Chapter 3 - The Paternity Test Was Never About Lily
The DNA test came back four days later.
99.9998 percent probability.
Derek Morrison was Lily's biological father.
Emma stared at the result for less than ten seconds before placing it on the kitchen table.
She felt no victory.
Lily had never needed a laboratory to tell Emma who her father was.
But Derek had needed the test for another reason entirely.
And Luca had found it.
Derek's attorney had requested that testing be performed through a specific private laboratory.
Buried in the paperwork was a consent form granting the attorney temporary authority to collect and distribute related medical documentation.
Ordinarily harmless.
Except another document had been attached electronically.
A financial authorization.
Emma's signature appeared at the bottom.
She had never signed it.
Luca spread the papers across her kitchen table.
“He was hoping you'd sign the digital package without reading it.”
Emma stared at the forged signature.
“So the humiliation at the hospital…”
“Made you emotional.”
“The paternity test…”
“Made the paperwork appear legitimate.”
“And the financial authorization?”
“Would have given his shell company another route to your trust.”
Emma looked at Luca.
“He planned this.”
“For months.”
The truth arrived piece by piece.
Northstar Development was controlled through three shell companies.
One led to Derek.
Another led to Brittany's brother.
The third had been created six months earlier.
Two weeks after Emma told Derek she was pregnant.
Emma felt physically sick.
“He started planning to steal from me after I became pregnant.”
Luca shook his head.
“Before.”
He placed another document down.
A life insurance policy.
Emma's name.
Two million dollars.
Beneficiary: Derek Morrison.
Emma looked up slowly.
“I never bought this.”
“He did.”
“Can he do that?”
“Not legally without your consent.”
“My signature?”
“Forged.”
The room went silent.
Emma walked to Lily's crib.
Her daughter slept peacefully.
Luca stayed behind her.
“Was he going to hurt me?”
“We don't know.”
Emma turned.
“Don't protect me from the answer.”
“I am not.”
“Then say it.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“I don't know.”
That frightened her more than certainty.
Derek had not merely cheated.
He had built an exit strategy around Emma's money.
And perhaps around Emma herself.
“Why Brittany?” she asked.
Luca leaned against the counter.
“She works in compliance at the lending firm that approved Northstar.”
Emma closed her eyes.
“So she wasn't just his mistress.”
“No.”
“She helped him.”
“It appears so.”
Emma laughed bitterly.
“I thought she won.”
Luca watched her.
“She thought she did too.”
The next day Derek came to the apartment.
Emma had expected him.
Luca wanted security present.
Emma refused.
“I'm not hiding behind you.”
“You aren't hiding.”
“It will look like I am.”
“Why do you care what Derek thinks?”
Emma considered that.
She didn't.
“Fine. Marco stays downstairs.”
Derek arrived at seven.
He looked irritated rather than remorseful.
“I got the DNA results.”
“So did I.”
He glanced toward Lily.
For the first time since the hospital, he approached her crib.
Emma moved between them.
Derek stopped.
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“She's my daughter.”
Emma almost admired the audacity.
“Interesting how quickly that changed.”
“I said I'd accept the results.”
“You said you'd acknowledge your own child after science rescued you from responsibility.”
Derek exhaled.
“I came to resolve this.”
“Good.”
Emma placed a folder on the table.
His face changed when he saw the Northstar logo.
Barely.
But Emma saw it.
Luca had taught her where to look.
Hands.
Eyes.
Breathing.
Derek's right hand tightened.
Emma opened the folder.
“Eight hundred thousand dollars.”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Try again.”
“Emma—”
“Northstar Development.”
Silence.
“Brittany's brother.”
Derek's face hardened.
“Who gave you this?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you're being manipulated.”
Emma laughed.
“By whom?”
Derek looked toward the window.
“Moretti.”
There it was.
“You know Luca.”
“Everyone knows Luca Moretti.”
“Not like you do.”
Derek's eyes narrowed.
“Stay away from him.”
“Why?”
“He isn't what you think.”
“What do I think?”
Derek had no answer.
Emma stepped closer.
“You're scared of him.”
“No.”
“You are.”
“I'm trying to protect you.”
The sentence was so absurd Emma almost smiled.
“You emptied our bank account.”
“I moved shared funds.”
“You forged my signature.”
“I did no such thing.”
“You took out life insurance on me.”
His expression changed.
That was enough.
Emma whispered, “You knew.”
Derek stepped toward her.
“Emma, listen.”
“No.”
“It wasn't what you think.”
“What do I think, Derek?”
His voice dropped.
“I was trying to secure our future.”
“With your mistress?”
“Brittany was helping with the financing.”
“And sleeping with you.”
“That happened later.”
Emma stared.
He actually expected that distinction to matter.
Lily began crying.
Emma turned toward the crib.
Derek grabbed her wrist.
“Wait.”
The apartment door opened.
Luca stood there.
He did not shout.
He did not threaten.
He simply looked at Derek's hand around Emma's wrist.
“Remove it.”
Derek released her immediately.
Emma hated that.
Not because Luca had intervened.
Because Derek obeyed him faster than he had ever listened to her.
Luca entered.
“I believe Ms. Carter asked you to leave.”
“This is between Emma and me.”
“No,” Emma said.
Both men looked at her.
“This is between Derek and me.”
She turned to Luca.
“I can handle it.”
Luca nodded.
Then he stepped back.
Not away.
Back.
The distinction mattered.
Emma faced Derek.
“You will communicate through my attorney.”
“You don't have an attorney.”
“I do now.”
Derek looked at Luca.
“Of course.”
Emma's voice sharpened.
“Look at me when I'm speaking.”
Derek did.
“You will acknowledge Lily legally. You will cooperate with the financial investigation. You will stay away from my home unless invited. And if you touch me again, I will call the police.”
Derek laughed.
“You think Moretti is going to save you?”
Emma shook her head.
“No.”
She picked Lily up.
“I am going to save us.”
Then she looked at Luca.
“He's just the man who reminded me I could.”
Something passed through Luca's expression.
Derek saw it too.
Jealousy appeared almost instantly.
“You've known him a week.”
“And somehow he's looked at Lily more times than you have.”
Derek's face went pale.
Emma opened the door.
“Leave.”
This time he did.
But in the hallway, Derek turned toward Luca.
“You don't know what you're getting involved in.”
Luca's expression remained calm.
“I know exactly what I'm involved in.”
Derek walked away.
That night Emma found Luca sitting beside Lily's crib.
She had fallen asleep on the couch and woke around two.
Luca had stayed because someone had followed Emma home from the pediatrician earlier.
He sat in a chair, jacket removed, sleeves rolled up.
Lily slept.
Luca watched her.
Emma leaned against the doorway.
“You really do like babies.”
He glanced back.
“Don't damage my reputation.”
Emma smiled.
Then the smile faded.
“Why did someone follow me?”
“We're finding out.”
“Derek?”
“Possibly.”
“You don't believe that.”
“No.”
Emma entered.
“Who else?”
Luca hesitated.
“Northstar owes money.”
“To whom?”
“People less patient than banks.”
“Criminals?”
“Some.”
Emma studied him.
“And you?”
“What about me?”
“Are you a criminal?”
Luca looked at Lily.
“I have done things I am not proud of.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“It is the only one I can give honestly.”
Emma sat opposite him.
“Why should I trust you?”
“You shouldn't.”
That surprised her.
“Trust should be earned.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because whether you trust me has nothing to do with whether Lily deserves protection.”
Emma looked down.
“You keep saying that.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Luca was silent for a long time.
Then he spoke.
“My father disappeared before I was born.”
Emma waited.
“My mother married another man. He tolerated me until she died.”
“How old were you?”
“Sixteen.”
“Sofia was twelve.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“He told us to leave.”
Emma's chest tightened.
“In winter?”
Luca smiled without humor.
“Chicago rarely schedules tragedy conveniently.”
“Where did you go?”
“A restaurant owner named Antonio gave me work. His wife gave Sofia a bed.”
“And they protected you.”
“Yes.”
Luca looked toward Lily.
“One person deciding a child matters can change an entire life.”
Emma finally understood.
The hospital.
The certificate.
The groceries.
The car seat.
It was not about impressing her.
Luca had seen Lily being rejected and had recognized something from his own childhood.
Emma whispered, “You couldn't save yourself at sixteen.”
“No.”
“So you save everyone else.”
Luca looked at her.
“Not everyone.”
Their eyes held.
Something shifted between them.
Emma felt it and immediately looked away.
Too soon.
Far too soon.
Her heart was still bruised from Derek.
Luca seemed to understand.
He stood.
“I should go.”
“Luca.”
He stopped.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For stepping back tonight when I asked.”
A small smile.
“You seemed capable of murdering him yourself.”
Emma laughed.
Lily stirred.
Both of them froze.
Lily settled again.
They looked at each other and laughed quietly.
For one brief moment, the apartment felt like a home.
Then Luca's phone vibrated.
He checked the message.
His expression changed.
“What?”
Luca showed Emma the screen.
A surveillance photograph.
Derek and Brittany were standing outside a downtown hotel.
Across from them was a man Emma did not recognize.
But Luca clearly did.
“Who is he?”
Luca's voice became cold.
“Victor Salerno.”
“And?”
“The man Northstar owes four million dollars.”
Emma stared.
Luca enlarged the photograph.
Victor was holding another picture.
A picture of Emma leaving the hospital.
Lily was visible in her arms.
Emma stopped breathing.
Luca locked the phone.
“They're not following you because of Derek anymore.”
“Then why?”
May you like
His eyes met hers.
“Because they think you are the easiest way to collect his debt.”
