CHAPTER 5 The Plan Was Always Her #2
Dante did not hesitate.
“Yes.”
Her heart stumbled.
Not her.
Us.
“You don’t even know me anymore.”
“I know enough.”
“No, you know who I was.”
“And I want to know who you are.”
The simplicity of the answer hurt.
Sofia stepped backward.
Dante did not follow.
For once.
“I can’t do this.”
“Why?”
“Because three years ago, I was almost stupid enough to believe I could love you.”
His face went still.
Sofia wished she could pull the words back.
Too late.
Dante’s voice became almost inaudible.
“Almost?”
She looked away.
“I don’t know.”
He moved closer.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“You did.”
“Dante.”
“Did you love me?”
She closed her eyes.
The answer had lived inside her for three years.
Hidden beneath fear.
Anger.
Survival.
Matteo.
“Yes.”
Silence.
When she opened her eyes, Dante looked different.
Not victorious.
Wounded.
“You never told me.”
“I was going to.”
“When?”
“After the wedding.”
He stared.
“After?”
“I was terrified you wouldn’t say it back.”
Something almost painful entered his expression.
“Sofia.”
“What?”
“I would have.”
Her heart stopped.
“What?”
“I would have said it.”
The past shifted beneath her feet.
Three years.
All the things they had never said.
All the decisions made in silence.
She whispered, “You loved me?”
Dante looked directly at her.
“Yes.”
The answer was not dramatic.
That made it worse.
More real.
Before she could respond, Matteo cried out from the bedroom.
Sofia moved instantly.
Dante followed.
They found him sitting upright, frightened.
“Mama!”
“I’m here.”
She climbed onto the bed and pulled him close.
“Bad dream.”
“I know.”
Dante stood beside them.
Matteo looked at him.
“Dante.”
“I’m here too.”
Matteo reached.
Dante hesitated.
Then sat.
The boy climbed between them.
Sofia’s heart twisted.
Matteo took one of her hands.
Then one of Dante’s.
He pressed them together beneath his own.
“Stay.”
Neither moved.
Dante looked at Sofia.
She looked back.
The absurd intimacy of the moment was almost unbearable.
“Okay,” she whispered.
Dante nodded.
“We stay.”
Matteo lay back down.
Within minutes, his breathing slowed.
But he did not release their hands.
Sofia sat on one side.
Dante on the other.
Their fingers remained trapped beneath Matteo’s tiny palm.
Neither tried to move.
“This is manipulative.”
Dante whispered.
Sofia almost laughed.
“He’s two.”
“He knows exactly what he’s doing.”
“You think everyone is plotting.”
“Recent events support me.”
She smiled.
Dante looked at her.
Then at their joined hands.
“You loved me.”
She sighed.
“We are not doing this now.”
“You said it.”
“I was emotionally compromised.”
“Convenient.”
“You admitted it too.”
“I stand by it.”
Her chest tightened again.
Before she could respond, Dante’s phone vibrated.
He carefully freed one hand.
Luca.
He answered quietly.
“What?”
Pause.
His expression changed.
Sofia noticed immediately.
“What happened?”
Dante listened.
Then stood.
“I’ll be there.”
He disconnected.
“What?”
“We found Vale.”
She went cold.
“Where?”
“Not Vale himself.”
Dante looked at Matteo.
“A location.”
“What location?”
“A clinic.”
“Here?”
“No.”
“Where?”
Dante hesitated.
Sofia’s heart began to race.
“Dante.”
“Port Azure.”
Her blood chilled.
The town she had hidden in.
“What?”
“Luca traced old payments.”
“From who?”
“Carlo.”
She stared.
“My father paid Vale?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Every month for the last three years.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“No.”
Dante steadied her.
“Sit.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not.”
“What clinic?”
“Private pediatric practice.”
Sofia stopped breathing.
“What name?”
Dante’s face became grim.
“Harbor Children’s.”
Her knees weakened.
“No.”
Dante’s hand tightened around her arm.
“Sofia?”
“That’s Matteo’s clinic.”
Silence.
Dante’s face emptied.
“What?”
“That’s where I took him when he was sick.”
“Every time?”
“Yes.”
“Who was his doctor?”
Sofia searched her memory.
“Dr. Mercer.”
Dante was already calling Luca.
“Find everything on Mercer.”
He listened.
Then his expression changed again.
“What?”
Sofia demanded.
Dante disconnected.
“Mercer doesn’t exist.”
Her blood ran cold.
“What does that mean?”
“No medical license.”
“No.”
“No tax records.”
“No.”
“No identity before three years ago.”
Sofia covered her mouth.
Every appointment.
Every fever.
Every vaccine.
Every blood test.
They had been inside Matteo’s life the entire time.
“I took him there.”
Dante gripped her shoulders.
“You didn’t know.”
“I took him to them.”
“You didn’t know.”
“They touched him.”
“Sofia.”
“They had access to him.”
Dante pulled her against his chest.
This time she did not resist.
She could hear his heartbeat.
Fast.
He was afraid too.
That realization changed something.
Dante Moretti was afraid.
Not for himself.
For Matteo.
For her.
“We’re going to find out what they did.”
His voice was low.
“And if they hurt him?”
Sofia whispered.
Dante’s body became still.
“They will regret being born.”
She almost laughed through the panic.
Only Dante could make something horrific sound comforting.
They stayed that way for several seconds.
Then Luca entered without knocking.
Dante released her slowly.
“What?”
Luca held a tablet.
“We accessed the clinic’s archived server.”
“And?”
“Patient files are encrypted.”
“Break them.”
“We are.”
“What else?”
“One video file wasn’t.”
Sofia’s stomach tightened.
“What video?”
Luca looked at her.
“Matteo.”
Dante’s face changed.
“Show me.”
Luca hesitated.
“Boss.”
“Now.”
He placed the tablet on the table.
The video began.
A clinic examination room.
Sofia recognized it instantly.
Matteo was perhaps eighteen months old.
She appeared in the frame holding him.
Her own voice played.
“He hates needles.”
A man in a white coat smiled.
Dr. Mercer.
Except apparently he was not Dr. Mercer.
Sofia watched herself turn away while the man prepared a syringe.
The video had been recorded without her knowledge.
Dante’s hand curled into a fist.
The doctor drew blood.
Normal.
Then Sofia saw something she had never noticed.
After she turned to comfort Matteo, another person entered.
Only an arm appeared.
The doctor handed over the blood vial.
The second person placed it inside a black container.
Marked with the Circle symbol.
Sofia felt sick.
“Pause.”
Dante said.
Luca did.
Dante enlarged the frame.
The second person wore a ring.
Black stone.
Circle symbol.
Sofia whispered, “They took his blood.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
No one answered.
Luca resumed.
After Sofia left the room with Matteo, Mercer remained.
He looked directly toward the hidden camera.
Then spoke.
“Subject confirmed.”
Another voice answered from outside frame.
“Compatibility?”
Mercer looked down at a tablet.
“Ninety-eight point nine.”
Sofia stopped breathing.