Chapter 5 - The Bloodline Nobody Was Supposed to Discover
Dante pulled the car over.
No one spoke for several seconds.
“That's impossible.”
Isabella handed him the laboratory report.
“The marker isn't proof by itself.”
“But the match?”
“Was found in a sealed genetic archive.”
Elias looked at Dante.
“Someone tested members of the Duca family years ago.”
“Why?”
“To establish paternity in another case.”
Dante stared.
“Who?”
“Victor's older sister.”
Dante's heart pounded.
He looked at Isabella.
“You think Victor is related to our daughter?”
“Not directly.”
Elias spoke.
“The marker exists in Victor's family because of an old bloodline connection between the Romanos, Morettis and Ducas.”
Dante shook his head.
“All three families?”
“Yes.”
“Then why hide it?”
“Because the trust wasn't just a financial trust.”
Isabella took the papers back.
“It was a protection agreement.”
Against what?
They reached the old Romano farmhouse just before dawn.
Lucia was waiting.
She looked at Dante.
Then at Isabella.
“It's time.”
Isabella froze.
“You knew.”
Lucia nodded.
“Your father intended to tell you.”
“When?”
“When you turned thirty-five.”
“I am thirty-five.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't he?”
“Because he died before he could.”
Isabella's voice cracked.
“You knew about the Duca bloodline.”
“Yes.”
“Did Dante know?”
“No.”
“Did his father?”
“Yes.”
“Did Victor?”
“I don't know.”
Lucia brought them into the study.
A hidden safe sat behind a painting.
Inside was a journal.
Marco Romano's journal.
Isabella opened it.
The entries began thirty-five years earlier.
Marco had discovered that his business partner, Matteo Moretti, had secretly funded a private security network.
The network was originally meant to protect witnesses from violent gangs.
But eventually it became an independent criminal organization.
Three families controlled it.
Moretti.
Romano.
Duca.
Matteo tried to dismantle it.
Victor's father refused.
Marco supported Matteo.
The families fought.
People disappeared.
Money vanished.
Children were separated.
The trust was created as a final safeguard.
If the next generation produced a child carrying all three family markers, that child would receive control.
Not over the criminal organization.
Over the evidence.
The child could expose everything.
Dante read the pages.
“Our daughter was planned.”
Lucia shook her head.
“No.”
“What do you mean?”
“The trust was created decades before either of you met.”
Isabella stared.
“So we were brought together?”
“No.”
Lucia looked at her.
“You chose each other.”
Dante looked down.
“And Victor?”
“He wants the trust destroyed.”
“Why?”
“Because the evidence would expose his family.”
Elias interrupted.
“Not just his.”
Everyone looked at him.
“Your family too.”
Dante's expression hardened.
“You knew.”
“I knew enough.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you weren't ready.”
“Neither was Isabella.”
Elias nodded.
“She is now.”
A car approached.
Marcus entered.
“Victor is moving.”
“Where?”
“Dante's estate.”
Dante's expression changed.
“My house?”
Marcus nodded.
“He knows you're gone.”
Isabella stood.
“He'll look for the documents.”
“No.”
Dante shook his head.
“He'll look for you.”
They returned to the estate.
The gates were open.
Security guards were gone.
Inside, the house looked untouched.
Too untouched.
Dante walked toward the library.
A voice came from upstairs.
“Dante.”
He stopped.
Victor.
He appeared on the balcony.
A gun in his hand.
Behind him stood Natalia.
Her hands were tied.
Dante's face hardened.
“Let her go.”
Victor laughed.
“You still care about everyone.”
“Let her go.”
Victor looked at Isabella.
“She found the document.”
“Yes.”
“She always was dangerous.”
Dante stepped forward.
“You don't know her.”
Victor smiled.
“I know exactly what she is.”
“A woman who knows your secrets.”
Victor's smile vanished.
He looked at Isabella.
“Give me the trust.”
“No.”
“Then Natalia dies.”
Isabella looked at Natalia.
The young woman's face was pale.
“I didn't betray you,” Natalia said.
Isabella believed her.
Not because of trust.
Because she recognized fear.
Dante stepped forward.
“You want the trust?”
“Yes.”
“Then take me instead.”
Victor frowned.
“What?”
“Trade me for her.”
Isabella turned.
“Dante.”
He looked at her.
“Trust me.”
She stared.
He wasn't asking her to stay.
He wasn't asking her to forgive him.
He was asking her to let him take responsibility.
Victor lowered the gun slightly.
“You think I'd rather have you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the trust is useless without me.”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
Dante knew he was lying.
But Victor didn't.
He ordered his men to seize Dante.
As they approached, Isabella suddenly stepped forward and threw the trust document into the fireplace.
Everyone froze.
The paper caught fire.
Victor screamed.
“No!”
He rushed toward it.
Dante realized immediately.
The document was a copy.
The real one was still hidden.
Isabella had bought them seconds.
Marcus attacked.
The room erupted.
Guards fought.
Glass shattered.
Natalia escaped.
Victor fled through a side door.
Dante chased him.
They reached the garden.
Victor turned with the gun raised.
Dante stopped.
“You don't have to do this.”
Victor laughed.
“You sound like your father.”
“Maybe that's not a bad thing.”
Victor fired.
Dante ducked.
The bullet struck the stone wall.
Marcus tackled Victor.
Police sirens approached.
Victor was arrested.
But before he was taken away, he shouted at Isabella.
“You think you won?”
She said nothing.
Victor laughed.
“Ask your husband who signed the final document.”
Dante looked at her.
She looked back.
He knew.
Someone had signed it after Matteo's death.
May you like
Someone still alive.
And it wasn't Victor.
