CHAPTER 2 The Son He Never Knew #2
“You said yes.”
“What else was I supposed to say?”
“You could have said no.”
She laughed softly.
The sound was bitter.
“To Carlo Bellini?”
Dante’s jaw tightened.
Her father.
He had never liked the man.
Carlo Bellini was too polished, too eager to please powerful people, and far too willing to use his daughter as a bargaining piece.
Dante had accepted the marriage arrangement because it offered political and financial advantages.
That was the official reason.
The real reason had been sitting beside him at a charity dinner eight months earlier, insulting his taste in wine.
He had wanted Sofia before the arrangement.
Long before.
Her father had merely made it convenient.
“I would have handled him.”
“You didn’t.”
“I didn’t know you wanted me to.”
“I didn’t know what I wanted.”
Dante watched her.
“Did you want me?”
She went very still.
He knew he should not have asked.
He also knew he would not take it back.
Sofia’s eyes moved toward Matteo.
“Don’t.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“We are not discussing this.”
“You ran from the wedding, not from my bed.”
Color touched her cheeks.
There.
The old reaction.
Dante felt something dark and satisfying move through him.
“Lower your voice.”
“He’s asleep.”
“That doesn’t make it appropriate.”
“You weren’t worried about appropriate that night.”
Sofia glared at him.
“God, I forgot how arrogant you are.”
“You remembered everything else.”
Her breath caught.
Dante knew immediately that he had gone too far.
But the damage was done.
The memories returned between them.
Her bedroom.
Rain at the windows.
Her hands beneath his shirt.
The hesitation before she kissed him.
The way she whispered his name afterward as though it meant something.
Dante had spent three years trying not to remember.
He had failed every night.
Sofia broke eye contact first.
“That night was a mistake.”
“No.”
“You don’t get to decide that.”
“Neither do you.”
Her eyes snapped back to him.
“I was there too.”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
“I know exactly what you meant.”
Dante leaned closer.
“You’re trying to erase the only night we stopped pretending this marriage was only business.”
Her face changed.
So he had been right.
Sofia had felt it too.
He had always known.
Or hoped.
“Dante.”
“What?”
“Stop.”
He did.
Not because she asked.
Because Matteo opened his eyes.
The little boy blinked sleepily.
“Mama?”
“I’m here.”
“Home?”
Sofia’s expression cracked.
For the first time since they left Port Azure, Dante saw genuine distress.
“Yes, baby.”
Matteo looked out the window.
“This not home.”
Sofia swallowed.
“We’re going somewhere else for a little while.”
“Why?”
She hesitated.
Dante watched her struggle.
Then Matteo noticed him.
His eyes narrowed.
Dante nearly laughed.
The boy really did look suspicious of the entire world.
“You.”
Dante raised an eyebrow.
“Me.”
“You came door.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Sofia closed her eyes briefly.
Dante considered the question.
Because I spent three years looking for your mother.
Because she ran while carrying you.
Because someone may now be hunting both of you.
None of those seemed appropriate.
“I came to see your mother.”
Matteo considered this.
“Why?”
Dante discovered something immediately.
Children asked too many questions.
“Because I know her.”
Matteo turned toward Sofia.
“You know him?”
Sofia’s gaze met Dante’s.
“Yes.”
“How?”
Silence.
Dante waited.
This was her decision.
At least for now.
“He’s an old friend.”
Dante’s eyes narrowed.
Old friend?
Sofia gave him a warning look.
Matteo seemed satisfied.
“Okay.”
Then he looked at Dante again.
“You like cars?”
Dante glanced at the toy still clutched in his small hand.
“Yes.”
“What car?”
Dante thought about his garage.
“Ferrari.”
Matteo frowned.
“Red?”
“One of them.”
Sofia gave him a look.
“One of them?”
Dante ignored her.
Matteo’s interest increased.
“You have many?”
“A few.”
“That means too many,” Sofia muttered.
Dante looked at her.
“You used to like the black one.”
“That was before I learned how much you spent on it.”
“You never asked.”
“I didn’t want to know.”
Matteo watched them both, clearly entertained.
Dante suddenly understood something.
His son had heard none of this before.
No arguments about cars.
No stories.
No memories.
He had grown inside a world where Dante did not exist.
The realization landed like a blow.
Matteo held out the toy.
“You play?”
Dante stared at the tiny car.
Sofia stared at him.
He had negotiated with cartel leaders with less uncertainty.
Slowly, he took the toy.
“What do I do?”
Matteo looked horrified.
“You drive.”
Sofia covered a smile.
Dante saw it.
There.
That smile.
Not the polite one.
The real one.
For one dangerous second, everything else disappeared.
He wanted to see that smile again.
He had wanted it for years.
Dante placed the car against his knee and moved it forward.
Matteo immediately corrected him.
“No. Fast.”
Dante moved it faster.
The boy grinned.
Something in Dante’s chest fractured.
He looked away before Sofia could see.
But she did.
Of course she did.
She always had.
The vehicle continued toward the city.
By the time they reached Moretti territory, Matteo had fallen asleep again.
Sofia had grown quiet.
Dante’s phone vibrated.
Luca.
He answered immediately.
“Talk.”
“We traced the image.”
Dante straightened.
Sofia noticed.
“Where?”
“Disposable device. Activated this morning. Signal bounced through two relays.”
“Expected.”
“But there’s something else.”
Dante’s instincts sharpened.
“What?”
“The photo metadata was stripped.”
“Also expected.”
“Except for one fragment.”
Dante waited.
“A device signature.”
“Recognized?”
Pause.
“Yes.”
His voice went cold.
“From where?”
“We saw the same encryption pattern three years ago.”
Dante’s gaze moved toward Sofia.
She was watching him.
“When?”
“The week she disappeared.”
Everything inside him stopped.
“Explain.”
“We recovered a deleted message from one of Carlo Bellini’s old servers during the search. At the time, it looked irrelevant. Just encrypted traffic between unknown accounts.”
Dante remembered.
They had investigated thousands of communications.
“Same signature?”
“Almost identical.”
Dante’s jaw tightened.
“Who accessed it?”
“We never identified the source.”
“Do it now.”
“Already working.”
Sofia leaned forward.
“What is it?”
Dante held up one finger.
She did not appreciate that.
He ignored the glare.
Luca continued.
“There’s more.”
“What?”
“One of the relay points used this morning belongs to a shell company.”
“Whose?”
Silence.
Dante felt the answer before Luca gave it.
“Bellini.”
Dante looked directly at Sofia.
Her face drained of color.
“My father?”
Dante ended the call.
“Luca is confirming.”
“No.”
“Sofia.”
“No. My father doesn’t know where I am.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because if he knew, he would have come.”
Dante studied her.
“You believe that?”
“I know him.”
Dante was less convinced.
Carlo Bellini loved appearances.
Power.
Leverage.
Whether he loved his daughter was another question.
“When did you last speak to him?”
“The night before the wedding.”
Dante became still.
“What did he say?”
“Nothing important.”
“Now I know you’re lying.”
Sofia looked away.
“Tell me.”
“No.”
“Was your father involved?”
“I said no.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
“How?”
“Because he was part of the reason I ran.”
Silence.
Dante felt his pulse slow.
Danger always did that.
The world became clearer.
“What did he do?”
Sofia’s breathing changed.
“I shouldn’t have said that.”
“What did Carlo do?”
“Dante.”
“What. Did. He. Do?”
Matteo stirred.
Both immediately lowered their voices.
Sofia closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, fear had returned.
Not fear of Dante.
Fear of memory.
“He made a deal.”
“With whom?”
“I don’t know.”
“What kind of deal?”
“He was going to betray you.”
Dante stared at her.
There were accusations that surprised men.
This was not one of them.
Carlo Bellini betraying him was entirely believable.
The question was how.
“And you found out.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I heard him talking.”
“To whom?”
“I never saw the man.”
“What did they say?”
Sofia’s hands tightened around Matteo.
“They said the marriage would give them access.”
“To what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Sofia.”
“I don’t know.”
Her voice broke.
Dante stopped.
She looked exhausted.
Terrified.
And still beautiful enough to make him hate himself for noticing.
He lowered his voice.
“What else?”
“They said once I became your wife, I could be used.”
His blood turned cold.
“Used how?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did they threaten you?”
She nodded.
Finally.
Truth.
“What exactly did they say?”
Sofia hesitated.
Then whispered, “That if I told you, they would kill you before the ceremony.”
Dante felt nothing for several seconds.
Then rage came.
Pure.
Silent.
Lethal.
Sofia saw it.
“Dante.”
“Names.”
“I told you I don’t know.”
“Voices.”
“I only heard my father clearly.”
“Description?”
“I never saw the other man.”
“What else?”
“They said your father’s empire would belong to someone else within a year.”
Dante leaned back.
Interesting.
Very interesting.