Chapter 5 - THE MANSION WITH NO SAFE DOORS
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Dante said one word.
“Impossible.”
Marco placed the report on the table.
“It's a preliminary match from an archived maternal sample, Boss. The laboratory recommends fresh testing.”
Vittorio stared at the paper.
“My wife had only one child.”
Dante looked at him.
“Me.”
The old man's hands trembled.
I felt suddenly invisible.
Three powerful men were discussing my existence as though I were a document that had been misplaced.
“Stop,” I said.
They turned.
“I don't care whose blood I have until someone explains why people are trying to kill me.”
Dante looked ashamed.
“You're right.”
“Good. Then start there.”
He picked up his phone.
“Marco, take my father to the secure floor. Teresa, prepare Leo's room. Alina stays with me.”
I folded my arms.
“Do I get a vote?”
Dante met my eyes.
“Yes.”
That surprised me.
“You can leave. I'll arrange protection wherever you want to go.”
I looked toward the windows.
Beyond them, Chicago sparkled.
Somewhere out there was my apartment.
My unpaid bills.
My mother's empty bedroom.
And a man who had fired a gun at me.
“I'll stay tonight,” I said.
“Only tonight.”
Dante nodded.
“Only tonight.”
But twenty minutes later, someone tried to poison me.
It happened in the kitchen.
Teresa had prepared tea and toast because I still hadn't eaten properly.
I was standing beside the counter with Leo on my hip when a young housemaid entered carrying a silver tray.
“Miss Reed? Mr. Moretti asked me to bring you chamomile.”
I frowned.
“He did?”
“Yes.”
She set down the cup.
Leo suddenly grabbed the handle.
Hot tea splashed across the counter.
I jerked back.
The maid gasped.
“Oh, no!”
Leo began crying.
I checked his hands.
He wasn't burned.
“It's okay, sweetheart.”
Teresa rushed in.
“What happened?”
The maid began apologizing.
Then Teresa saw the tea.
Her expression changed.
“Who prepared that?”
The maid blinked.
“The kitchen.”
“Which kitchen?”
“The downstairs service kitchen.”
Teresa went pale.
“There is no downstairs service kitchen.”
The maid turned toward the door.
A bodyguard blocked it.
Dante appeared seconds later.
He took one look at the spilled tea and ordered everyone out except me, Teresa, and Marco.
The maid began crying.
“I didn't know!”
Dante's voice was terrifyingly calm.
“Know what?”
“She said it was medicine.”
“Who?”
The maid shook her head.
“I never saw her face.”
Marco searched the tray.
Beneath the folded napkin was a tiny glass vial.
He smelled it cautiously without opening it fully.
His expression hardened.
“Call the medical team.”
I held Leo tighter.
Dante turned toward me.
“Did you drink any?”
“No.”
His shoulders loosened.
Just slightly.
Then he looked at his son.
Leo was chewing happily on the edge of my sleeve.
Dante stared at him.
“He saved you.”
I kissed the baby's forehead.
“Again.”
That night, Dante moved us to his private estate outside Chicago.
The house stood behind iron gates on thirty acres of wooded land.
It had a marble staircase, an indoor swimming pool, a library larger than my apartment, and enough security cameras to make me feel like I was living inside a bank vault.
My room overlooked a garden.
Leo's nursery was next door.
Dante's bedroom was across the hall.
I noticed.
He noticed me noticing.
“It's for security.”
“Of course.”
His mouth twitched.
“Would you prefer another floor?”
“I'd prefer my old life.”
The humor disappeared.
“I know.”
I looked away.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he said, “I'm sorry.”
I turned.
“For what?”
“For bringing this into your life.”
“You didn't bring it. It was already following me.”
Dante leaned against the doorway.
“You're stronger than you realize.”
I laughed bitterly.
“I cried in a grocery store last week because eggs cost too much.”
“Strength isn't the absence of fear.”
I looked at him.
He continued.
“It's what you do while you're afraid.”
For the first time, I saw something beneath the dangerous reputation.
A man who had spent his entire life carrying responsibilities nobody else understood.
“Where is Leo's mother?” I asked.
Dante looked down.
“Her name was Isabella.”
“Was she your wife?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
His jaw tightened.
“She died giving birth.”
I felt my chest ache.
“I'm sorry.”
He nodded.
“Leo survived. She didn't.”
I glanced toward the nursery.
“Does he look like her?”
“Every day.”
Dante's voice broke slightly.
I didn't know what to say.
So I did the only thing that felt natural.
I reached for his hand.
He looked down at our joined fingers.
Neither of us moved.
Then a scream echoed from downstairs.
Dante released me instantly.
“Stay here.”
He drew his gun.
I heard running footsteps.
A door slammed.
Then Marco shouted.
“Boss! We found someone in the security room!”
Dante disappeared.
I hurried into Leo's nursery.
The baby was sleeping.
I checked the windows.
Locked.
The balcony.
Locked.
Then I noticed something strange.
A small red light blinking beneath the rocking chair.
I crouched.
A device had been taped underneath.
A transmitter.
My heart hammered.
I reached toward it.
A voice crackled through the speaker.
A woman's voice.
Soft.
Familiar.
“Alina.”
I froze.
The voice continued.
“If you're hearing this, don't trust the man who brought you here.”
My knees weakened.
Because I knew that voice.
I had heard it every day for twenty-five years.
“Mom?”
The recording continued.
“And whatever Dante Moretti tells you…”
A pause.
May you like
Then the words that shattered me.
“Never let him discover who Leo's real mother is.”
