Chapter 3 - The Bloodline's Secret
The private study of Dante Moretti smelled of old leather, imported tobacco, and the impending threat of violence.
Isabella sat on the velvet sofa, carefully spreading the yellowed pages of Lucas's letter across the mahogany table.
Dante stood behind the desk, rolling up his white dress sleeves to reveal the intricate tattoos of the Moretti crest.
His lieutenants, led by a scarred veteran named Mateo, stood silently against the walls, checking their handguns.
"Lucas knew Evelyn’s father, Senator Vance, was funding our rivals to take over Chicago’s ports," Isabella explained.
"Elena discovered the paper trail three weeks before her supposed death," Isabella added, pointing to a sketched map.
"So Evelyn was planted by her family to marry me and inherit the remaining assets after Elena's demise," Dante realized.
"Exactly," Isabella confirmed, tracing a line on the paper that led to a specific set of coordinates.
"Lucas wrote that Elena gave birth to a daughter in that safe house and named her Mia," Isabella whispered.
"Mia," Dante repeated the name out loud, the word tasting sacred and agonizingly sweet on his tongue.
For five years, he had visited an empty grave, weeping over the cold stone while his daughter breathed the same city air.
He opened a hidden drawer in his desk and pulled out a matching silver locket that Elena had given him on their wedding day.
He clicked it open, revealing the portrait of Elena that matched the woman in the photograph from the suitcase.
"Lucas hid a duplicate key to the safe house inside his old locker at the south docks," Isabella remembered suddenly.
"He told me once that if anything ever happened to him, the locker was registered under my maiden name," she said.
Dante looked up, his sharp eyes calculating the distance and time needed to reach the south docks.
"Mateo, prepare the convoy," Dante instructed without looking away from Isabella.
"Three armored Suburbans, full tactical gear, and tell the perimeter teams to shoot anyone bearing the Vance crest," Dante ordered.
"Right away, Don Dante," Mateo replied, bowing his head before rushing out to mobilize the soldiers.
Dante walked over to the velvet couch and crouched down until he was at eye level with Isabella.
He gently placed a hand over the letter, his thumb brushing the signature of the man who had defied death for him.
"Lucas was a brother to me, and I failed to see through the serpents in my own bed," Dante admitted with heavy regret.
"Lucas never blamed you, Don Dante," Isabella answered softly, looking directly into his tortured eyes.
"He only blamed himself for not putting a bullet in Evelyn Vance before she found the Lake Geneva cabin," she said.
Isabella tried to stand up, but a sudden sharp cramp rippled through her pregnant abdomen, making her wince.
Dante immediately reached out, supporting her shoulders and guiding her back onto the cushions with great care.
"You stay here, Isabella; the compound is completely sealed and guarded by my most loyal men," Dante said firmly.
"No, Don Dante, the locker requires a biometric fingerprint scan that was keyed to my right thumb," Isabella revealed.
"Lucas set it up that way so no one could torture the location out of him without bringing me there," she explained.
Dante frowned, deeply torn between the danger to an expectant mother and the desperate clock ticking against his daughter.
"It’s too dangerous, Isabella; Evelyn’s allies know we are coming," Dante warned, shaking his head.
"They killed my husband, Don Dante," Isabella answered, her eyes blazing with a fierce, motherly resolve.
"They made me clean floors while carrying his legacy inside me for seven months," she stated coldly.
"I am going to help you get your daughter back, even if it is the last thing I do on this earth," she insisted.
Dante stared at her for a long moment, recognizing the same unbreakable iron will that ran through his own veins.
He nodded slowly, reaching into his holster and pulling out a small, lightweight silver revolver.
He placed the weapon gently into Isabella’s trembling hands, curling her fingers around the grip.
"Keep the safety on until you need to kill someone," Dante instructed softly.
"No one touches you or that baby tonight, Isabella; I give you the Moretti blood oath," he swore.
The heavy oak doors swung open, and Mateo returned, holding heavy tactical vests and encrypted radios.
"The cars are running in the courtyard, Boss; the tracker from Evelyn's burner phone just activated near the canal," Mateo reported.
"Senator Vance just arrived at Pier 42 with three blacked-out speedboats," the lieutenant added.
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Dante grabbed his black trench coat, slinging it over his shoulders like armor preparing for war.
"Let us introduce the Senator to the true cost of stealing from the Moretti family," Dante said, his voice cold as winter.
