Chapter 10 - Lucia's House of SecretsThey escaped through a drainage tunnel beneath the theater.
Lucia did not follow.
That was the first thing that frightened Dante.
The second was the message she sent ten minutes later.
COME HOME ALONE.
Dante refused.
He went anyway.
Nico stayed outside.
Matteo wanted to follow.
Isabella stopped him.
"She'll kill him if you go."
Dante looked at her.
"Then let her try."
Inside Lucia's estate, every light was on.
The doors stood open.
No guards.
No staff.
The grand piano was covered in dust.
His mother's bedroom was empty.
Dante found her in the library.
She was sitting in his father's old chair.
A pistol rested on the table.
She looked older.
More tired.
But her eyes were steady.
"You look like him."
Dante hated hearing that.
"Who am I?"
Lucia sighed.
"That is the wrong question."
"What is the right one?"
"What did your father make you?"
Dante stared.
Lucia opened a drawer.
Inside were dozens of documents.
Photographs.
Medical charts.
DNA results.
She placed one file on the table.
PROJECT CROWN.
Dante opened it.
His own childhood photograph.
Age five.
Age seven.
Age twelve.
Age seventeen.
Beside each photograph were medical observations.
Memory retention.
Aggression.
Pattern recognition.
Stress response.
Loyalty response.
Dante slammed the file shut.
"You tested me."
Lucia shook her head.
"Your father did."
"You allowed it."
"I couldn't stop him."
"You always said you were protecting me."
"I was."
"From what?"
"From becoming exactly what he wanted."
Dante's voice cracked.
"What was that?"
Lucia pointed to a sealed envelope.
"Open it."
He did.
Inside was his birth certificate.
Then another.
Then another.
Three certificates.
Three different mothers.
All registered under different names.
Dante stared.
"What's real?"
"The third."
He looked.
Mother: Isabella Belluccchi.
He looked at her.
"I'm Isabella's son."
Lucia nodded.
"Yes."
"And Lily?"
"Your niece."
"Anna?"
"Another daughter."
Dante's heart pounded.
"There were three children."
"Four."
He stopped.
"What?"
Lucia stood.
"Your father had another child."
"Who?"
She didn't answer.
Instead she walked to the fireplace and opened a hidden panel.
Inside was a black ledger.
Old.
Thick.
Burned at the edges.
Dante approached.
"That's it."
Lucia nodded.
"The original."
He reached for it.
She covered it with her hand.
"Before you open it, know this."
"What?"
"Your father wasn't the leader."
Dante's expression hardened.
"Who was?"
Lucia whispered:
"The woman who taught him everything."
Dante looked at the ledger.
"Your mother."
"Not mine."
"Then whose?"
Lucia stared at the portrait above the fireplace.
Dante had never noticed the woman in it before.
An older lady.
Elegant.
Sharp eyes.
One hand resting on a child's shoulder.
Dante looked closely.
The child was Enzo.
Beside him stood Matteo.
And behind them was a third child.
A girl.
Dante stepped closer.
"Who is she?"
Lucia's voice was barely audible.
"Her name was Elena."
"Where is she?"
Lucia looked at the door.
"She owns the company now."
Dante frowned.
"What company?"
Lucia smiled sadly.
"The company you thought belonged to you."
Dante opened the ledger.
Every page was filled with numbers.
Dates.
Names.
Payments.
Then one page caught his eye.
At the top:
DAUGHTER PROGRAM
Below it were five names.
Isabella.
Dante.
Lily.
Anna.
And one blank line.
Next to it:
TRANSFER COMPLETE.
Dante heard footsteps behind him.
Lucia whispered:
"She's here."
Dante turned.
A woman stood in the doorway.
Late sixties.
Immaculate suit.
Silver hair.
One hand holding a cane.
Dante had never seen her in his life.
But Lily suddenly spoke.
"That's the lady from Mommy's nightmare."
The woman smiled.
"Hello, little one."
Dante raised his gun.
The woman looked amused.
"You really are Enzo's son."
Dante said nothing.
She tapped her cane once.
The floor clicked.
The entire library locked.
Metal shutters slammed over the windows.
Dante heard automatic locks engage.
The woman looked at the ledger.
May you like
Then at him.
"Welcome home."
