Chapter 4 - The Name Her Father Hid
Ruby stood frozen in the ballroom.
No one moved.
Hundreds of guests had heard Lorenzo's voice.
Hundreds had seen Charles Gallagher expose the first secret.
And everyone had heard the final question.
Who her father really was.
Dante's hand remained around Ruby's waist.
She pushed it away.
Not because she didn't need him.
Because right now she couldn't stand being held by another person who might know more than she did.
"Clear the room," Dante ordered.
Security began ushering guests toward the exits.
Charles tried to approach.
Ruby raised one hand.
"No."
"Ruby, please."
"Did my father know?"
Charles's face broke.
"Patrick knew everything."
"Was Patrick my father?"
Charles couldn't answer.
That was an answer.
Ruby turned away.
Dante followed.
She walked into a smaller conference room overlooking the city and locked the door behind them.
Only Dante, Charles, and Marco remained.
Ruby put the old photograph on the table.
"Start talking."
Charles sat slowly.
"Elena Voss was your biological mother."
"Who was she?"
"A financial investigator."
"For whom?"
"The federal government."
Ruby stared.
"She infiltrated businesses connected to the Morettis."
Dante's expression sharpened.
"Which Morettis?"
Charles looked at him.
"Your father."
Dante went still.
Ruby glanced between them.
Charles continued.
"Twenty-nine years ago, Elena discovered that Vittorio Moretti was using legitimate companies to conceal trafficking routes."
Dante's jaw tightened.
"My father was investigated. Nothing stuck."
"Because Elena disappeared."
Ruby whispered, "What happened to her?"
"No one knows."
"And me?"
Charles looked at the photograph.
"Patrick protected you."
"Why?"
"Because Elena gave you to him."
"Why would a federal investigator give her child to my father?"
Charles closed his eyes.
"Because the child's father was a Moretti."
Silence filled the room.
Ruby stared at Dante.
Then at Charles.
"No."
Dante looked equally stunned.
"Which Moretti?"
Charles couldn't seem to say it.
Dante's voice lowered.
"Charles."
Charles looked directly at Ruby.
"Vittorio."
Dante's father.
Ruby's knees weakened.
She sat.
Dante didn't move.
If Vittorio Moretti was Ruby's biological father—
She looked at Dante.
"No."
Charles shook his head quickly.
"Vittorio raised Dante, but he wasn't Dante's biological father."
Ruby stared.
Dante stared harder.
"What?"
Charles looked at him.
"I'm sorry."
Dante's face changed in a way Ruby had never seen.
For once, he wasn't the man who knew everything.
"What are you talking about?"
"Your mother was already pregnant when she married Vittorio."
Dante leaned forward.
"Who was my father?"
"I don't know."
Dante's palm struck the table.
"Don't lie to me."
"I'm not."
Ruby watched him.
His entire identity had just been fractured too.
For the first time that night, they were standing on equal ground.
Both betrayed.
Both surrounded by dead people's secrets.
Charles opened his wallet.
He removed a tiny folded note.
"I've carried this since Patrick died."
He gave it to Ruby.
Patrick's handwriting.
Ruby, if Charles gives you this, then I've failed to tell you myself.
You are my daughter in every way that ever mattered.
I didn't give you my blood.
I gave you my name because your mother believed it could keep you alive.
I hope I was worthy of her trust.
Ruby pressed the note to her lips.
Her tears came silently.
Dante looked away, giving her whatever privacy could exist in a room full of secrets.
Charles continued.
"Patrick and Catherine couldn't have children. When Elena disappeared, they raised you as their own."
"Did Catherine know?"
"Everything."
Ruby laughed through tears.
"Everyone knew."
"No."
Charles shook his head.
"Only four people."
"Who?"
"Patrick. Catherine. Me. And Vittorio."
Dante frowned.
"My father knew Ruby was his daughter?"
"Yes."
"Then why did Lorenzo target her?"
Charles looked at Dante.
"Because Lorenzo learned the truth."
Ruby wiped her cheeks.
"Why would that matter?"
Dante answered before Charles could.
"Inheritance."
Ruby looked at him.
Dante's expression hardened.
"Vittorio's private holdings."
Charles nodded.
"They were never legally part of the Moretti organization. The family assumed Lorenzo and Dante would inherit them."
"But if Ruby was Vittorio's biological daughter..."
"She had a claim."
Ruby stared.
"I didn't even know the man."
"You didn't need to," Charles said. "Certain trusts named biological descendants."
Dante paced once.
"Lorenzo discovered Ruby existed."
"Eight years ago."
"And tried to abduct her to force a transfer."
Charles nodded.
Ruby felt ill.
"Then Dante stopped him."
Charles looked at Dante.
"So Patrick believed."
Dante's expression shifted.
"What does that mean?"
Charles hesitated.
"Lorenzo vanished after you confronted him."
"I shot him."
"Where?"
Dante stared.
"At the docks."
"Did you see the body?"
Dante said nothing.
Charles nodded grimly.
"Patrick didn't either."
Ruby looked between them.
"So my father knew Lorenzo might still be alive."
"Yes."
"And kept evidence."
"Yes."
"The ledger."
Charles froze.
Ruby leaned forward.
"You know about it."
"I know Patrick created one."
"Where is it?"
"I don't know."
Dante watched him closely.
"You're lying about something."
Charles stood.
"I'm trying to help."
"No," Dante said. "You're controlling what she learns."
Ruby looked at her uncle.
"Is he right?"
Charles's shoulders sagged.
"Patrick left instructions."
"I don't care about instructions."
"He said you couldn't know where the ledger was until Lorenzo revealed himself."
"He has."
Charles looked toward the window.
"Then we need to go somewhere."
Dante shook his head.
"No."
Charles glared.
"This doesn't concern you."
Dante laughed without humor.
"Lorenzo walked onto my property, sent someone to shoot through my windows, and broadcast himself at a Gallagher gala. It concerns me."
Charles turned to Ruby.
"Your father left a safe-deposit key."
"Where?"
"At St. Matthew's."
Ruby blinked.
"The church?"
"Patrick donated the restoration fund."
She remembered.
Her father had loved that old church.
They had attended Christmas Eve services there every year.
Dante immediately called Marco.
"Secure it."
Charles raised his hand.
"No armed convoy."
Dante stared at him.
"Excuse me?"
"Patrick specifically wrote that Ruby had to enter alone."
"Absolutely not."
Ruby stood.
"I'm going."
Dante turned.
"Ruby."
"You don't own me."
His eyes flashed.
"I know."
The answer stopped her.
He stepped closer.
"I know that now more than ever."
Something painful passed between them.
Ruby looked away first.
An hour later, they reached St. Matthew's.
The church was dark except for sanctuary candles.
Dante's security team surrounded the block.
Ruby entered alone.
At least, as alone as Dante would permit.
Marco watched from outside.
Ruby walked toward the side chapel.
Her heels echoed against stone.
Behind a bronze plaque bearing Patrick Gallagher's name was a small keyhole.
She inserted Charles's key.
The plaque opened.
Inside sat a metal box.
Ruby lifted it out.
Her hands shook.
She opened it.
No ledger.
Only a cassette recorder.
And a note.
PRESS PLAY ALONE.
Ruby glanced toward the doors.
Dante remained outside.
She pressed play.
Static.
Then her father's voice.
"Ruby."
She closed her eyes.
"My sweet girl. If you're hearing this, Lorenzo has returned."
Ruby began crying.
"I need you to understand something before you trust anyone. Especially Dante."
Her eyes opened.
Patrick continued.
"Dante believes he killed Lorenzo because that's what I needed him to believe."
Ruby frowned.
"The man Dante shot that night wasn't Lorenzo."
Her blood went cold.
"It was Lorenzo's twin."
Ruby's breath stopped.
Twin?
"I know what this sounds like. Vittorio hid the second boy because he was born sick and because the circumstances of his birth threatened the family succession."
Ruby leaned closer to the recorder.
"The brother Dante knew as Lorenzo was actually Luca."
Her mind spun.
"Then who is Lorenzo?"
Patrick's recording crackled.
"Lorenzo was raised outside the Moretti family."
Ruby whispered, "By who?"
Her father's voice became quieter.
"By Elena."
Ruby froze.
Her biological mother.
"She didn't disappear, Ruby."
Patrick paused.
"She ran."
A sound came from behind Ruby.
A footstep.
She turned.
The chapel door had closed.
Ruby reached into her purse for the emergency button Dante had given her.
A voice came from the darkness.
"You have your father's stubbornness."
Ruby's fingers stopped.
A woman stepped into the candlelight.
Late fifties.
Dark hair streaked with gray.
Eyes identical to Ruby's.
Ruby couldn't breathe.
The woman began crying.
"Hello, sweetheart."
Ruby stared.
May you like
The stranger took one trembling step closer.
"My name is Elena."
