Chapter 6 - Blood
Salvatore did not move.
Neither did Leo.
Carmine stared at Barrett as if he had spoken in another language.
Father Adrian whispered, “That’s impossible.”
Barrett laughed softly.
“Is it?”
Salvatore’s voice dropped.
“Elena disappeared twelve years ago.”
“Yes.”
“The boy is eight.”
“Yes.”
“So explain.”
Barrett looked at Leo.
“Ask his birth certificate.”
Leo’s expression changed.
He had one.
Folded inside the lining of the coat he had worn to the mansion.
Russo retrieved it.
The document listed Leo’s date of birth eight years earlier.
Father: Daniel Mercer.
Mother: Elena Vale.
Barrett shook his head.
“Fake.”
“How do you know?” Salvatore asked.
“Because Daniel Mercer was sterile.”
Adrian stared.
Barrett continued.
“He suffered injuries during military service years before meeting Elena. He couldn’t have children.”
Leo’s breathing quickened.
“You’re lying.”
Barrett’s expression softened unexpectedly.
“No, kid.”
Salvatore grabbed him.
“If you’re playing with him—”
“I’m not.”
“Then how?”
Barrett inhaled.
“Elena had your child twelve years ago.”
Leo stared at Salvatore.
Salvatore stared back.
Barrett spoke the next words slowly.
“She gave birth six months after disappearing.”
“That would make him eleven.”
“Correct.”
“He’s eight.”
“According to papers created by federal protection.”
The room became silent.
Leo looked frightened now.
Not by guns.
Not by mafia men.
By the possibility that his entire life was false.
“How old am I?”
Nobody answered.
Leo looked at Adrian.
The priest closed his eyes.
“Father?”
Adrian’s silence was enough.
Leo backed away.
“You knew.”
“I knew Elena changed your records.”
“You knew!”
Titan stood instantly.
Leo ran from the room.
Salvatore went after him.
He found the boy in the rain behind the mansion.
No coat.
Barefoot.
Walking toward the trees.
“Leo.”
“Leave me alone.”
Salvatore followed.
“Stop.”
“You’re not my father.”
“I didn’t say I was.”
Leo spun around.
“Everyone lies!”
His voice broke.
Finally.
The tears arrived.
“My mother lied. Father Adrian lied. Mr. Vance lied. Maybe you’re lying too!”
Salvatore stopped several feet away.
Rain rolled down his face.
“I don’t know the truth.”
Leo wiped angrily at his eyes.
“Then stop looking at me like you want me to be something.”
Salvatore had no answer.
The boy trembled.
“What if my mother didn’t want you to know me?”
That hurt.
“What if she hated you?”
Salvatore approached slowly.
“She had reasons to hate me.”
Leo looked up.
“Did you hurt her?”
“No.”
“Did you ever hit her?”
“No.”
“Did you scare her?”
Salvatore hesitated.
Leo noticed.
“Yes.”
Salvatore answered quietly.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I was younger, arrogant and convinced fear was the same thing as respect.”
Leo studied him.
“And now?”
“Now I know better.”
“Because you’re old?”
Despite everything, Salvatore almost smiled.
“Partly.”
Leo’s mouth twitched.
Then his expression collapsed again.
“My mother died thinking someone was coming for me.”
Salvatore removed his jacket and wrapped it around the boy.
“Then we find who.”
“We?”
“Yes.”
Leo looked at him suspiciously.
“You don’t even know if I’m your son.”
“No.”
“Then why help me?”
Salvatore crouched.
“Because Elena asked me to.”
A pause.
“And because you walked nine miles through a storm to my door.”
Leo looked toward the mansion.
“I didn’t have anywhere else.”
“You do now.”
The words surprised Salvatore as much as they surprised Leo.
Before either could react, a gunshot cracked from the trees.
Salvatore threw Leo down.
A bullet tore through his shoulder.
Guards shouted.
Titan charged across the lawn.
Another shot.
Then another.
Salvatore covered Leo with his body.
Blood soaked his shirt.
Leo screamed.
The shooter disappeared into the woods before the guards reached him.
Later, Russo stitched the wound in Salvatore’s study.
Leo refused to leave.
“You got shot because of me.”
Salvatore looked at him.
“I’ve been shot for worse reasons.”
“That’s not funny.”
“It wasn’t intended to be.”
Carmine entered.
“We found the shooter’s position.”
“Anything?”
“A shell casing.”
Salvatore waited.
Carmine placed it on the desk.
A tiny crown had been engraved into the brass.
The Crown.
Father Adrian crossed himself.
“They’re declaring war.”
Salvatore shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at Leo.
“They’re frightened.”
“Of me?” Leo asked.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Salvatore picked up the safe-deposit card.
“Because whatever Elena left behind is worth killing a child to hide.”
The next morning, DNA samples were collected.
Salvatore refused to watch the test.
Leo pretended not to care.
Twenty-four hours later, Russo entered with the envelope.
He looked at Salvatore.
Then Leo.
“Probability of biological paternity…”
He stopped.
Leo gripped Titan’s collar.
Salvatore’s face remained unreadable.
Russo finished.
May you like
“Ninety-nine point nine nine percent.”
Leo was Salvatore Moretti’s son.
