CHAPTER 8 — “The DNA Report Changed Everything”
Dominic stared at the encrypted message for a long moment.
If you want the truth about your brother... come alone.
Carlo immediately reached for the phone.
"It's a trap."
Silas agreed.
"They know you'll come."
Dominic locked the screen.
"I know."
"Then don't go," Carlo said firmly.
Dominic slowly looked through the operating-room window where Meline lay unconscious, surrounded by machines.
"I've spent four months reacting to everyone else's plans."
"That ends tonight."
Three hours later...
Dominic left the hospital alone.
Or at least, that was what everyone believed.
A black Rolls-Royce carried him through the empty streets of Boston toward an abandoned shipyard overlooking the harbor.
Snow drifted across rusted cargo containers.
The entire place was silent.
Too silent.
Dominic stepped from the car without drawing his weapon.
"I came."
His voice echoed through the freezing air.
"Show yourself."
A slow clap answered him.
From behind a stack of containers emerged Victor Moretti.
His left arm was wrapped in fresh bandages from the gunfight earlier that day.
"You came alone."
Dominic's eyes never left him.
"You betrayed her."
Victor sighed.
"I knew you'd think that."
"Then explain why the assassins arrived thirty seconds after you walked outside."
Victor didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he removed a sealed envelope from inside his coat.
"I've waited twenty-five years to give this to a Valente."
Dominic didn't move.
"What is it?"
"A DNA report."
Dominic frowned.
Victor gently tossed the envelope onto the snow.
"You should read it before you kill me."
For several seconds, neither man moved.
Finally, Dominic bent down and picked it up.
The report was old.
Yellowed with age.
Dated twenty-five years earlier.
His eyes widened as he read the first page.
PATERNITY CONFIRMED
Father: Alessandro Valente
Then he looked lower.
Child: Dominic Valente
Dominic frowned.
That made no sense.
Of course Alessandro was his father.
Victor shook his head.
"Keep reading."
Dominic turned the page.
Attached behind the first report was another DNA test.
Also dated twenty-five years ago.
This time the names were different.
Father: Alessandro Valente
Child: Gabriel Moretti
Dominic stopped breathing.
Same father.
Different mother.
His hands tightened around the report.
"My brother..."
Victor nodded slowly.
"Gabriel was born eleven months before you."
Dominic looked up.
"So Enzo raised him."
"No."
Victor's expression became unexpectedly sad.
"Enzo stole him."
Victor's voice grew quieter.
"My sister Isabella fell in love with Alessandro before he became boss."
"When Gabriel was born, Alessandro promised he would leave the Mafia."
"But before he could..."
"He was forced to marry another woman to unite the family."
Dominic already knew that part.
His own mother had been that arranged marriage.
Victor continued.
"Alessandro begged Isabella to run."
"She refused."
"She believed love could survive the Mafia."
"It couldn't."
Victor looked toward the harbor.
"Three weeks later..."
"My sister disappeared."
Dominic whispered,
"She was murdered."
Victor slowly shook his head.
"No."
"She was taken."
"By Enzo."
Dominic's blood ran cold.
Victor continued.
"Enzo believed only a child raised without love could become the perfect Mafia king."
"So he took Gabriel."
"He convinced everyone Isabella had abandoned him."
"He convinced Alessandro the baby had died."
"And when Alessandro finally had another son..."
"You..."
"...Enzo simply began raising two heirs."
Dominic felt sick.
"So everything..."
"...everything was a lie."
Victor nodded.
"Your father died believing his firstborn was dead."
"And Gabriel grew up believing Alessandro abandoned him."
The snow continued falling around them.
Twenty-five years of lies.
Twenty-five years of stolen lives.
Suddenly...
Victor's phone rang.
He answered.
His face drained of color.
"No..."
He looked directly at Dominic.
"They're moving now."
Dominic frowned.
"Who?"
Victor whispered,
"Enzo."
"He just kidnapped Meline."
Dominic's heart nearly stopped.
"What?"
Victor held up the phone.
Live security footage from the hospital filled the screen.
Masked gunmen stormed the maternity floor.
Doctors lay unconscious.
Nurses were zip-tied on the ground.
Meline's hospital bed...
Was empty.
The last frame showed Enzo standing beside her unconscious body.
One hand rested gently on her pregnant stomach.
He smiled into the camera before speaking.
"Dominic..."
"I've already taken one heir from this family."
"I'm curious..."
May you like
"...how many more can you survive losing?"
The screen went black.
