Chapter 2 - The Child Behind the Voice
Dante stopped breathing.
“Bellini.”
The laughter ceased.
“You finally sound interested.”
Dante looked toward the mansion in the distance.
Leo.
His hand tightened around the phone.
“If you touched him—”
“Touched who?”
A small sob came through the line.
Dante’s pulse slammed.
Marco heard it too.
“Boss?”
Dante held up a hand.
“Put him on.”
Bellini chuckled.
“You don’t give orders tonight.”
Bianca watched Dante from the backseat.
Blood still streaked one side of her forehead.
Her anger disappeared when she heard the child.
“Is that Leo?”
Dante did not answer.
He didn’t have to.
Bellini continued.
“You spent six months pretending that woman was nobody. Tonight I decided to test the theory.”
Dante opened the SUV door.
“Marco. Mansion. Now.”
Marco froze.
“We have men there.”
“Call them.”
Marco dialed.
No answer.
He tried again.
Nothing.
Dante’s face drained of color.
Bianca pushed herself upright.
“Take me back.”
“No.”
“That’s Leo.”
“You’re injured.”
“He needs me.”
“So do I.”
The words escaped before Dante could stop them.
Bianca stared at him.
There was no time to discuss what he meant.
Bellini remained on the line.
“Ten minutes, Costa.”
“For what?”
“You’ll find out.”
The call ended.
Dante’s convoy turned toward the estate.
Bianca refused the doctor.
She pressed gauze against her temple and spent the entire drive calling Leo’s tablet.
No answer.
Dante watched her.
She was hurt because of him.
She had every reason to leave.
Yet the instant Leo was threatened, she forgot herself.
That was Bianca.
He had seen it from the first week.
Leo had bitten her then.
Not badly.
Enough to leave a mark.
Dante expected her to quit.
Instead, Bianca sat outside the boy’s locked bedroom for forty minutes and spoke through the door about a ridiculous cartoon dinosaur until he let her inside.
She had never treated Leo like a damaged child.
She had treated him like a child carrying damage.
The difference changed everything.
When they reached the estate, the front gates stood open.
Dante noticed immediately.
“Stop.”
The convoy halted.
Security lights flickered.
Marco checked his weapon.
“Power system’s been hit.”
Dante looked at Bianca.
“You stay in the car.”
“No.”
“That wasn’t a request.”
She met his eyes.
“You lost the right to give me orders tonight.”
Under different circumstances, Marco might have looked away.
Instead, he handed Bianca a flashlight.
Dante glared at him.
Marco shrugged.
“She’s getting out either way.”
They entered the mansion.
The grand foyer was silent.
Too silent.
One guard lay unconscious near the staircase.
Another was found breathing behind the kitchen doors.
“Alive,” Marco said.
Dante continued upward.
“Leo!”
Nothing.
Bianca ran past him.
“Leo!”
A faint sound came from the second floor.
She stopped.
Dante listened.
Three knocks.
Pause.
Two knocks.
Bianca’s face changed.
“He’s hiding.”
“What?”
“Our signal.”
She rushed down the corridor.
“Leo!”
Three knocks.
Pause.
Two.
From the linen closet.
Bianca opened it.
Leo launched himself at her.
She dropped to her knees and wrapped both arms around him.
The little boy shook violently.
“Bia.”
“I’m here.”
“Bia.”
“I’m here, baby.”
Dante leaned against the wall for half a second.
Relief nearly made his knees give out.
Leo noticed the blood.
His tiny hand touched Bianca’s cheek.
“Hurt?”
“I bumped my head.”
Leo looked at Dante.
His expression hardened with astonishing seriousness.
“Bad man?”
Dante crouched.
“Yes.”
Leo pointed toward the bedroom.
“Black man.”
Marco frowned.
“Black clothes?”
Leo nodded.
“Came room.”
“What did he do?” Bianca asked.
Leo pointed again.
“Take box.”
Dante stood.
“What box?”
Bianca looked toward Leo’s room.
The closet door stood open.
A shelf had been cleared.
Dante’s chest tightened.
His sister Sofia’s box.
After Sofia and her husband were killed, Dante had saved a small collection of their belongings for Leo.
Photographs.
Letters.
Legal documents.
A flash drive.
Things Leo might want when he was older.
Dante entered the room.
The box was gone.
Marco appeared behind him.
“What was in it?”
Dante stared at the empty shelf.
“Things Bellini should never have.”
Bianca entered carrying Leo.
“What does that mean?”
Dante turned.
For years he had protected people by withholding information.
Tonight had proven exactly how badly that strategy could fail.
“No more lies.”
Bianca looked skeptical.
Dante led them downstairs.
The doctor arrived and treated Bianca’s cut while Leo refused to leave her lap.
Dante waited.
When the doctor finished, he closed the library doors.
“Seven years ago,” Dante began, “my brother-in-law worked for Bellini.”
Bianca frowned.
“Sofia’s husband?”
“Yes. Michael.”
Dante poured a drink but did not touch it.
“Michael discovered Bellini was laundering money through charities. Children’s charities. He documented everything.”
“Why?”
“He wanted out.”
Bianca looked at Leo.
“And they died.”
Dante nodded.
“The official story was a car accident.”
“You don’t believe that.”
“No.”
“Did Bellini kill them?”
“I could never prove it.”
Bianca’s arms tightened around Leo.
“What was in the box?”
“Michael’s records.”
Marco swore quietly.
Dante continued.
“I didn’t know they were there until after Sofia died. The flash drive was encrypted.”
“Could Bellini open it?”
“I don’t know.”
Bianca looked toward the door.
“Then tonight wasn’t about insulting me.”
Dante met her eyes.
“No.”
“He wanted you distracted.”
“Yes.”
“He used me.”
Dante’s voice lowered.
“So did I.”
Bianca said nothing.
He stepped closer.
“I knew Bellini was watching you. I thought if I acted like you didn’t matter, he would stop.”
Her eyes flashed.
“So you let him humiliate me.”
“I made the wrong decision.”
“You made me believe him.”
Dante absorbed that without defending himself.
“I know.”
Leo looked between them.
Then he whispered.
“Bia stay?”
Bianca closed her eyes.
Dante felt fear sharper than any threat Bellini had made.
Bianca kissed Leo’s hair.
“For tonight.”
Dante looked away.
It was more than he deserved.
Marco’s phone buzzed.
He read the message.
“Bellini called a meeting.”
“Where?”
“His club.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow night.”
“With?”
“Everybody.”
Dante understood.
Chicago’s five major crews had maintained an uneasy balance for years. Bellini wanted to present whatever he had stolen.
If Michael’s documents implicated others, Bellini could use them as leverage.
Or forge evidence.
Or start a war.
“Why invite us?” Bianca asked.
Marco answered.
“To humiliate Dante publicly.”
Dante’s eyes shifted to her.
That word again.
Humiliate.
Bellini had used the same weapon twice.
Bianca looked at him.
“What are you going to do?”
“Go.”
“That’s what he wants.”
“Yes.”
“So why?”
Dante finally picked up the drink.
“Because there are moments when refusing an invitation looks like fear.”
Bianca gave a bitter smile.
“Funny. I learned something about looking afraid tonight.”
Dante set the glass down untouched.
“You won’t be there.”
“No argument.”
“I mean it.”
“So do I.”
“Bianca.”
“If that box belonged to Leo’s parents, then this affects him. I’m not sitting upstairs while armed men decide his future.”
Dante’s patience broke.
“You were bleeding in an alley an hour ago because Bellini knew you mattered!”
Leo flinched.
Dante stopped immediately.
Bianca soothed him.
“Lower your voice.”
Dante looked ashamed.
He spoke quietly.
“That is exactly why you’re staying here.”
Bianca studied him.
“You said something in the alley.”
“What?”
“You said you always cared.”
Dante’s face became unreadable.
Bianca waited.
He looked toward Leo.
Then back at her.
“There are things I’m not good at saying.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No.”
“Then answer.”
Dante stepped closer.
“I knew the exact day you started putting cinnamon in your coffee instead of sugar.”
Bianca blinked.
“I knew you stopped wearing your red scarf because Leo associated it with the hospital.”
Her expression softened despite herself.
“I knew you cried in the pantry after he said your name for the first time.”
“How?”
“I was outside the door.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I didn’t know what to say.”
Dante’s voice dropped.
“I knew when you were tired. I knew when you lied and said you weren’t. I knew every time you skipped dinner because Leo had a difficult night.”
Bianca forgot how angry she was for one dangerous second.
Dante continued.
“And I knew Bellini noticed me noticing.”
That restored it.
“So you punished me for being important.”
“No.”
“That’s what happened.”
Dante looked away.
“Yes.”
The admission hung between them.
Bianca stood.
Leo clung to her hand.
“I’m sleeping in Leo’s room.”
“Bianca—”
“Tomorrow, we talk about whether I leave.”
Dante’s chest tightened.
She led Leo upstairs.
Halfway to the door, Leo stopped.
He looked at Dante.
“Uncle?”
Dante crouched.
Leo whispered something into Bianca’s ear.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
Leo repeated it.
This time Dante heard him.
“Man said Mama lied.”
Dante went still.
Bianca knelt.
“What man?”
“Black clothes.”
“What did he say your mama lied about?”
Leo looked toward the stairs.
Then pointed at Dante.
“Daddy.”
Nobody moved.
Dante stared at his nephew.
May you like
Marco’s face went pale.
And upstairs, something heavy crashed inside Sofia’s old locked bedroom.
