Chapter 13 - Twelve NamesEverything happened at once.
Police blocked the streets.
News helicopters circled the estate.
Federal agents surrounded every entrance.
Every television in the house showed Dante's face.
BELUCCHI HEIR WANTED IN CHILD DISAPPEARANCE CASE.
They had built the story perfectly.
Too perfectly.
Dante knew what it meant.
Someone had spent years preparing the evidence.
Nico shut off the screens.
"We have fifteen minutes."
"Until what?"
"They breach."
Dante looked at Lily.
Anna held her hand.
Isabella stood near the stairs.
Matteo came in through the back entrance covered in blood.
Dante looked at him.
"Yours?"
"No."
"Whose?"
Matteo looked away.
"Gabriel's people."
"Did you find Sophia?"
Matteo nodded.
"She's on her way."
"Alive?"
"Yes."
Dante looked at the ledger.
"We need the twelve names."
Matteo shook his head.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because once you know them, you can't pretend this is only a family problem."
Dante opened the ledger.
The first symbol corresponded to a name.
He read it.
A judge.
The second.
A hospital director.
The third.
A banker.
The fourth.
A police chief.
The fifth.
A senator.
The sixth.
An industrialist.
The seventh.
A prosecutor.
The eighth.
A television owner.
The ninth.
A shipping magnate.
The tenth.
A federal official.
The eleventh.
A billionaire investor.
The twelfth.
Blank.
Dante stared.
"Who's missing?"
Matteo said:
"The heir."
"To which family?"
"Yours."
Dante looked at Lily.
"No."
"Yes."
"The twelfth family doesn't have an heir?"
"It does."
"Who?"
Matteo stared at him.
"You."
Dante felt nothing for a moment.
Then everything.
"You were supposed to be the twelfth child."
Dante shook his head.
"No."
"You were born after the massacre."
"My father said I was the youngest."
"He lied."
Isabella stepped forward.
"He lied about your age."
Dante looked at her.
"How old am I?"
She closed her eyes.
"You were born two years earlier than the records say."
Dante laughed.
"You expect me to believe my entire life is forged?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because you were the only child they could not control."
The front gates exploded.
Nico looked outside.
"They're coming."
Dante made a decision.
"Move the children."
"Where?"
"The river tunnel."
Matteo nodded.
They rushed downstairs.
Halfway through the tunnel, a gunshot rang out.
Matteo fell.
Dante caught him.
"Matteo."
Blood spread beneath his shirt.
He smiled weakly.
"Don't stop."
"Who shot you?"
He pointed.
At the far end of the tunnel stood Gabriel.
He was alone.
Dante raised his weapon.
Gabriel smiled.
"I knew you'd choose the children."
Dante fired.
Gabriel ducked.
The bullet struck the wall.
Gabriel disappeared around the corner.
Dante ran after him.
The tunnel opened into an old train platform.
A train was waiting.
Inside sat Sophia.
And a woman Dante had never seen.
She looked seventy.
Silver hair.
Thin face.
Same eyes as Lucia.
She looked at Dante.
"Hello, son."
Dante stopped.
His hands shook.
"Who are you?"
She smiled.
"I think you know."
Dante stared.
Lucia's words came back.
The woman who raised your father.
The woman who owned the company.
The woman who started everything.
Elena.
But this woman was not Elena.
She was older.
Much older.
She held out a hand.
"My name is Maria Belucchi."
Dante looked at Sophia.
Sophia whispered:
"Your real grandmother."
Maria smiled.
"Now give me the children."
Dante stepped between her and Lily.
"No."
Maria sighed.
"Then I suppose you'll need to learn the last secret."
She looked at the music box.
"Your father did not build it."
"Who did?"
Maria answered:
"Your daughter."
Dante froze.
"I don't have a daughter."
May you like
Maria smiled.
"Not yet."
