Chapter 8 - The Child Who Didn’t Exist
I had no son.
That was what I told myself repeatedly on the drive home.
Rocco was less convinced.
"Your twenties weren't exactly monastic."
"Thank you."
"I'm being practical."
"So am I. Nobody ever told me about a child."
"Maybe that was intentional."
The birth certificate Vivien described had disappeared from Gabriel's office before police searched it.
But we had a name.
Samuel Reed.
Age nine.
Born in Boston.
Mother: Caroline Reed.
Father blank.
I knew Caroline.
That was the problem.
We had been together briefly ten years earlier.
She disappeared after my father died.
I had assumed she'd simply moved on.
Rocco found her address.
She lived outside Providence.
I went alone.
Caroline opened the door and went pale.
"Lorenzo."
"Is Samuel mine?"
No greeting.
No games.
She closed her eyes.
That was enough.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because your father told me not to."
I stared.
"My father knew?"
"He found out when I was pregnant."
"Why would he hide my son?"
"Because Gabriel was already trying to manipulate your inheritance."
Everything returned to Gabriel.
Caroline let me inside.
Samuel was at school.
She showed me photographs.
The boy had dark hair.
My father's eyes.
My jaw.
I sat down.
For nine years, my son had existed without me.
"Does he know?"
"That his father is alive? Yes."
"Who does he think I am?"
"A businessman in New York."
"That's all?"
"I didn't want him growing up afraid."
I couldn't blame her.
That was the worst part.
"Gabriel found you."
"Three months ago."
The timing matched Vivien's threats against Elena.
"What did he want?"
"Samuel's DNA."
I stood.
"Did he touch him?"
"No. We left immediately."
"Where?"
"I'm not telling you."
I looked at her.
"Caroline."
"I've spent nine years protecting him from your world."
"And Gabriel found you anyway."
That landed.
Her eyes filled.
"I know."
"Let me help."
Silence.
Finally, she agreed to bring Samuel to a neutral location.
Two days later, I met my son.
He entered a private room at a small hotel holding his mother's hand.
He looked at me.
I looked at him.
Neither spoke.
Then he said:
"You're taller than Mom said."
I laughed.
I couldn't help it.
"So are you."
"I'm nine."
"I heard."
"Are you really my dad?"
Caroline looked away.
I crouched.
"I think so."
"Mom says we're doing a test."
"We are."
"And if it's yes?"
My throat tightened.
"Then I hope you'll let me know you."
Samuel considered that.
"Do you like baseball?"
"Yes."
"What team?"
"Yankees."
He grimaced.
"Red Sox."
"That's unfortunate."
He smiled.
Something inside me shifted.
The DNA test confirmed it.
Samuel was my son.
But Gabriel had known before me.
And we finally understood why.
My father's trust controlled assets worth hundreds of millions.
If I died without an heir, Gabriel's foundation inherited a significant portion.
If Samuel was legally established as my son first, Gabriel received nothing.
That was why he had searched for Samuel.
That was why my father had hidden him.
And it explained something else.
Gabriel's sudden urgency.
He had been planning to kill me before Samuel's existence became public.
Vivien had been intended to help him secure everything else.
The wedding had never been romantic.
It was the final piece of an eleven-year theft.
I brought Caroline and Samuel to the estate under protection.
Mia met Samuel within ten minutes.
She stared at him.
"You Lorenzo's boy?"
Samuel looked embarrassed.
"Apparently."
She nodded solemnly.
"I'm Mia."
"I know."
"How?"
"Everyone knows."
She accepted this.
Then handed him her stuffed rabbit.
"Hold."
Samuel looked at me desperately.
I shrugged.
"You've been chosen."
For the first time in weeks, Elena laughed.
I looked at her.
She caught me watching.
The laughter faded into something quieter.
Something warm.
I had noticed Elena before.
Of course I had.
But I'd deliberately kept every thought behind a wall.
She had survived grief, threats, kidnapping, and the truth about her husband without losing her gentleness with Mia.
I admired her.
That was dangerous enough.
Then Samuel asked Mia:
"Why do you call him Uncle Lorenzo?"
Mia answered immediately.
"Because he scares bad people."
Samuel looked at me.
"Do you?"
"Sometimes."
Mia shook her head.
"He scary."
Everyone laughed.
Even me.
Later that evening, Elena found me alone on the terrace.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For keeping her safe."
"I failed at that once."
"You found her."
"After she was taken."
She stepped closer.
"You can't control everything."
"I've spent my life trying."
"I noticed."
We smiled.
Then her expression became serious.
"Daniel would have liked you."
"I wish he'd trusted me enough to come directly to me."
"He did."
I frowned.
"He tried."
"No."
Elena touched my arm.
"Lorenzo, I found something else in his letter."
She handed me a page.
One line had been underlined.
If Lorenzo ever learns the truth, tell him his father wasn't the only Duca I was protecting.
I looked at Elena.
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know."
My phone rang.
Federal investigator.
They had searched Gabriel's private safe.
Inside was a photograph.
My father.
Daniel.
And another man.
On the back was a date from eleven years ago.
The night before my father died.
And beneath the date, my father had written five words:
If I die, protect Lorenzo.
May you like
Daniel hadn't been working against my family.
He had spent the final years of his life protecting me.
