spying on me.”
“At first.”
“And later?”
“I fell in love with you.”
“Don’t.”
“I did.”
“You were reporting to my uncle.”
“Yes.”
“What information?”
“Meetings. Travel. Which captains you trusted. Whether Amara knew anything.”
Dante’s face hardened.
“Why was he interested in Amara?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I swear.”
Marco stepped forward.
“And Orpheus?”
Selena looked at him.
“I heard Vincenzo mention it twice.”
“What is it?”
“A trust.”
Dante’s pulse changed.
“What kind?”
“I don’t know all of it. Lorenzo created it years ago. Assets. Accounts. Properties. Maybe hundreds of millions.”
“Who inherits?”
“That’s why Varga was involved.”
Dante understood before she said it.
“Bloodline.”
Selena nodded.
“The trust transfers to Lorenzo’s verified male descendants.”
Marco’s face darkened.
“Dante. Luca’s son.”
“And Leo,” Dante said.
Selena looked away.
Dante moved so quickly she flinched.
“What did Vincenzo want with my son’s medical records?”
“He wanted proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That Leo was yours.”
Dante’s hands shook.
Not with anger.
Fear.
“And Gabriel?”
“I didn’t know about Gabriel until recently.”
“Does Vincenzo?”
“Yes.”
Dante’s heart seemed to stop.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Does Vincenzo know where he is?”
“I think he’s trying to find him.”
“Why?”
“Because if there are living heirs, Vincenzo gets nothing.”
Dante stared at her.
His uncle had spent decades playing the harmless second son.
He attended baptisms.
Funerals.
Christmas dinners.
He had held Leo when he was three days old.
Dante suddenly remembered Vincenzo whispering over the baby.
Strong Moretti blood.
His stomach turned.
“Why would he get anything?”
Selena answered quietly.
“If Lorenzo’s direct male line ends, Orpheus passes to his surviving brother.”
Marco cursed.
Dante looked toward the broken tablet.
The mistress.
The corporate sabotage.
The medical breach.
They were not separate problems.
Vincenzo had placed Selena near him.
Perhaps not simply to spy.
Perhaps to destroy his marriage.
Isolate Amara.
Gain access to Leo.
“Did he tell you to move into my home?”
Selena began shaking.
“Yes.”
Dante closed his eyes.
“Did he tell you to force the choice?”
“He said Amara would never tolerate it. He said she’d leave.”
“And then?”
“I was supposed to convince you she was keeping Leo from you.”
Dante opened his eyes.
Selena whispered, “He said you’d get angry.”
Marco understood.
“A custody war.”
Selena nodded.
Dante felt sick.
If he had responded the way Vincenzo expected, he would have mobilized men.
Threatened Amara.
Possibly tried to take Leo.
Chaos.
Exactly the kind of chaos during which a child could disappear.
“What was the next step?”
“I don’t know.”
Dante’s stare made her crumble.
“I swear I don’t know.”
“Where is Vincenzo now?”
“New York.”
“Where?”
“He moves.”
“Contact him.”
Selena shook her head violently.
“No.”
“Contact him.”
“He’ll know.”
“That’s the point.”
Dante took her phone from the table.
She reached for it.
He pulled away.
“What are you doing?”
“Saving my family.”
“You don’t have a family anymore.”
The sentence landed.
Dante looked at her.
Selena immediately regretted it.
He handed the phone to Marco.
“Call Amara.”
Marco nodded.
Dante stared through the windows at the city.
He had brought the weapon into his own house.
He had humiliated his wife with it.
And all along, someone else had been holding the trigger.
Minutes later Marco returned.
“She won’t answer.”
“Keep trying.”
“Dante.”
“What?”
Marco’s face had lost color.
“We received an alert from the Bennett property.”
Dante turned.
“What alert?”
“Security incident.”
His blood froze.
“What kind?”
Marco looked at the message.
“Attempted breach.”
Dante was already moving.
“Leo?”
“Unknown.”
“Call Samuel.”
“No answer.”
They reached the elevator.
Then Dante’s phone rang.
Amara.
He answered before the first vibration ended.
“Amara?”
Her breathing was fast.
“Dante.”
“Where are you?”
“In the safe room.”
“Leo?”
“With me.”
Dante nearly collapsed with relief.
“What happened?”
“Three men came through the west perimeter.”
“Are they inside?”
“One is down. Two ran.”
“Listen to me. Do not leave that room.”
“I know.”
“Vincenzo is behind it.”
Silence.
“What?”
“Selena was working for him. He knows about Orpheus. He knows about Gabriel.”
Amara inhaled sharply.
“Then Elena is in danger.”
“Where is she?”
“I can’t tell you over the phone.”
“Amara, this isn’t about our divorce anymore.”
“No.”
“For once, trust me.”
The silence on the line lasted several seconds.
Then Amara gave him an address.
Not Gabriel’s.
A meeting point.
“Come alone,” she said.
Dante looked at Marco.
For years, Marco had been closer than a brother.
But Amara had just asked him to trust her.
“Fine.”
“And Dante?”
“Yes?”
“If you bring one armed convoy, I disappear with Leo tonight.”
“I understand.”
The line went dead.
Dante handed Marco his keys.
“I’m going alone.”
Marco stared at him.
“That’s insane.”
“Probably.”
“Could be a trap.”
May you like
Dante headed toward the private garage.
“Then it will be the first trap I walked into because my wife asked me instead of because my pride did.”
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