Chapter 6 - THE FATHER HE NEVER KNEW
Roman sat on the concrete floor of storage locker 214.
He did not speak for nearly five minutes.
Malcolm Vane was his biological father.
The man threatening his children.
The man who had sent Sabrina into his marriage.
The man who had apparently helped cause Naomi’s death.
Luca finally broke the silence.
“DNA reports can be forged.”
Roman nodded.
“Verify it.”
A private laboratory confirmed it that evening.
The report was genuine.
So was the biology.
Roman’s mother, Sofia, had died when Roman was twelve.
He remembered her as gentle, nervous, perpetually careful around Vittorio.
Now old memories rearranged themselves.
Arguments behind closed doors.
Vittorio calling Malcolm a traitor.
His mother crying after Malcolm’s conviction.
Roman had been five.
He had understood nothing.
Naomi had.
Or eventually discovered enough.
Inside the storage box was a letter written by Sofia decades earlier.
Naomi had apparently obtained it from Charles Bennett’s archives.
Malcolm,
Vittorio knows about us. He knows Roman may be yours. He says if I leave, he will make sure neither of us ever sees our son again.
Roman stopped reading.
His hands shook.
For years he had built his identity around the D’Angelo name.
Now he discovered that the foundation itself had been a lie.
But the babies in the NICU gave him no time to collapse.
Matteo was returned safely.
Isabella remained stable.
And Elena was still missing.
At midnight, Sabrina called.
“Meet me alone.”
Roman almost hung up.
Then she said, “I can give you Elena.”
Roman arrived at an empty restaurant in Manhattan thirty minutes later.
Sabrina sat in a booth.
Without the burgundy dress, jewelry, and polished confidence, she looked different.
Tired.
Frightened.
Human.
Roman remained standing.
“Where is Elena?”
“Malcolm has her.”
“I know.”
“He’ll kill her after she tells him where the ledger is.”
“Then tell me where he is.”
Sabrina stared at him.
“You know he’s your father.”
Roman’s expression gave her the answer.
She exhaled.
“I wasn’t supposed to fall in love with you.”
Roman’s face remained cold.
“Don’t insult Naomi again by calling what we did love.”
Sabrina flinched.
“You came to me too.”
“I know.”
That answer surprised her.
Roman sat opposite her.
“I betrayed my wife. I’ll carry that. You don’t get to carry it for me.”
Sabrina’s eyes filled.
For the first time, Roman saw no performance.
“I wanted her life,” she admitted.
“You wanted her dead?”
“No.”
“Then why were you smiling?”
Sabrina looked ashamed.
“Because for one disgusting second, I thought the obstacle between us was gone.”
Roman said nothing.
“And then you looked at me,” she whispered, “and I realized there had never been an ‘us.’”
She slid a phone across the table.
An address appeared.
An abandoned riverfront warehouse.
“Elena is there.”
Roman reached for the phone.
Sabrina caught his wrist.
“There’s more.”
He pulled away.
“Malcolm didn’t cause Naomi’s hemorrhage.”
Roman froze.
“What?”
“I checked.”
“How?”
“I bribed someone for her medical records.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
“Why?”
“Because Malcolm told me Naomi’s death was unfortunate but useful. I needed to know whether he caused it.”
“And?”
“The complication began naturally.”
Roman felt both relief and pain.
Sabrina continued.
“But someone delayed the emergency blood delivery by seventeen minutes.”
Roman’s eyes sharpened.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Seventeen minutes.
Naomi might have lived.
Sabrina swallowed.
“Roman, someone inside your organization rerouted the vehicle.”
Roman thought of every man who knew Naomi had gone into labor.
Very few.
Luca.
His uncle Salvatore.
Security chief Brennan Cole.
His cousin Anthony.
Roman stared at Sabrina.
“Who had access?”
“Someone using your internal authorization.”
She showed him the log.
A code.
Roman recognized it.
His blood went cold.
“That’s impossible.”
“What?”
“That authorization belongs to one person.”
“Who?”
Roman stood.
“My uncle.”
Salvatore D’Angelo had raised Roman after Vittorio died.
He was Matteo and Isabella’s great-uncle.
And he had been standing in the hospital chapel when Naomi died.
Roman turned toward the door.
Sabrina called after him.
“Roman.”
He stopped.
“If Malcolm finds out I gave you this, I’m dead.”
Roman looked back.
Once, he would have protected her.
Now he felt only exhaustion.
“Then go to the police.”
“You’re telling me to trust the police?”
“I’m telling you I’m finished being the man who solves everything in the dark.”
He walked away.
Outside, Luca waited beside the car.
Roman gave him the warehouse address.
Then he showed him Salvatore’s authorization code.
Luca stared at it.
“That can’t be right.”
“I know.”
Roman looked toward the city.
“Find my uncle.”
Luca made one call.
Then another.
His expression darkened.
“He’s gone.”
“Where?”
“Nobody knows.”
Roman’s phone buzzed.
A photograph appeared.
Salvatore stood beside Malcolm Vane.
Between them, bound to a chair, was Elena Ruiz.
May you like
Below the photograph was one sentence.
Bring me my grandchildren, son.
