Chapter 4 - THE CHILD HIS FAMILY BURIED
Dante had spent thirty-eight years believing he was the only child his parents had ever had.
His father, Lorenzo Russo, had been a ruthless businessman who built an empire through shipping, construction, and enterprises that rarely appeared in public records.
His mother, Elena, had been different.
She loved music, old books, and the small garden behind their Lake Forest estate.
She had also been the only person capable of making Lorenzo lower his voice.
When she died, Dante inherited her jewelry, her letters, and a locked wooden box.
He had never opened the box.
Now he wondered whether the answers had been sitting in his bedroom for years.
"Bring it," he told Marco.
Twenty minutes later, the box was on his desk.
The lock was old.
Dante opened it with a key he had kept since childhood.
Inside were letters, medical documents, photographs, and a small hospital bracelet.
The name printed on it was unfamiliar.
Nicholas Russo.
Date of birth: March 18.
Dante checked the year.
It was the year before he was born.
His hands went cold.
He opened the first letter.
My dearest Elena,
I know you believe you are protecting the family, but a child cannot be erased simply because his existence is inconvenient.
Your husband promised me that Nicholas would be taken care of. I no longer believe him.
If anything happens to me, find the boy.
The letter was signed by a woman named Margaret Bell.
Dante searched his memory.
He knew the name.
Margaret had been his mother's personal nurse.
She had died in a car accident when Dante was nine.
Or so he had been told.
"Marco."
"Yes?"
"Find everything about Nicholas Russo."
Marco picked up the documents.
"I'll start immediately."
Dante found another envelope.
Inside was a photograph of Elena holding the same baby.
On the back, she had written:
My first grandchild. I will never forgive myself for allowing them to take him.
Dante sat down.
If Nicholas was his mother's grandchild, then the child belonged to his older sibling.
Someone his parents had hidden.
Someone who might still be alive.
His phone vibrated.
A message from Isabella.
Don't trust anyone in your house.
He immediately called her.
No answer.
He sent a message.
Tell me what you know.
Three minutes later, a reply appeared.
Your mother tried to tell me before the wedding. I found the documents in her old desk. Your father arranged everything.
Dante stared at the message.
His father had died six years earlier.
He could not confront him.
But he could confront the people who had helped him.
"Marco, where is Gabriel?"
"We're checking the last known addresses."
"Check the Moretti properties."
"Isabella may be there."
"Then find her without frightening her."
Marco hesitated.
"Boss, I think we need to talk about something else."
Dante looked up.
"What?"
"The offshore account."
Marco placed another document on the desk.
"The account wasn't created by Isabella."
"Who created it?"
"Your father."
Dante read the name attached to the account.
Elena Russo.
His mother.
"She moved the money?"
"Yes. Almost twenty years ago."
"Why?"
Marco pointed to a second document.
It was a transfer to a private medical center in Switzerland.
The payment was made every month for eighteen years.
A child had been receiving medical treatment.
Nicholas.
Dante felt the room tilt.
His parents had hidden an entire person from him.
And Isabella had discovered the secret before their wedding.
"Why didn't she tell me?"
Marco looked uncomfortable.
"Maybe she was afraid."
"Of me?"
"Of what you might do."
Dante turned away.
For the first time, he understood that his reputation might have become a prison for the person he loved.
That afternoon, he went to his father's old estate.
The house had been closed since Lorenzo's death.
Dust covered the furniture.
The family portraits remained in the hallway, each generation staring down at him with the same severe expression.
He entered the library and found a hidden safe behind a painting.
Inside was a single black folder.
The first page contained a photograph.
A young woman stood beside Lorenzo Russo.
She was holding a newborn.
Dante recognized her immediately.
Margaret Bell.
The nurse.
The next document was a birth certificate.
Father: Lorenzo Russo.
Mother: Margaret Bell.
Child: Nicholas Bell Russo.
Dante read the names twice.
His father had fathered a child with his mother's nurse.
His mother had raised that child secretly.
And somewhere in the middle of it all, the family had decided the boy was better off erased.
A noise came from the hallway.
Dante reached for the weapon beneath his jacket.
"Who's there?"
A woman stepped into the library.
She was in her late sixties, with silver hair and a cane.
Dante recognized her from the family photographs.
His mother's younger sister.
Aunt Sofia.
"You're late," she said.
"Late for what?"
"Finding out the truth."
Dante lowered his weapon slightly.
"Who is Nicholas?"
Sofia's expression changed.
Then she looked at the folder in his hand.
"Your brother."
Dante's voice was barely audible.
"Where is he?"
Sofia closed her eyes.
"He's been living under another name for twenty-seven years."
"Which name?"
She looked directly at him.
"Gabriel Voss."
Dante froze.
Before he could speak, Sofia added something worse.
"Your brother didn't disappear because your father wanted him dead."
She leaned closer.
May you like
"He disappeared because your mother discovered what Lorenzo had done to the child."
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