Chapter 8 - THE BETRAYAL BEHIND THE SILVER PENDANT
I read the sentence again.
Then again.
Leo was not Isabella's biological son.
The words made no sense.
Dante had told me Isabella died giving birth.
He had photographs.
Hospital records.
A death certificate.
But my mother had spent twenty-five years hiding behind documents that were not real.
I no longer trusted paper.
Marco appeared in the doorway.
“We need to move.”
I folded the note and slipped it into my pocket.
“Where's Dante?”
“South wing.”
“Is he safe?”
“For now.”
We hurried through a concealed passage behind the nursery.
Marco carried a flashlight.
I carried Leo.
The walls were narrow and cold.
Somewhere above us, gunfire echoed.
Leo whimpered.
I kissed his forehead.
“It's okay.”
We reached a steel door.
Marco entered a code.
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
The keypad flashed red.
“Damn it.”
“What?”
“Someone changed the access code.”
A voice came from behind us.
“Of course they did.”
We turned.
Salvatore Moretti stood at the end of the passage.
He wore a charcoal suit.
His silver hair was perfectly combed.
Two armed men stood behind him.
He smiled.
“Hello, Sofia.”
Marco raised his gun.
Salvatore sighed.
“Don't be dramatic.”
One of his men pressed a pistol against Marco's back.
Marco froze.
I tightened my hold on Leo.
Salvatore approached slowly.
“You look just like your mother.”
I stepped back.
“Stay away.”
He smiled.
“Your mother was a remarkable woman.”
“You killed her.”
“No.”
His smile faded.
“I killed the man who loved her.”
My stomach twisted.
“Lorenzo.”
Salvatore nodded.
“He was foolish enough to believe love could survive in our world.”
I stared at him.
“And you weren't?”
He laughed softly.
“Love is useful. It makes people predictable.”
His gaze dropped to Leo.
“Give me the boy.”
“No.”
“Sofia.”
“My name is Alina.”
“Not anymore.”
He reached toward Leo.
I stepped back.
Salvatore's expression hardened.
“You have no idea what that child is worth.”
My heart pounded.
“Then tell me.”
He studied me.
Then smiled.
“Very well.”
He gestured toward a small room beside the passage.
Inside stood a desk, two chairs, and an old computer.
Marco was forced to surrender his gun.
Salvatore ordered us inside.
I sat with Leo on my lap.
Salvatore took the opposite chair.
“Twenty-five years ago,” he began, “your father discovered that the Bellandi shipping empire was being used to move illegal weapons through Europe.”
I stared at him.
“He wanted out.”
“Yes.”
“And you killed him.”
“Because he threatened to expose everyone.”
I felt sick.
Salvatore leaned forward.
“But Lorenzo was clever. Before he died, he transferred control of the legitimate Bellandi assets into a private trust.”
“Mine?”
“Eventually.”
I looked down at Leo.
“And him?”
Salvatore smiled.
“Leo is the final beneficiary.”
I frowned.
“How?”
“Because Isabella Ricci was not who she claimed to be.”
My heart stopped.
“She was a Bellandi?”
“No.”
He leaned closer.
“She was your mother's younger daughter.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“Caterina gave birth to twins.”
The room tilted.
“Twins?”
Salvatore nodded.
“You and Isabella.”
I couldn't breathe.
“That's impossible.”
“Evelyn escaped with you. Another nurse escaped with Isabella. Neither knew where the other child had gone.”
I looked down at Leo.
His gray eyes stared back at me.
My nephew.
My sister's son.
Tears blurred my vision.
“That explains why he reaches for me.”
Salvatore smiled.
“Exactly.”
I shook my head.
“But you said Isabella wasn't his biological mother.”
His expression changed.
I pulled out the note.
Salvatore stared at it.
For the first time, his confidence faltered.
“Where did you get that?”
“My mother.”
He reached for it.
I pulled back.
“Answer me.”
His jaw tightened.
“Isabella was supposed to carry the Bellandi heir.”
“Supposed to?”
“She couldn't have children.”
I looked at Leo.
“Then who gave birth to him?”
Salvatore didn't answer.
I felt a terrible possibility forming.
“Was he adopted?”
“No.”
“Then whose baby is he?”
Salvatore's eyes narrowed.
“Yours.”
I stared at him.
The room went silent.
Then I laughed.
“No.”
He watched me.
“No, that's impossible.”
“You were admitted to a private clinic eleven months ago.”
I shook my head.
“I've never had a baby.”
“Not that you remember.”
My skin went cold.
I remembered waking in a hospital the previous year.
A car accident.
A concussion.
Three missing days.
My mother had told me I was lucky to be alive.
I had believed her.
Salvatore leaned forward.
“Your mother arranged a surrogacy procedure without your knowledge.”
I felt nauseated.
“No.”
“She was desperate to protect the Bellandi bloodline.”
I stood so quickly the chair fell backward.
“You're lying!”
Leo began crying.
I held him tighter.
Salvatore watched me with cold satisfaction.
“Ask Dante.”
I froze.
“What?”
“He knew.”
My heart shattered.
“He knew what?”
Salvatore smiled.
“That the woman he married was raising a child born to another woman.”
I couldn't breathe.
Then the door exploded inward.
Dante entered with two armed guards.
Salvatore rose.
Dante's gun was pointed directly at his uncle.
“Step away from her.”
Salvatore smiled.
“Perfect timing.”
Dante's eyes moved toward me.
“Alina.”
I stared at him.
“Is Leo my son?”
His expression changed.
He looked at the baby.
May you like
Then at me.
And in that terrible silence, I realized he knew something he had never told me.
