Chapter 6 - THE BLOOD LINEAGEBy dawn, the rain had cleared over Lake Michigan, leaving behind a crisp, cool morning sky.
The Gold Coast mansion was undergoing a silent, efficient cleanup. Bloodstains were scrubbed from the marble, broken doors were replaced, and the bodies of Marco and the mercenaries had vanished into the deep waters of the lake, never to be found.
I sat in the formal study, wearing a clean tailored suit instead of a hospital robe. The weakness in my muscles was fading, replaced by the steady, quiet strength that had built my empire.
Dr. Harris was standing in front of my desk, sweating profusely despite the morning chill.
"Mr. Moretti... I swear to you, I didn't know," Dr. Harris pleaded, his hands trembling. "Miss Vale... she substituted the blood samples before I could test them in my independent lab! She threatened my medical license!"
"You were blind because she paid you two hundred thousand dollars a month to be blind," I said quietly, swirling the dark espresso in my cup. "You’re fired, Harris. If I ever see your face in Chicago again, you won't need a medical license. You'll need a coffin."
"Thank you, Mr. Moretti! Thank you!" Dr. Harris gasped, grabbing his briefcase and fleeing the room as fast as his legs could carry him.
The heavy door closed. I took a sip of my coffee, then looked at the doorway leading to the private sitting area.
Elena was standing there, holding a warm cup of tea. She looked exhausted, but the fear that had shadowed her eyes for the past three weeks was finally gone.
"How is she?" I asked.
"Lily is sleeping in the guest room," Elena said softly, stepping into the study. "She’s... she’s a tough kid, Julian. She’s had to be."
I stood up from behind the mahogany desk and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the lake.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, keeping my back to her. "Nine years ago. When you realized you were pregnant. You knew who I was. You knew where to find me."
Elena let out a soft sigh. "That night nine years ago... you weren't the boss of Chicago yet. You were just a handsome, broken man sitting in a diner on 47th Street, bleeding from a knife wound and looking for someone to talk to. I gave you a place to hide for the night."
She walked up beside me, staring out at the rising sun.
"The next morning, I saw your picture on the news. I saw the violence attached to your name. I didn't want my child raised in a world of bulletproof glass, armed guards, and blood money, Julian. I wanted her to have a normal life."
"A normal life?" I turned to look at her, my voice rising slightly. "You were living in a homeless shelter three weeks ago, Elena! You were working twelve-hour shifts scrubbing floors just to feed her!"
"And she was safe!" Elena snapped back, her eyes flashing with maternal fury. "She didn't have to worry about bombs in her car or poison in her tea! But then I got sick, I lost my job at the diner, and I ran out of options. Coming here... applying for this housemaid job... it was a desperate gamble."
"Did you know I was sick when you came here?"
"No," Elena shook her head. "I came to ask for help. But when I saw you lying in that bed, dying while that blonde viper smiled at you... I couldn't leave. I knew what she was doing because I saw the same symptoms in the shelter victims. I stayed to save your life."
I stared at her for a long moment. Nine years of blood, power, and war had taught me that everyone had a price. Everyone wanted something from Julian Moretti.
Except the woman standing in front of me.
"She saved my life, too," I muttered, looking toward the hallway where Lily was sleeping. "That kid pushed a three-hundred-pound statue down a flight of stairs to save me."
Elena smiled faintly. "She has your temper. And your stubbornness."
I took a deep breath, feeling a sense of clarity I hadn't felt in years.
"The life you wanted for her—the 'normal' life—it’s over, Elena," I said seriously. "Vanessa wasn't working alone. The Chicago Syndicate is going to move against me. My enemies know about Lily now. They will use her to get to me."
May you like
Elena’s face drained of color. "What are you saying?"
"I’m saying," I replied, grabbing my phone off the desk, "that as of today, Lily Ramirez is legally Lily Moretti. And no one in this world touches a Moretti and lives to tell about it."
