Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Dante didn't sleep that night.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw his mother's photograph.
Elena holding a baby she had apparently loved enough to sacrifice everything for.
He had spent years believing his mother had died peacefully.
Now he wondered how much of her final years had been spent protecting a secret.
Aunt Sofia sat across from him in the old library.
She had refused coffee.
She had refused to leave.
And she had insisted on telling him everything before anyone else could interfere.
"Your father had another woman," she began.
"I know."
"No, Dante. You know about Margaret. You don't know what happened afterward."
Sofia explained that Margaret had worked for the Russo family for years. Lorenzo had promised her a future, then abandoned her when she became pregnant.
Elena discovered the affair.
She could have sent Margaret away.
Instead, she brought the woman into the house and arranged medical care for the child.
"Why?" Dante asked.
"Because your mother had lost a baby before you were born."
Dante looked up.
"What?"
"She miscarried at five months. The doctors told her she might never carry another child."
Sofia's eyes filled.
"When Nicholas arrived, Elena saw him as the grandchild she thought she would never have."
"But he wasn't her biological grandson."
"He was still a baby. She loved him."
Dante looked at the photograph again.
"Then why did he disappear?"
"Because Lorenzo wanted him removed from the family."
Sofia explained that the boy had been diagnosed with a serious heart condition. Lorenzo feared the scandal would damage the family's reputation and complicate the inheritance.
He arranged for Nicholas to be sent abroad.
Elena secretly financed his treatment.
Margaret was told that her son had died.
"She never recovered," Sofia whispered.
Dante felt sick.
"Did my father know?"
"He knew she had been lied to. He didn't care."
"And Gabriel?"
"Gabriel discovered the truth as an adult. He came back looking for the people who had destroyed his childhood."
Dante stood.
"Why was he following Isabella?"
"Because Isabella found the documents."
"Why did she have them?"
Sofia hesitated.
"Because your mother gave them to her."
Dante turned sharply.
"When?"
"Two weeks before Elena died."
That was impossible.
His mother had died six years earlier.
Isabella had been part of the Moretti family then, but she and Dante had barely known each other.
"Why would my mother trust her?"
"Because she believed Isabella was the only person who might eventually make you understand that family is more important than power."
Dante looked away.
The irony was unbearable.
His mother had chosen the woman he loved to protect the secret.
And he had betrayed that woman on their wedding night.
His phone rang.
Marco.
"We found Gabriel."
"Where?"
"An apartment in Evanston. But he isn't alone."
"Who is with him?"
"Isabella."
Dante was already reaching for his coat.
"Send the address."
"Boss, wait."
"What?"
"She doesn't appear to be there voluntarily."
Dante stopped.
"What are you saying?"
"We saw her entering the building with Gabriel. One of our people followed them. The rear entrance has two armed men."
Dante's face hardened.
"Get everyone there."
"Already moving."
Dante arrived twenty minutes later.
The apartment building was old, its windows dark.
Marco met him outside.
"Third floor."
"How many men?"
"Four confirmed."
Dante looked at the building.
"Isabella?"
"Unknown."
He entered with two men.
The stairwell smelled of dust and cigarette smoke.
At the third-floor landing, they heard a crash.
Then a woman's voice.
"Don't touch me!"
Dante recognized Isabella immediately.
He moved toward the door.
A gunshot exploded inside.
His men rushed forward.
The door flew open.
Gabriel stood in the living room, holding a gun.
Behind him, Isabella was on the floor.
One hand pressed against her stomach.
Dante raised his weapon.
"Drop it!"
Gabriel turned.
For several seconds, the two men stared at each other.
Brothers.
Though neither had ever known the other as such.
Gabriel slowly lowered his gun.
"You came."
"Get away from my wife."
Gabriel laughed bitterly.
"Your wife?"
He glanced at Isabella.
"Tell him what you discovered."
Isabella struggled to stand.
"Dante, don't listen to him."
Gabriel stepped aside.
"Ask him about the original inheritance papers."
Dante's attention shifted.
"What papers?"
Gabriel smiled.
"The documents proving that your father never intended you to inherit the entire Russo empire."
Then he pulled a second photograph from his pocket.
It showed Lorenzo Russo standing beside a woman Dante had never seen before.
The woman was holding a little girl.
And written on the back was a name.
May you like
Valentina Greco.
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