Chapter 5
THE SECRET IN ISABELLA’S B/L/O/OD TURNED BROTHERS INTO ENEMIES
I read the sentence three times.
ASK ELENA WHO ISABELLA’S FATHER.
Marco stared at the paper.
“This is Salvatore trying to divide us.”
“Probably,” Adriana said.
But her voice lacked certainty.
I folded the message and put it inside my coat.
We copied the Archive servers, photographed every file, and planted transmitters that would send the records to federal investigators if I failed to deactivate them within twenty-four hours.
I had spent my life avoiding the law.
Now the law was the blade I intended to place against the House of Wolves.
Before we left, I found another file.
It contained a photograph of Elena entering a hotel with Marco six months before the @tt/@ck.
The date was printed clearly beneath it.
Marco saw the photograph.
His face changed.
“Luca—”
I struck him.
He fell against the cabinet.
My guards raised their g/u/ns, uncertain which brother they were supposed to protect.
“Tell me she was meeting you about a birthday gift,” I said.
Marco wiped bl/o/od from his lip.
“She was afraid.”
“Of me?”
“Of Antonio.”
“Our father was d/e/@/d.”
“No. Elena had discovered he was alive.”
I grabbed his coat.
“What happened in that hotel?”
“She gave me evidence. Bank accounts, names, photographs. She asked me to protect Isabella if anything happened to her.”
“Why you?”
“Because she knew you would confront Antonio immediately.”
“She trusted you more than me.”
“She trusted your love less than your anger.”
The truth of that answer hurt.
Elena knew I would burn the world before I allowed anyone to threaten my family.
She also knew fire did not care who stood nearby.
Marco pushed my hands away.
“Nothing happened between us.”
“Is Isabella mine?”
His face hardened.
“Ask Elena.”
That answer nearly made me reach for my g/u/n.
Adriana stepped between us.
“This is what Salvatore wants.”
“He has already escaped,” I said.
“No. He is watching.”
She pointed toward a camera above the doorway.
A green light blinked.
I fired once.
The lens shattered.
When we returned to the medical center, Isabella was asleep.
Elena sat beside the bed, holding her hand.
For several seconds, I watched them from the doorway.
They looked like a memory restored.
Then Elena saw the question in my face.
“What happened?”
I showed her the message.
She read it.
Her shoulders lowered.
“Luca.”
“Is she mine?”
Elena stood.
Sophia quietly took Emma from the room. Dr. Greene followed.
Marco remained in the hallway.
Elena closed the door.
“Yes.”
I searched her face.
“Then why would Salvatore ask?”
“Because he knows the truth is more complicated.”
My stomach tightened.
“What truth?”
“After Isabella was born, doctors discovered she had a rare bl/o/od marker.”
“Greene never told me.”
“He did not know what it meant. I asked him to keep it private.”
“Why?”
“Because the marker matched Antonio’s medical records.”
I stared at her.
“Antonio was not my biological father.”
“I know.”
“Then Isabella should not share his marker.”
“No.”
The room seemed to close around us.
Elena continued.
“I investigated quietly. The results showed that Isabella was closely related to Antonio.”
“How?”
Tears entered her eyes.
“Because Antonio was my father.”
For several seconds, I could not understand the words.
Then they formed something monstrous.
Elena was Antonio’s daughter.
My adoptive sister.
She rushed to continue.
“My mother met Antonio before he married Caterina. I never knew. Antonio discovered the truth shortly before our wedding.”
“And he let us marry?”
“He wanted to keep me close.”
Rage rose through me so violently that I nearly lost balance.
“Did you know before the wedding?”
“No. I learned after Isabella’s birth.”
I turned away.
Everything inside me felt contaminated by secrets.
Elena touched my arm.
“We are not related by bl/o/od. Salvatore is your father. Antonio was mine.”
“But he raised me as his son.”
“Yes.”
Isabella stirred.
We both went silent.
She opened her eyes.
“Why are you angry?”
I sat beside her.
“I am not angry with you.”
“Are you angry with Mama?”
Elena lowered her gaze.
I looked at my daughter.
“No.”
It was the first decision of the new life I wanted.
I would not allow the sins of our fathers to determine the love inside that room.
Isabella lifted the blanket.
“Watch.”
She concentrated.
Her right knee moved.
Then the left.
The motion was small, but unmistakable.
Elena laughed through tears.
I held Isabella’s feet in my hands and felt the muscles respond.
Hope was no longer a dangerous thing.
It was real.
Dr. Greene entered with new test results.
“The substances in her medicine were suppressing nerve response,” he said. “Without them, and with rehabilitation, she may walk.”
Elena pressed both hands over her mouth.
“How long?”
“Months. Perhaps longer. But the possibility is strong.”
Emma appeared behind him.
“I said she remembered.”
Greene smiled at her.
“You did.”
For one hour, the world felt merciful.
Then the medical center lost power.
Emergency lights turned red.
My guards reported movement on the roof.
Salvatore had found us.
We moved Isabella toward the underground garage.
Marco took the lead.
Adriana covered the rear.
Elena pushed the wheelchair while Emma held Isabella’s hand.
At the stairwell, two masked men appeared.
Marco fired.
Adriana pulled Sophia behind a concrete pillar.
The corridor filled with smoke and shouts.
I carried Isabella down the stairs.
She clung to my neck.
“Papa, don’t leave Mama.”
“I won’t.”
At the garage, a black van crashed through the security gate.
Men poured out.
My guards engaged them.
Marco reached our armored vehicle and opened the door.
Then he froze.
A woman stepped from behind the van.
She wore a red coat.
My mother’s favorite color.
Caterina Valenti had d/i/e/d seven years earlier.
Yet the woman had her face.
Marco whispered, “Mama?”
The woman smiled.
Then she sh/o/t him.
Marco fell.
I fired toward her, but the van door closed.
The vehicle sped away.
Elena screamed Marco’s name.
I dragged him behind the armored car.
The bullet had entered beneath his ribs.
Bl/o/od soaked his shirt.
He gripped my wrist.
“That was not her.”
“I know.”
“No,” he gasped. “You don’t.”
May you like
His face tightened with pain.
“Our mother had a twin too.”
