Chapter 6 - The Daughter of a Dead Man
Dante ordered a private DNA test.
I agreed because I needed answers more than I needed comfort.
For two days, I barely slept.
Orion stayed beside my bedroom door every night. Whenever I woke up frightened, he would push his nose beneath my hand until I began stroking his fur.
Dante visited every morning.
He never forced me to talk.
Sometimes he simply sat in the chair across from me, reading documents while Orion rested between us.
On the third afternoon, Vincent arrived with the results.
Dante opened the envelope.
His eyes moved across the first page.
Then he looked at me.
"Your mother wasn't your biological mother."
I felt the room tilt.
"What?"
"She adopted you privately. The records were altered."
I shook my head.
"No. She was my mother."
"I know."
His voice softened.
"Nothing changes that."
He placed the report on the table.
The DNA results showed a biological relationship between me and Dante.
I was his first cousin.
My biological father had been Daniel Moretti, Dante's father's older brother.
Daniel had been a quiet man who wanted nothing to do with the family's criminal operations.
He had fallen in love with a young woman named Isabella.
The same woman in my mother's locket.
But Victor had opposed their relationship.
He believed Daniel would eventually inherit control of the family's legitimate businesses and prevent Victor from expanding his criminal empire.
One night, Daniel and Isabella disappeared.
The official report claimed they had died in a car accident.
There were no bodies.
No funeral.
No investigation.
My mother had been Isabella's closest friend.
She had taken me away when I was an infant because Victor's men were searching for the child.
"Why didn't she tell me?" I whispered.
Dante looked down.
"She probably believed the truth would put you in danger."
I stared at the DNA report.
"Then why did Orion recognize me?"
Dante was silent for several seconds.
"There's something in my father's old records."
He retrieved another document.
It described a black hound named Orion, born from a bloodline owned by Daniel Moretti.
The dog had been trained by Daniel himself.
Orion had lived with Dante since he was a puppy, but his original trainer had taught him a particular command.
A command associated with Daniel's family.
I looked at the dog.
"You're saying he remembers my father?"
"Possibly."
Orion approached me and placed his head in my lap.
For the first time, I wondered whether his reaction in the restaurant had been more than simple affection.
Then Dante's expression changed.
His phone displayed a message.
A photograph.
It showed Vincent standing outside the mansion.
Below it were the words:
Your security chief has been working for Victor.
I looked at Dante.
"Is that true?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Then he reached for his gun.
"Stay with Orion."
But before he could leave, Vincent appeared in the doorway.
He wasn't carrying his usual calm expression.
He was holding a pistol.
"I'm sorry, boss."
Dante stopped.
May you like
Vincent pointed the weapon toward him.
"Victor sends his regards."
