Chapter 7 - THE BABY THEY WANTED TO STEAL
Dante called the family physician at midnight.
Dr. Samuel Price had delivered children for three generations of Morettis. He had treated Dante's childhood injuries, examined Luca after street fights, and signed the medical documents following his father's death.
If anyone could explain the message, it was him.
The doctor arrived forty minutes later.
Elena sat on the sofa with a blanket around her shoulders. Isabella slept upstairs with Mrs. Alvarez, who had become the only person the child trusted besides Elena.
Dante placed the phone on the table.
"Listen."
The recording played.
Dr. Price's face lost its color.
When it ended, he looked at Elena.
"How far along are you?"
"Seven months."
"Have you had any unusual test results? Anything your obstetrician couldn't explain?"
Elena frowned.
"Two weeks ago, a specialist called about an additional blood test. He said there had been a problem with the laboratory sample, so I needed to come back."
Dante's head snapped toward her.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
She looked at him coldly.
"Because you were in a meeting with Victoria."
He absorbed the blow without protest.
Dr. Price cleared his throat.
"May I see the results?"
Elena retrieved the folder from her handbag.
The doctor examined the pages, then asked for her permission to call her obstetrician.
Within minutes, he had learned that the original sample had been processed twice under different patient identification numbers.
One result belonged to Elena.
The other had been attached to a patient who didn't exist.
The abnormal sample showed a rare genetic marker associated with a hereditary cardiac condition.
Dante stared at the report.
"What does this mean for my daughter?"
"It means we need to verify the results. Nothing more until we do."
Elena's face tightened.
"Why would someone change my medical records?"
Dr. Price looked toward Dante.
"Because someone wants to know what this child inherited."
Dante felt a familiar coldness spread through his chest.
"From whom?"
The doctor hesitated.
"Your mother carried a rare genetic mutation. It caused a heart condition that was never properly diagnosed."
Dante looked at him.
"My mother died in a car accident."
"Yes. But her medical records showed an abnormal cardiac rhythm. She may have lost consciousness before the crash."
"Why wasn't I told?"
"Your father requested that the diagnosis remain confidential."
Elena leaned forward.
"And Luca?"
Dr. Price looked down.
"Luca was tested when he was a child. He carried the same marker."
Dante remembered the nights Luca had complained of dizziness. The emergency room visits his father dismissed as anxiety. The way their mother used to sit beside Luca's bed until he fell asleep.
"Does the condition affect every child in the family?" Dante asked.
"Not necessarily. Genetics doesn't work that simply."
Elena's voice shook.
"Then why would someone care about our daughter?"
Dr. Price closed the folder.
"Because a person who understood the condition might believe the child could prove a family connection. Or reveal something that someone has spent years concealing."
Dante paced the room.
He was beginning to see the shape of the conspiracy, but every answer created another question.
His father had hidden his mother's diagnosis.
Someone had falsified Elena's medical records.
Someone had kept Isabella alive while telling Dante she was dead.
And Luca had left a message warning that Elena must not give birth in Chicago.
"Doctor," Dante said, "I want you to examine Elena somewhere private. No hospital connected to our family. No records shared without our permission."
Dr. Price nodded.
"I can arrange a transfer to a specialist outside the city."
"Tonight."
"Of course."
After the doctor left, Elena stood.
"I need to ask you something."
Dante faced her.
"If this child is in danger because of your family, I want the entire truth. No more protecting me by lying."
He nodded.
"I swear."
"Don't swear, Dante. Tell me."
He took a breath.
"When I was nineteen, my father ordered me to attend a meeting at the warehouse. He said Luca had stolen money and needed to be taught a lesson. I went there intending to bring my brother home."
"What happened?"
"I arrived after the fire started. I heard someone screaming inside. My father stood outside with two guards. He told me Luca had betrayed the family and that there was nothing left to save."
Dante's voice cracked.
"I tried to go inside. My father struck me and ordered the guards to hold me. He said if I went into that building, I would die with Luca."
Elena watched him, her anger slowly giving way to horror.
"I believed him," Dante whispered. "I let them drag me away."
"And afterward?"
"He told me the fire was an accident. He said Luca had died because he was reckless. I buried my brother believing I had failed him."
Dante looked toward the stairs.
"Now I think my father knew exactly what was inside that building."
Elena reached for his hand.
It was the first time she had touched him voluntarily since the bedroom confrontation.
"Then we find out what happened."
He looked at her.
"We?"
"I'm your wife, Dante. Whether you deserve that title right now is another question. But I'm not letting you face this alone."
He pressed her hand to his lips.
For a moment, they were simply two people trying to rebuild something fragile.
Then the house alarm sounded.
Marcus appeared with a security monitor.
"Boss, someone just entered the underground garage."
Dante reached for his weapon.
The screen showed a man walking toward the elevator.
He was wearing a dark coat and carrying a white envelope.
He looked directly into the camera.
Then he lifted his face.
Dante stopped breathing.
The scar near the eyebrow.
The familiar eyes.
The expression he had seen in childhood photographs.
Luca Moretti had come home.
May you like
And he was holding a photograph of Elena's unborn daughter.
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