Chapter 6 - Emma’s Father
Maria refused to answer in front of the police.
She refused inside the ambulance.
She refused when Alejandro offered a secure car.
She remained silent until they reached a private safe house outside the city, where only Rafael knew the address.
Luca slept on a sofa.
Emma slept beside him.
Her recovered rabbit rested between them.
Alejandro stood at the kitchen island.
Maria faced him across the room.
Rafael waited near the window.
Bellini was being treated elsewhere under guard.
Alejandro placed the photograph of Emma on the table.
“Talk.”
Maria stared at it.
“I don’t know anything.”
Alejandro’s voice remained calm.
“Someone photographed your daughter weeks before she saved my life.”
“I can see that.”
“They wrote instructions to take her if I survived.”
“I can read.”
“Maria.”
She looked at him.
“I swear to you, I didn’t know.”
Alejandro believed her.
But belief wasn’t enough.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Maria closed her eyes.
Then she sat.
“Emma’s father.”
Alejandro waited.
Rafael looked over.
Maria stared at her sleeping daughter.
“I told everyone he was dead.”
“Is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“What’s his name?”
Maria hesitated.
“Daniel Torres.”
Rafael immediately said, “That’s not her father.”
Maria turned.
“How would you know?”
“Because I background-checked every employee in the mansion. Daniel Torres died eight years ago.”
Maria nodded.
“I know.”
Alejandro’s expression hardened.
“You used a dead man’s identity?”
“Not me.”
“Then who?”
“Emma’s father.”
The room went silent.
Maria continued.
“I met him five years ago. He called himself Daniel. He was charming. Quiet. Never talked about his family. We were together for six months.”
“What happened?”
“He disappeared.”
“When?”
“When I told him I was pregnant.”
Alejandro’s jaw tightened.
Maria shook her head.
“It wasn’t like that. At least I didn’t think it was. He looked terrified when I told him.”
“Of you?”
“No.”
She looked toward Emma.
“Of her.”
Rafael frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“He said there were people who could never know he had a child.”
“Why?”
“He wouldn’t tell me.”
Alejandro leaned against the counter.
“What else?”
Maria continued reluctantly.
“Two weeks later, he gave me twenty thousand dollars. Told me to leave the city.”
“You didn’t.”
“I tried.”
“What happened?”
“Someone broke into my apartment.”
Alejandro’s expression changed.
“They didn’t steal anything. They searched it.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then?”
“Daniel came back. He was bleeding.”
Maria’s voice trembled slightly.
“He told me never to contact him again. He gave me identification under the Torres name. Told me to use it for Emma. Then he left.”
“And you never saw him again?”
Maria shook her head.
“Once.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
Alejandro waited.
“He stood across the street from Emma’s daycare.”
“Did you speak?”
“No. He left before I could reach him.”
“What did he look like?”
Maria described him.
Tall.
Dark hair.
Gray eyes.
Scar beneath his left ear.
Rafael slowly lowered his cup.
Alejandro noticed.
“You know him.”
Rafael looked toward Emma.
“Yes.”
“Name.”
Rafael hesitated.
Alejandro’s voice hardened.
“Name.”
“Michael Bellini.”
Maria stared.
“Bellini?”
Alejandro felt cold.
“Anthony Bellini’s son?”
Rafael nodded.
“Officially, Michael died six years ago.”
Maria stood.
“No.”
“Car explosion. No remains recovered.”
“No. Daniel didn’t—”
“Michael Bellini had the scar. Same height. Same eyes.”
Maria looked toward Emma.
Alejandro understood first.
Emma wasn’t merely the maid’s daughter.
She was Anthony Bellini’s granddaughter.
A direct blood descendant of one of the Council’s founders.
And if Michael Bellini had discovered what his father was doing—
“Matteo,” Alejandro whispered.
Rafael looked at him.
“What?”
“My brother and Michael were friends.”
Rafael remembered.
“College.”
“More than that. They traveled together. Worked together for my father.”
Alejandro’s thoughts accelerated.
“What if Matteo didn’t discover the Council alone?”
Rafael understood.
“Michael.”
Alejandro nodded.
“Bellini ordered Matteo killed. Then Michael disappeared.”
Maria shook her head.
“He wouldn’t abandon Emma.”
“Maybe he didn’t.”
Alejandro picked up the surveillance photograph.
“Maybe he spent four years hiding her.”
Maria stared at him.
“From who?”
Alejandro gave the answer neither of them wanted.
“His father.”
A small voice came from the sofa.
“Mommy?”
Maria immediately crossed the room.
Emma sat up, rubbing her eyes.
“Where are we?”
“A friend’s house.”
Emma looked toward Alejandro.
“Is Mr. Moretti your friend?”
Maria glanced at him.
“That’s complicated.”
Emma considered.
“Is Luca okay?”
“Yes.”
Luca remained asleep beside her.
Emma climbed down.
“My tummy hurts.”
Maria touched her forehead.
“When did you eat?”
Emma thought.
“Lunch.”
Maria closed her eyes.
It was nearly four in the morning.
She had been so consumed by survival that her daughter hadn’t eaten in more than twelve hours.
Alejandro opened the refrigerator.
“What do four-year-olds eat?”
Maria almost laughed from exhaustion.
“Food.”
“That’s unhelpful.”
“Macaroni.”
Rafael stared.
“You own a safe house with bullet-resistant windows but don’t know how to make macaroni?”
Alejandro opened a cabinet.
“I employ people.”
Emma walked into the kitchen.
“I know.”
Everyone looked at her.
“You boil water.”
Alejandro stared.
“Apparently I employ the wrong people.”
Fifteen minutes later, Emma sat eating badly prepared macaroni beside Luca, who had awakened hungry.
For a brief moment, the room felt almost normal.
Then the doorbell rang.
Rafael’s weapon came out instantly.
Nobody should know this address.
Alejandro checked the camera.
A man stood outside.
Mid-forties.
Baseball cap.
Dark jacket.
Hands raised where they could be seen.
Maria came to the monitor.
The bowl slipped from her hands.
It shattered.
“Daniel.”
Emma turned.
“What?”
Maria stared at the screen.
Tears filled her eyes.
“That’s your father.”
Emma stopped breathing.
Alejandro looked at Rafael.
Rafael nodded.
“Michael Bellini.”
Alejandro approached the door.
Michael spoke toward the camera.
“I know you’re watching.”
Alejandro pressed the intercom.
“You have ten seconds to explain how you found us.”
Michael looked directly into the lens.
“Emma’s rabbit.”
Maria stared at the stuffed animal.
Michael continued.
“I put a tracker inside it three years ago.”
Emma hugged it tighter.
Maria looked furious.
“You tracked her?”
“To keep her alive.”
“You abandoned us!”
Michael closed his eyes.
“I know.”
Emma walked toward the door.
Maria caught her.
“Stay here.”
“But he’s my daddy?”
Michael heard her voice through the intercom.
His face changed.
For the first time, the hardened man outside looked like he might collapse.
“Emma?”
She stared at the screen.
“Are you my daddy?”
Michael swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you come to my birthday?”
Maria closed her eyes.
Alejandro looked away.
Michael’s voice broke.
“Because bad people were watching me.”
Emma thought about that.
“Mr. Moretti has bad people too.”
Alejandro glanced down.
“That has become increasingly clear.”
Michael almost smiled.
Then he looked serious.
“Alejandro, you have to leave.”
“Why?”
“Marco knows this safe house.”
Rafael cursed.
Alejandro opened the locks.
Michael entered.
Maria slapped him.
Hard.
Michael didn’t resist.
“That’s for disappearing.”
“I deserved it.”
She slapped him again.
“That’s for missing four birthdays.”
“I deserved that too.”
Emma walked closer.
Michael crouched.
For several seconds, father and daughter stared at one another.
“You look like me,” Emma whispered.
Michael smiled through tears.
“You look better.”
Then an explosion shook the house.
Windows rattled.
Luca screamed.
Rafael rushed toward the security monitor.
Three vehicles had entered the driveway.
Michael stood.
“Too late.”
Alejandro grabbed both children.
Maria reached for Emma.
Michael drew a handgun.
Then Alejandro noticed the symbol tattooed inside Michael’s wrist.
A small black crown.
He had seen it before.
On Marco.
On two Council members.
Alejandro aimed his weapon at Michael.
Maria gasped.
“What are you doing?”
Alejandro pointed at the tattoo.
Michael looked down.
His expression changed.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain quickly.”
Outside, men surrounded the house.
Michael slowly raised his hands.
“The crown isn’t the Council symbol.”
“What is it?”
Michael looked toward Emma.
“It’s the mark of the people who created the Council.”
Alejandro stared at him.
Michael continued.
May you like
“And if they’re here, Marco is no longer the biggest problem you have.”
The front door exploded inward.
