Chapter 4 - THE MAN WHO ERASED FOUR YEARS
Alessandro did not believe in coincidences.
He believed in leverage, information, and the terrible things people did when they thought nobody was watching.
By three o'clock, every security camera at the estate had been reviewed. The footage showed no suspicious vehicles entering the grounds, no unauthorized visitors, and no one approaching Rosa or Lily.
But the delivery records revealed something troubling.
The envelope containing Lily's photograph had arrived two days earlier.
It had been logged by the estate's longtime security supervisor, Salvatore Greco.
Salvatore had died two years before.
Someone had used his credentials.
Alessandro stood over Dominic's desk.
“Who has access to Greco's account?”
“Three people. Me, the head of administration, and your uncle Matteo.”
Alessandro's expression changed.
Matteo Moretti had been his father's younger brother. He had managed several family businesses before retiring to a house in Westchester.
He had also been the last person to see Alessandro's mother alive.
“Call him,” Alessandro said.
Dominic made the call.
No answer.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
Then a text arrived.
Matteo is unavailable. He left for Europe this morning.
Alessandro read it twice.
“Find his flight.”
Dominic nodded.
“And get the DNA results.”
An hour later, the private physician called.
The test had been expedited using a sample Alessandro had provided and a cheek swab collected from Lily with Rosa's consent.
The probability of paternity exceeded 99.99 percent.
Alessandro read the report alone.
He had expected confirmation.
He had not expected the grief that followed.
His daughter was real.
Not a possibility. Not a resemblance. Not a suspicion he could dismiss when the truth became inconvenient.
She was his child.
He had missed her first steps, her first words, her first birthday, and every ordinary moment that made a childhood.
He folded the report and placed it inside his jacket.
Then he went upstairs.
Lily sat on the carpet beside Rosa's bed, arranging wooden blocks into a crooked tower. Bun lay beside her, one bent ear tucked beneath her arm.
“Daddy,” she announced when Alessandro entered.
He stopped.
Rosa looked up sharply.
“Lily, sweetheart—”
“Daddy button,” Lily clarified, pointing at the pocket where he had placed the gold button.
Alessandro crouched beside her.
“Can I help you build that?”
She handed him a red block.
He placed it carefully on top.
The tower collapsed.
Lily burst into delighted laughter.
Alessandro laughed too.
For a few seconds, the estate's walls, the threats, and the years he had lost seemed to disappear.
Then Lily climbed into his lap.
“Stay?”
He looked at Rosa.
She watched him cautiously, her expression caught between hope and fear.
“Yes,” he whispered to Lily. “I'll stay.”
He remained on the floor for nearly an hour, building towers that collapsed and listening to stories about Bun's imaginary adventures.
When Lily finally fell asleep, Rosa walked him into the corridor.
“You don't have to prove anything to her today,” she said.
“I'm not trying to prove anything.”
“You're trying to make up for four years in one afternoon.”
He looked at her.
“Is that wrong?”
“It's impossible.”
He accepted the correction.
Then he took the DNA report from his pocket.
Rosa read it silently.
Her shoulders sagged with relief, though she had never doubted the truth.
“Now you know,” she said.
“I knew before the test.”
“Knowing and believing aren't always the same.”
Alessandro studied her.
“Why didn't you leave after Isabella began treating you badly?”
“Because I needed the job. Because Lily was safe here. And because some part of me hoped you would eventually see her.”
He looked down.
“I should have.”
“Yes.”
She did not soften the answer.
He deserved that.
Before he could speak again, Dominic approached.
“We found the person who accessed Greco's credentials.”
“Who?”
“Your uncle Matteo's personal assistant. She claims she was instructed to send the photograph to Mr. Romano's office.”
Alessandro's expression hardened.
“By whom?”
“Matteo.”
The name hung in the air.
Then Dominic added, “There's more. We searched the archived personnel files. Salvatore Greco didn't die in a car accident, as we were told.”
Alessandro turned slowly.
“What are you saying?”
“His death certificate was filed under a false identity. The man buried under his name was someone else.”
Rosa felt a chill move through her.
Alessandro's voice dropped.
“Find him.”
Dominic nodded.
Then he hesitated.
“Boss, the search has already returned a possible match.”
He handed Alessandro a photograph.
The man in it was older, heavier, and wearing glasses.
But the eyes were unmistakable.
Salvatore Greco was alive.
And he was standing beside a young woman who looked almost exactly like Alessandro's mother.
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On the back of the photograph, someone had written:
Elena Moretti did not die alone.
