Chapter 9 - THE NIGHT DANTE SALVATORE LOST EVERYTHING
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Dante didn't remember running.
One moment, he was standing in the entrance hall.
The next, he was tearing through the nursery.
Leo's crib was empty.
The blanket was on the floor.
The window was open.
"LEO!"
Marco rushed into the room.
"Sir!"
"Find him!"
Every guard in the estate received the order.
The security system showed three minutes of missing footage.
Someone had disabled the cameras using an internal access code.
Only four people possessed that code.
Dante.
Marco.
Isabella.
And Alessia.
Clare stood in the doorway.
Her face was pale.
"Where's Maya?"
"She's safe," Rosa called from the hallway.
Clare rushed toward her daughter.
Maya was crying but unharmed.
She clutched her stuffed rabbit.
"Mommy, baby gone."
Clare knelt.
"Where did you see him?"
Maya pointed toward the nursery.
"Lady."
"What lady?"
"Pretty lady."
Dante froze.
"What did she look like?"
Maya thought for a moment.
"Like the picture."
Clare looked at Dante.
"Which picture?"
He remembered the photograph Richard had shown him.
Alessia holding a newborn.
Dante turned toward Marco.
"Find Isabella."
But Isabella was already gone.
Her bedroom was empty.
Her passport had disappeared.
And a hidden safe contained nothing but a single envelope.
Inside was a letter.
Dante recognized Alessia's handwriting.
My love, if you're reading this, then I failed to protect our son. I need you to know that I never intended to leave you. I was trying to save him.
The letter continued.
Alessia had discovered that Bellini was falsifying infant medical records.
She had found evidence that several newborns had been moved between private hospitals.
One of them was connected to Dante's family.
She had confronted Isabella.
Her sister-in-law denied everything.
Then Alessia discovered that Leo's medical diagnosis had been deliberately manipulated.
She tried to tell Dante.
But someone had warned her that his enemies were watching.
She planned to disappear temporarily with the baby until she could expose the network.
The explosion had happened before she could leave.
The letter ended with a sentence that shattered Dante.
If Leo is still with you, then someone has already taken the child I was trying to protect.
Dante dropped the paper.
Clare caught his arm.
"He's alive."
He looked at her.
"You don't know that."
"No. But you can't give up."
Marco entered.
"We found the vehicle."
"Where?"
"An abandoned medical facility outside the city."
Dante grabbed his coat.
"Get the cars."
Clare stepped forward.
"I'm coming."
"No."
"Your son trusted me before he trusted you. If he's frightened, I might be able to calm him."
Dante stared at her.
Then he nodded.
They reached the facility twenty minutes later.
The building was surrounded by trees.
Inside, the air smelled of dust and disinfectant.
Marco's men spread through the corridors.
Dante heard a faint sound.
A baby crying.
He ran toward it.
At the end of the hallway stood Isabella.
She was holding Leo.
A gun rested against the baby's blanket.
Dante stopped.
"Put him down."
Isabella looked exhausted.
"You shouldn't have come."
"Give me my son."
"He's not your son."
Dante's expression changed.
"What?"
Isabella began crying.
"Alessia gave birth to twins."
The words seemed to empty the room.
"One boy and one girl," Isabella continued. "The girl died shortly after birth. The boy was Leo."
"Then why did the records show another baby?"
"Because Bellini wanted to hide the truth."
Dante moved closer.
"Where is Matteo?"
Isabella looked away.
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
She shook her head.
"Richard took him."
Clare stepped forward.
"Why?"
Isabella looked at her.
"Because the child was born with a condition that made him valuable to certain people."
Dante's voice became dangerous.
"What condition?"
Isabella swallowed.
"He could hear things others couldn't."
Clare frowned.
"That's impossible."
Isabella shook her head.
"He had an unusual neurological response. Bellini believed he could be used in experimental research."
Dante looked at Leo.
"And my son?"
Isabella's tears fell.
"They manipulated his hearing tests because they needed a reason to keep him under medical supervision."
Clare understood.
The false diagnosis had kept Leo dependent on the people controlling his treatment.
Isabella lowered the gun.
"I never wanted him hurt."
Dante stepped closer.
"Then why take him?"
"Because Richard said he'd kill everyone if I didn't."
A second voice came from the doorway.
"She's telling the truth."
Everyone turned.
A woman stood in the corridor.
She was wearing a dark coat.
Her hair was longer.
Her face was thinner.
But Dante recognized her immediately.
His breath disappeared.
"Alessia?"
She looked at him.
Then at the baby.
"Give me my son."
Dante couldn't move.
For six months, he had mourned her.
Now she stood before him.
Alive.
And holding a small photograph of another baby.
"Alessia," he whispered.
She took one step forward.
"I know what Isabella did."
Then she looked at Clare.
"And I know what your husband is planning."
Clare froze.
Alessia's next words were almost inaudible.
"Richard isn't trying to recover his wife."
May you like
She looked at Maya's photograph in Clare's hand.
"He's trying to get his daughter back."
