Chapter 5 - Ricardo Told Me Why He Had Raised My Daughter as His Own
Ricardo survived.
He spent three days in the hospital.
When he was strong enough to speak, he asked for me.
I went alone.
He looked older.
Much older.
“She's yours,” he said before I sat.
“I know.”
“She always was.”
“Then why did you keep her?”
“Because if I had told you, Stefano would have killed her.”
I stared.
“You could have told me.”
“Would you have believed me?”
“No.”
“That was the point.”
I hated how true it sounded.
Ricardo had spent years being my enemy.
We both had reasons.
Both had losses.
Both had been manipulated.
He reached beneath his pillow.
Pulled out a photograph.
Lucia as an infant.
Sleeping.
“Elena gave her to me.”
“When?”
“After the explosion.”
I frowned.
“She was afraid you would come looking.”
“I did.”
“I know.”
“Why didn't she contact me?”
Ricardo looked at me.
“Because she believed Stefano would use you.”
I sat down.
“What made her change her mind?”
“You did.”
I looked up.
Ricardo smiled faintly.
“She saw you never stopped searching.”
I laughed bitterly.
“I thought she was dead.”
“She knew.”
He handed me another photograph.
Me.
Standing at Elena's grave.
Eight years earlier.
I stared at it.
“Who took this?”
“Elena.”
I couldn't breathe.
“She watched me?”
“Yes.”
“All this time?”
“Not all.”
“Then what?”
“She was trying to move on.”
I shook my head.
“Did she?”
Ricardo smiled.
“No.”
He told me Elena had refused to marry anyone else.
She raised Lucia alone.
She kept my photograph.
She told Lucia stories about me.
“Why did Lucia think I was her father?”
“Because you were.”
Ricardo looked away.
“She knew.”
“What?”
“She always knew you were her father.”
I stared.
“Then why call me Daddy?”
“Because Elena told her to.”
“She knew I would come.”
“Yes.”
I felt something inside me crack.
Ricardo continued.
“Lucia is the reason Elena stayed alive.”
“She said I was dangerous.”
“She said you were lonely.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“Those were her words.”
He smiled.
“She said you were a dangerous man who didn't know how to be happy.”
Despite everything, I laughed.
“That sounds like Elena.”
Ricardo became serious.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“The network is bigger than Stefano.”
My smile disappeared.
“What do you mean?”
“Stefano was one branch.”
“What is the root?”
“An organization called The Meridian.”
I had heard the name.
Not from my father.
From politicians.
Businessmen.
Men who never appeared in photographs.
Ricardo explained.
The Meridian controlled financial pipelines across Europe and the Americas.
Stefano had been one of their local representatives.
The war between our families was useful to them.
It kept the police distracted.
It kept our businesses unstable.
And it allowed them to buy assets cheaply.
I looked at him.
“So they wanted our empire.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I wanted to destroy them myself.”
“And?”
He smiled sadly.
“I learned revenge isn't the same as justice.”
I understood.
We had both spent years becoming prisoners of the same idea.
The need to win.
Elena entered the room.
She had been waiting outside.
Ricardo looked at her.
“I failed you.”
Elena shook her head.
“You kept Lucia alive.”
He looked at her.
“And you?”
She touched his hand.
“You kept me alive too.”
I stared.
That was when I finally understood why Elena had not hated Ricardo.
He had stolen eight years from me.
But he had also saved eight years of her life.
It wasn't forgiveness.
It was gratitude mixed with pain.
I could live with that.
Later that evening, Lucia visited Ricardo.
She climbed onto the chair beside his bed.
“Are you okay?”
He smiled.
“I will be.”
“Mommy says you're brave.”
Ricardo's eyes filled with tears.
“Your mother was kind.”
Lucia looked at him.
“Are you my uncle?”
Ricardo laughed.
“I guess I am.”
She hugged him.
I watched from the doorway.
The man I had sworn to destroy was holding my daughter like family.
Maybe he had become family.
After we left, Elena walked beside me.
“You're quiet.”
“I'm thinking.”
“About what?”
“You.”
She smiled.
“That's dangerous.”
“I know.”
I stopped.
She turned.
Eight years of questions stood between us.
Eight years of pain.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I know.”
“I loved you every day.”
Her eyes filled.
“I loved you every day too.”
“Then why didn't you fight harder to come back?”
“I did.”
“What?”
“I tried.”
“Who stopped you?”
She looked toward the road.
“Your uncle.”
“How?”
“He threatened to kill Lucia.”
I closed my eyes.
“I would have protected you.”
“I knew.”
“Then why?”
“Because I was afraid that if I contacted you, you'd come for me.”
“I would.”
“And die.”
I looked at her.
She touched my face.
“I didn't need you to be my hero.”
“What did you need?”
“You to live.”
I pulled her into my arms.
For the first time in eight years, I held the woman I had buried.
She cried against my chest.
“I missed you.”
“So did I.”
Behind us, Lucia was watching.
She smiled.
Then she whispered to Victor:
“They found each other.”
Victor smiled.
“Yes.”
But the reunion lasted only until the next morning.
Because three black cars arrived at the hospital.
Men stepped out wearing identical silver pins.
May you like
The Meridian.
They had come for Lucia.
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