Chapter 5 - Vittorio’s Daughter
My mind rejected the sentence.
Matteo turned toward me.
Antonio stared at our mother.
“Mom?”
She closed her eyes.
Vittorio smiled.
“Oh, Maria. You never told them.”
“You are lying,” I said.
“Am I?”
“Yes.”
“Ask her.”
I looked at my mother.
She wouldn’t meet my eyes.
Something inside me cracked.
“Mom.”
“I wanted to tell you.”
“When?”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Elena.”
“Is he my father?”
Silence.
That was enough.
Antonio stepped backward.
“No.”
My mother reached for him.
“Antonio—”
“No.”
His face went white.
“Dad was Dad.”
“He was your father.”
“And Elena?”
Maria began crying.
“Elena was mine.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Vittorio watched us like a man enjoying theater.
I hated him instantly.
My mother whispered, “Vittorio is Elena’s biological father.”
The hallway seemed to tilt.
Matteo looked furious.
Not at me.
At Vittorio.
“You knew?”
“Of course.”
“For how long?”
“Since before she was born.”
“Then why leave her alone?”
Vittorio smiled.
“Because Maria made an arrangement.”
My mother looked at him.
“You promised never to come near her.”
“And you promised never to interfere with my family.”
“I broke that promise when Lucia came to me.”
“Yes.”
His smile disappeared.
“And now Lucia is dead.”
Matteo lunged.
Antonio caught him.
“Not here.”
“He killed my sister.”
“And there are three guns pointed at us.”
Vittorio lifted one hand.
His men lowered their weapons slightly.
“Matteo, always emotional.”
“You murdered Lucia.”
“She chose badly.”
“She chose a life.”
“She chose humiliation.”
“She chose someone who wasn’t you.”
Vittorio’s eyes sharpened.
I understood then.
This wasn’t about business.
It was about control.
Everything was.
My mother.
Lucia.
Gabriel.
Me.
“Why am I alive?” I asked.
Vittorio looked at me.
“Because your mother begged.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“When Maria discovered she was pregnant, she threatened to expose me.”
“With what?”
My mother spoke.
“Your father—my husband, Paolo—had documents.”
Antonio looked at her.
“What documents?”
“Records connecting Vittorio to murders, bribes, politicians.”
Vittorio sighed.
“Paolo was a bookkeeper who developed a conscience.”
“You killed him,” I said.
“I gave him an opportunity to walk away.”
My mother’s voice hardened.
“You poisoned him.”
Antonio raised his gun.
“Say that again.”
“Antonio,” I said.
He shook.
Vittorio barely looked at him.
“I did what was necessary.”
Antonio moved.
Matteo grabbed him this time.
The irony wasn’t lost on either of them.
Vittorio looked at me.
“Your mother disappeared with you after Paolo died. I allowed it.”
“You allowed it?”
“Yes.”
“You think that makes you merciful?”
“I think it makes you alive.”
I stepped toward him.
“You don’t get credit for not murdering your own child.”
Something flickered behind his eyes.
Perhaps irritation.
Perhaps admiration.
“You sound like Maria.”
“Good.”
Vittorio smiled faintly.
“I can see why Matteo likes you.”
Matteo stiffened.
“This has nothing to do with her.”
“Everything has to do with her now.”
He turned to his men.
“Bring Daniel.”
Daniel backed toward the wall.
Antonio aimed his weapon.
“No one moves.”
Vittorio looked bored.
“I don’t want a gunfight in a hospital.”
“Then leave.”
“I came for three things.”
He counted.
“The ledger. Gabriel. Elena.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why me?”
“Because blood matters.”
“To you.”
“To everyone eventually.”
“You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know you became a nurse.”
“I know you cared for Maria.”
“I know you lost a child.”
I stopped.
Matteo looked at him with murder in his eyes.
“Do not talk about that.”
Vittorio’s gaze moved to him.
“So she told you?”
“No.”
“Then you investigated her quickly.”
Matteo said nothing.
I looked at him.
“How did you know?”
“Your clinic had a memorial photograph.”
I remembered.
A tiny framed ultrasound image near my desk.
He had noticed.
Vittorio smiled.
“Observant.”
“Shut up,” Matteo said.
Vittorio turned back to me.
“You know grief. That makes what happens next easier.”
My blood chilled.
“What happens next?”
“You give me Gabriel.”
“No.”
“You don’t have him.”
“No.”
“You tell me where he is.”
“No.”
Vittorio sighed.
“This stubbornness is genetic.”
My mother suddenly spoke.
“The ledger isn’t with Gabriel.”
Everyone looked at her.
Vittorio’s expression changed.
“Maria.”
“I moved it.”
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
“You were dying.”
“I was pretending to die.”
I stared.
My mother looked at me.
“The cancer was real.”
“Then how?”
“Keene helped create records showing I died.”
Keene, still on the floor, groaned.
She continued.
“I needed Vittorio to stop watching you.”
“So you let me bury you?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I thought it would be months.”
“It was two years.”
“I know.”
“You let me grieve you.”
“I know.”
“You watched me lose my daughter without you.”
Her face crumpled.
“I know.”
I turned away.
I couldn’t process it.
Not there.
Not with guns.
Not with Vittorio smiling.
Matteo moved closer, not touching me.
Just there.
Strangely, it helped.
Vittorio said, “Where is the ledger?”
Maria looked at him.
“Somewhere you’ll never find it.”
He nodded to one of his men.
The man raised his gun toward Antonio.
I stepped forward.
“No.”
“Tell me.”
“No.”
The gun shifted toward Daniel.
“Tell me.”
My mother remained silent.
Vittorio looked at me.
“Perhaps you can persuade her.”
“I don’t know where it is.”
“That may be true.”
He nodded again.
The guard grabbed Daniel.
Matteo moved.
Then the lights went out.
Total darkness.
Someone shouted.
A shot fired.
Glass broke.
Antonio yelled, “Down!”
Matteo tackled me to the floor.
I heard my mother scream.
More shots.
Emergency lights flickered red.
Agent Maya Chen appeared at the far end of the corridor with two tactical officers.
“Federal agents!”
Chaos erupted.
Vittorio’s men scattered.
Antonio returned fire.
Daniel crawled behind a cart.
Matteo pulled me into a doorway.
“Where’s Gabriel?”
“Maya left him with another agent.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
Vittorio disappeared into the stairwell.
Matteo saw him.
“I’m going after him.”
“No.”
“He killed Lucia.”
“And if you die, Gabriel loses the only family member who chose him.”
Matteo stared at me.
The words landed.
He stayed.
It may have been the first time in years Matteo DeLuca chose not to chase revenge.
Within minutes, the corridor was secured.
Two of Vittorio’s men were arrested.
One escaped with him.
Keene was taken into custody.
Daniel was transported under guard to a secure medical unit.
My mother sat against the wall.
Antonio beside her.
I stayed away.
I couldn’t look at her yet.
Maya approached.
“We have a problem.”
My heart dropped.
“Gabriel?”
“He’s safe.”
Matteo exhaled.
“What problem?”
“The agent watching him received a fake evacuation order.”
Antonio stood.
“Who sent it?”
“We don’t know.”
“Did Gabriel leave?”
“No. The agent verified first.”
Matteo nodded approvingly.
Maya continued.
“But someone knows exactly which unit he’s in.”
“How?”
She looked at Antonio.
“Your secure network was accessed from inside the Bureau.”
Antonio swore.
“The corruption goes higher than we thought.”
My mother slowly stood.
“There’s only one person who can stop this.”
“Who?”
She looked at me.
“You.”
I almost laughed.
“I’m a nurse.”
“You’re Vittorio’s daughter.”
“I don’t care.”
“His organization will.”
“I don’t want his organization.”
“You don’t have to want it.”
Matteo understood before I did.
“You want Elena to challenge him.”
Maria nodded.
“That’s insane,” Antonio said.
“No.”
Matteo’s eyes narrowed.
“It might work.”
I stared at him.
“You’re agreeing with her?”
“Vittorio built his power around bloodlines, loyalty, inheritance.”
“So?”
“So if the truth becomes public that he has a daughter he hid for thirty-six years—”
Antonio finished.
“His allies start questioning why.”
Maria nodded.
“And if Elena possesses Paolo’s ledger…”
I looked at her.
“You said you hid it.”
“I did.”
“Where?”
She looked at my necklace.
I instinctively touched the small gold cross I had worn since childhood.
A gift from my father.
Paolo.
At least the man I still considered my father.
My mother whispered:
“He hid everything where Vittorio would never think to look.”
I unclasped the necklace.
The cross felt ordinary.
Worn smooth from decades against my skin.
Antonio took it.
He pressed the base.
A tiny compartment opened.
Inside was a sliver of metal.
A micro-storage chip.
Matteo stared.
“The ledger.”
My mother nodded.
“Paolo gave it to you the week before he died.”
I could barely speak.
“I’ve had it this whole time?”
“Yes.”
Matteo looked toward the secured corridor.
“Then Vittorio will never stop coming.”
A phone rang.
Maya checked hers.
“No.”
Antonio checked his.
“No.”
Matteo pulled his phone out.
Not his.
The sound came from the pocket of my scrub top.
I reached inside.
A phone I had never seen before.
Someone had slipped it there during the chaos.
One message waited.
COME HOME, DAUGHTER.
Below it was a photograph.
Gabriel.
Sleeping in someone’s arms.
I looked toward Maya.
“You said he was safe.”
Her face changed.
“He was.”
May you like
Another message appeared.
NOT ANYMORE.
