Chapter 7 - The Empty NurseryThe Bennett estate was thirty-seven minutes away.
Dante arrived alone at 10:43 p.m.
He had not entered a church willingly in years.
The last time had been Luca’s funeral.
Amara sat in the third pew.
She wore black trousers and a coat, her hair pulled back.
No guards were visible.
Dante knew better than to assume they weren’t there.
He sat beside her.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Amara asked, “How much did Selena tell you?”
“Enough.”
He explained Vincenzo.
The trust.
The bloodline.
The plan.
Amara listened without interrupting.
When he finished, she stared toward the altar.
“I knew Orpheus existed. I didn’t know the inheritance terms.”
“How did you find Gabriel?”
“Through Elena.”
“How did you find her?”
“Your father’s payments.”
Dante looked at her.
“Why were you investigating him?”
“Because when someone searched Leo’s genetic data, I assumed it had something to do with your family.”
“You should have told me.”
Amara turned.
“I tried telling you something was wrong.”
“I thought security handled it.”
“You were in Miami.”
He looked away.
“With Selena.”
“Yes.”
The shame was becoming exhausting.
Dante had spent his life believing shame was an emotion weak men allowed themselves.
Now it followed him everywhere.
“Where is Gabriel?”
“Not here.”
“Amara.”
“He doesn’t know you.”
“I’m his uncle.”
“And your name has gotten people killed.”
Dante flinched.
She continued more softly.
“Elena spent eleven years protecting that boy from your family. We don’t get to erase that because you finally learned the truth.”
Dante stared at the altar.
“Does he look like Luca?”
Amara’s face softened.
“Yes.”
That single word nearly broke him.
“How much?”
“A lot.”
“Eyes?”
“Luca’s.”
Dante swallowed.
“He loved baseball.”
“Luca?”
“Yeah. Terrible player. Thought he was great.”
A tiny smile crossed Amara’s face.
It disappeared quickly.
“Gabriel plays shortstop.”
Dante closed his eyes.
For one moment, the ruthless boss vanished.
He was simply a younger brother remembering someone who should have been alive.
“I want to meet him.”
“Maybe.”
“When?”
“When Elena agrees.”
Dante nodded.
It cost him something to accept that.
Amara noticed.
“You’re changing.”
“Don’t sound surprised.”
“I am.”
He almost smiled.
Then the side door opened.
Elena Rossi entered.
Dante knew immediately.
She was forty-two now.
Dark hair.
Tired eyes.
But he remembered seeing her once.
Hospital corridor.
Luca had introduced her as “a friend.”
Dante had barely looked at her.
Elena stopped ten feet away.
Her face turned white.
“Dante.”
He stood.
She took one step backward.
Amara stood too.
“He came alone.”
Elena looked at Amara.
“You promised.”
“I promised I wouldn’t bring him to Gabriel.”
Dante lifted his hands.
“I’m not here to hurt you.”
Elena laughed bitterly.
“That’s what Moretti men always say before someone bleeds.”
He had no defense.
“I didn’t know.”
“About Luca?”
“Yes.”
“You expect that to comfort me?”
“No.”
Elena’s eyes filled.
“Your father killed him.”
“I know.”
“And you became exactly what Lorenzo wanted.”
Dante’s jaw tightened.
“I know.”
That answer surprised her.
He continued.
“I can’t change what happened. But Vincenzo is looking for Gabriel.”
Elena’s face changed.
“Why?”
“Money.”
Dante explained Orpheus.
By the end, Elena was gripping the pew.
“How much?”
“We don’t know.”
Amara spoke.
“Enough to make him dangerous.”
Elena laughed shakily.
“He was already dangerous.”
Dante looked at her.
“What do you know?”
“Vincenzo helped your father find us.”
Silence.
“What?”
“Luca trusted him.”
Dante felt another piece of his childhood collapse.
“Vincenzo told Lorenzo we planned to leave.”
Elena wiped tears angrily.
“The night Luca died, Vincenzo called him and said he had arranged a car. Luca believed him.”
Dante sat down.
His uncle had betrayed Luca.
Then watched Dante spend twelve years avenging the wrong enemy.
“What happened after?”
“I ran.”
“Pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“How did my father find you?”
“He didn’t. Vincenzo did.”
Dante looked up.
“He came to see you?”
“When Gabriel was six months old.”
“Why?”
“He offered money.”
“For what?”
Elena’s face hardened.
“My son.”
Dante’s stomach turned.
“He said Moretti boys belonged to the family. I refused.”
“What did he do?”
“He smiled and told me eventually I’d understand.”
Amara crossed her arms.
“Then Lorenzo started sending money.”
Elena nodded.
“I never spent it.”
“Why accept it?”
“I didn’t know how to stop it without revealing where we were. The accounts moved through lawyers.”
Dante looked at Amara.
“When Lorenzo died, payments stopped.”
“Yes.”
“Because Vincenzo controlled whatever system handled them.”
Amara nodded slowly.
“Possibly.”
The church door opened again.
A boy walked in.
Dante froze.
Gabriel.
Eleven.
Dark hair.
Brown eyes.
Luca’s eyes.
He carried a baseball glove.
“Elena?”
The boy stopped when he saw Dante.
Elena turned sharply.
“Gabriel, I told you to wait in the car.”
“The driver said—”
He looked at Amara.
Then Dante.
“Who’s he?”
No one answered.
Dante could barely breathe.
The boy frowned.
“Mom?”
Elena closed her eyes.
Amara placed a hand gently on her arm.
“You decide.”
Elena looked at Dante.
Years of fear passed through her expression.
Then exhaustion won.
“Gabriel, this is Dante Moretti.”
The boy’s face changed.
He knew the name.
Not the truth.
“You mean the gangster?”
Dante almost laughed despite everything.
Elena winced.
“Yes.”
Gabriel studied him.
“Why is he here?”
Elena swallowed.
“Because…”
She couldn’t finish.
Dante stepped forward, then stopped several feet away.
He refused to frighten him.
“Because I knew your father.”
Gabriel’s grip tightened around the glove.
“You knew my dad?”
“Yes.”
“What was his name?”
Dante looked at Elena.
She nodded through tears.
“Luca.”
Gabriel whispered the name.
“Luca Moretti?”
“Yes.”
The boy looked between them.
Then back at Dante.
“What was he to you?”
Dante’s voice cracked.
“My brother.”
Gabriel stared.
Understanding slowly appeared.
“You’re my uncle?”
Dante nodded.
“Yes.”
The boy looked down.
Then up.
“Did you know I existed?”
The question destroyed him.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because people lied to me.”
“Did my dad know about me?”
“Yes.”
“Did he want me?”
Dante remembered Luca bragging about everything.
His cars.
His watches.
His terrible baseball swing.
Then imagined the brother he had known discovering he would become a father.
“He wanted you more than anything.”
Gabriel’s mouth trembled.
Elena began crying.
Dante crouched so they were closer to eye level.
“Your father was trying to build a new life for you when he died.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“Was he bad?”
Dante hesitated.
This mattered.
“He did bad things.”
Elena watched carefully.
“So do you?” Gabriel asked.
Dante could have lied.
Instead he said, “Yes.”
Gabriel nodded slowly.
“At least you admit it.”
Amara almost smiled.
Then a phone rang.
Elena checked hers.
Unknown number.
She answered.
“Hello?”
Her face drained.
A man’s voice came through faintly.
“Hello, Elena.”
Dante recognized it.
Vincenzo.
Elena put the phone on speaker.
“Leave us alone.”
Vincenzo laughed softly.
“That was always Luca’s problem. He believed leaving was an option.”
Dante stood.
“Uncle.”
Silence.
Then amusement.
“Dante. Finally.”
“You stay away from the boy.”
“Which boy?”
Dante’s blood chilled.
Vincenzo continued.
“Luca’s son?”
A pause.
“Or yours?”
Amara grabbed her phone.
The safe-house security app.
Her face went white.
“Leo.”
Dante looked at her.
“What?”
“The Bennett estate.”
“What happened?”
“The feed is down.”
Vincenzo laughed through the speaker.
“You should have learned from your father, Dante.”
The line went dead.
Amara was already running.
Dante followed.
May you like
Behind them, Gabriel shouted after his mother.
And for the first time in his life, Dante Moretti prayed that his power had not made him too late to save his own child.
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