Chapter 13 - The Other Child
Mara hung up before Salvatore could speak.
The mansion fell into another silence filled with old lies.
Gabriel stared at the phone.
“Another child?”
Matteo looked at him.
Gabriel looked horrified.
“I don’t know what she means.”
Bianca sat down.
Carmine began tracing the call.
No luck.
Internet relay through six countries.
Mara had prepared for everything.
Salvatore turned to Gabriel.
“Before Elena.”
“No.”
“Think.”
“I am.”
“You spent eight years underground.”
“I did not have children scattered across the country.”
“This family has surprised me before.”
Gabriel glared at him.
Matteo almost smiled despite himself.
Then he seemed guilty for it.
Salvatore noticed.
Good.
The boy could still laugh.
That mattered.
Gabriel paced.
“There was no one serious after Elena.”
“Before?”
Gabriel stopped.
A name came to him.
“Isabella.”
“Who?”
“Isabella DeLuca. We were together before the explosion.”
“Did she know you survived?”
“No.”
“Pregnant?”
“I don’t know.”
Carmine was already searching.
Isabella DeLuca had moved to Philadelphia sixteen years earlier.
Married.
Widowed.
One daughter.
Age sixteen.
Sofia DeLuca.
Gabriel stared at the photograph on Carmine’s screen.
The resemblance was unmistakable.
Dark eyes.
Gabriel’s brow.
Elena’s? No.
Another mother.
Another child who may never have known.
“Call her,” Salvatore said.
“No.”
Gabriel’s answer surprised everyone.
“Why?”
“Because Mara wants us moving.”
“So?”
“So we verify first.”
Salvatore nodded.
Growth.
Perhaps disappearing for seventeen years had taught Gabriel caution after all.
A private lab confirmed paternity from an old sample Gabriel had once submitted for medical screening.
Probability: 99.99%.
Sofia was his daughter.
Matteo stared at the result.
“So I have a sister.”
Gabriel sat beside him.
“Looks like.”
“Does she know?”
“No.”
“Are you going to tell her?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“As soon as I know she’s safe.”
Matteo thought.
“Will she hate you?”
Gabriel looked at him.
“Probably.”
“Do you care?”
“Yes.”
Matteo nodded.
“Then maybe you’re not terrible.”
It was the closest thing to forgiveness Gabriel had received.
They moved Sofia and her mother discreetly before Mara could act.
Too late.
Isabella’s home was empty.
Front door unlocked.
Dinner still warm.
Two cups on the table.
A note on the refrigerator.
COME HOME, GABRIEL.
Mara had them.
Gabriel nearly lost control.
Salvatore grabbed his shoulder.
“This is what she wants.”
“I don’t care.”
“You will when your anger gets them killed.”
Gabriel turned.
“That’s my daughter.”
“And Matteo is your son.”
The words stopped him.
“You have two children now. Act like a man who plans to keep both.”
Mara contacted them that evening.
Video.
Sofia sat tied to a chair in a bright room.
Isabella beside her.
Neither appeared injured.
Mara stood behind them.
Eighty-four.
White hair.
Scar beside her mouth.
Her eyes were Bianca’s eyes without the warmth.
“Hello, nephews.”
Salvatore stared at the screen.
“Release them.”
“No.”
“What do you want?”
“The Black Ledger.”
“We can give it to you.”
Gabriel looked at him sharply.
Mara smiled.
“You don’t have all of it.”
“We have enough.”
“You have Antonio’s confession. I need the original financial appendix.”
Gabriel frowned.
“That section was removed.”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
Mara smiled.
“With the only person Antonio trusted more than his sons.”
Salvatore already knew.
“Rosa.”
Behind him, Rosa stopped breathing.
Mara continued.
“Dear Rosa has been keeping secrets since before Salvatore learned to walk.”
Rosa shook her head.
“I don’t know what she means.”
Mara could not hear her.
Or perhaps she could.
“Ask Rosa what Antonio gave her the night he died.”
The video ended.
Everyone turned toward Rosa.
She leaned against the kitchen counter.
Salvatore spoke gently.
“Rosa.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“He made me promise.”
“He’s been dead nine years.”
“I know.”
“What did he give you?”
Rosa looked at Matteo.
“Insurance.”
She walked to the pantry.
Removed three shelves.
Behind them was a narrow safe.
Inside sat a sealed envelope.
And a cassette tape.
Antonio Moretti’s handwriting covered the envelope.
IF MY CHILDREN EVER LEARN THE TRUTH, GIVE THEM THIS.
Salvatore opened it.
The missing financial appendix.
Accounts tracing payments from Mara Bellandi to Victor Hale.
But also another list.
Payments from Mara to judges.
Police.
Hitmen.
The Vescari attacks.
Bellini.
Elena’s pursuit.
Everything.
Gabriel stared.
“This could bury her.”
“If we get her alive,” Carmine said.
Rosa inserted the cassette.
Antonio’s voice filled the room.
“I failed all of my children.”
Salvatore shut his eyes.
“Victor most of all.”
Bianca began crying quietly.
“I let shame make decisions that love should have made. Mara discovered that weakness and used it. She convinced me Lucia planned to expose Victor. I ordered Lucia silenced.”
His voice cracked.
“I learned too late it was a lie.”
Antonio described confronting Mara.
She promised to destroy every Moretti child until he admitted publicly what he had done.
He refused.
Instead he hid the evidence.
Cowardice until the end.
The cassette ended with one final sentence.
“If Mara is still alive when you hear this, do not underestimate her. She has never wanted money.”
Salvatore waited.
“She wants us to hurt each other.”
The room went quiet.
Matteo spoke first.
“Then don’t.”
Everyone looked at him.
“What?” Gabriel asked.
“Don’t hurt each other.”
The simplicity was devastating.
Mara’s entire plan depended on family divisions.
Salvatore.
Gabriel.
Victor.
Bianca.
Rosa.
Children used as leverage.
Secrets used as knives.
Salvatore looked at Gabriel.
“We do this together.”
His brother nodded.
Matteo raised his hand.
“No.”
Salvatore sighed.
“You are not coming.”
“I knew you’d say that.”
“Good.”
“But I know something you don’t.”
“What?”
Matteo pointed at the video still of Sofia.
“The room.”
May you like
“What about it?”
“I’ve been there.”
