CHAPTER 3 The File Before His Birth #3
She almost smiled.
He saw it.
Again.
That damned smile.
For one second, the terror of the room faded.
Then a door opened behind them.
One of Dante’s guards stepped in.
“Boss.”
Dante turned.
“What?”
“The boy is awake.”
Sofia immediately moved toward the exit.
“What happened?”
“Nothing. He’s asking for his mother.”
She relaxed slightly.
Then the guard added, “And you.”
Dante stopped.
“What?”
“He’s asking for you too.”
Sofia looked at Dante.
Something changed in his face.
Tiny.
Almost invisible.
But she saw it.
Hope.
The most dangerous man she knew suddenly looked like someone who had been given something fragile.
She said nothing.
Dante followed her upstairs.
They found Matteo sitting in the middle of the enormous guest bed, surrounded by pillows.
His hair was wild from sleep.
When he saw Sofia, he reached for her immediately.
“Mama.”
She lifted him.
“I’m here.”
Then he looked behind her.
At Dante.
“Car man.”
Dante frowned.
Sofia laughed.
A real laugh.
The sound surprised everyone.
Matteo pointed.
“Car man.”
Dante looked offended.
“I have a name.”
Matteo considered this.
“Dante.”
Sofia froze.
Dante did too.
“When did you learn that?”
Sofia asked.
Matteo shrugged.
“You say.”
Of course.
He had heard them arguing.
Dante approached.
Matteo looked at him.
“You castle?”
Dante glanced at Sofia.
She already knew what was coming.
“No.”
She warned.
Dante ignored her.
“Yes.”
Matteo’s eyes widened.
Sofia closed hers.
“He does not own a castle.”
“It resembles one.”
“It is a mansion.”
“Castle.”
Matteo repeated.
Dante nodded solemnly.
“Castle.”
Sofia gave up.
For the first time in three years, something almost normal happened.
Matteo climbed from her arms onto the bed and began showing Dante his toy cars.
Dante listened.
Actually listened.
Sofia stood nearby watching them.
The sight hurt.
Beautifully.
Cruelly.
She had spent years convincing herself Matteo did not need his father.
Now, after less than a day, her son was already looking at Dante with curiosity.
And Dante?
Dante looked at Matteo as though the boy were the only thing in the room worth understanding.
Sofia turned away before emotion betrayed her.
Then she saw something on the dresser.
An envelope.
White.
Unmarked.
She frowned.
“That wasn’t there before.”
Dante turned instantly.
“What?”
She pointed.
His entire demeanor changed.
He crossed the room.
“Don’t touch it.”
Too late.
Sofia had already stepped closer.
Dante blocked her with one arm.
“Security.”
Two guards entered.
The envelope was photographed, scanned, checked.
No explosive.
No powder.
Nothing obvious.
Dante put on gloves and opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
Matteo.
Taken inside the Moretti estate.
Minutes ago.
Sofia felt the blood drain from her body.
Dante flipped it over.
One sentence.
**The heir has finally come home.**
Silence.
No one moved.
The photograph had been taken from inside the mansion.
Not outside.
Not through a gate.
Inside.
Dante’s eyes became black.
Sofia looked around the room.
At the guards.
At the doors.
At every corner.
Someone had been here.
Someone still might be.
Dante turned toward Luca, who had just entered.
“Lock down the estate.”
“Already doing it.”
“Nobody leaves.”
“Understood.”
“Search every room.”
“Yes.”
Dante looked at the photograph again.
Then at Matteo.
His son was still playing, unaware.
Sofia moved toward him.
Dante stopped her gently.
“What?”
She whispered.
He lowered his voice.
“They want us afraid.”
“I am afraid.”
“I know.”
She looked at him.
Dante stepped closer.
“This time, you don’t run.”
Her eyes filled.
“What if running is the only thing that keeps him safe?”
“It isn’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you did it once.”
His gaze dropped to the photograph.
“And they still found you.”
Sofia closed her eyes.
He was right.
Three years of hiding had failed.
Dante touched her face.
This time, she did not pull away.
His thumb rested against her cheek.
“You don’t have to trust my world.”
She opened her eyes.
“But you trust me?”
He asked.
She wanted to say no.
She wanted to remember every reason she had left.
Instead, she looked at Matteo.
Then back at Dante.
“With him?”
“Yes.”
Her answer came slowly.
“I think I do.”
Something moved in Dante’s eyes.
Not victory.
Something deeper.
He lowered his hand.
“Good.”
Then he turned toward the guards.
“Find the person who put that envelope here.”
His voice transformed.
Cold.
Deadly.
The Don had returned.
“And when you find them?”
Luca asked.
Dante looked at his son.
Then at Sofia.
“Bring them to me alive.”
Sofia stared.
“That’s progress.”
Dante glanced at her.
“Don’t get used to it.”
Despite herself, she almost smiled.
Then Dante looked back at the photograph.
The heir has finally come home.
Someone had been waiting for Matteo.
Someone had been planning him before he was born.
Someone inside the Moretti estate was helping them.
And for the first time, Sofia understood that the greatest danger might not be the man she had run from.
It might be the people who had spent years making sure she would eventually run back to him.