Chapter 6 - The Mother Who Was Supposed to Be DeadDante's mother had supposedly died twelve years ago.
I knew that because everyone in his household spoke of her in the past tense.
Yet the message had come from her phone.
My mind raced.
“She's alive?”
“I don't know.”
“You just said you know the sender.”
“I know the number.”
He stared at the screen.
“My mother's number hasn't been active in twelve years.”
I felt a chill.
“Then someone is using it.”
“Yes.”
“Why would they send my photograph?”
Dante's eyes met mine.
“To prove you were still alive.”
“Alive to whom?”
He didn't answer.
We spent the rest of the night examining the message.
There was a location hidden in the file.
An abandoned train station outside the city.
Dante wanted to go alone.
I refused.
“You're not getting rid of me.”
“This isn't a game.”
“I know.”
“People die around this.”
“So does everyone in your world.”
He stared at me.
“You're stubborn.”
“My mother called it determined.”
A small smile almost appeared on his face.
Then disappeared.
We left before sunrise.
The train station had been abandoned for fifteen years.
Fog hung between the tracks.
Dante's men surrounded the area.
But nobody appeared.
Instead, we found a metal box hidden beneath a bench.
Inside were photographs.
Dozens.
Photos of Isabella.
Photos of me.
Photos of Gabriel.
Photos of Dante.
And one photograph of the four of us together.
I stared at it.
It had been taken before Gabriel was born.
I looked at Dante.
“What is this?”
He didn't know.
Then he noticed the timestamp.
His face changed.
“This was taken two days before Isabella disappeared.”
I picked it up.
Isabella was smiling.
Dante stood beside her.
And beside Isabella was a woman.
Older.
Dark-haired.
A tiny dimple.
My mother.
Lucia.
I stared.
“My mother knew her.”
“Yes.”
The photo was dated at a private clinic.
I turned it over.
A handwritten message appeared.
They are watching the wrong girl.
Below it:
Elina must never learn who her biological father is.
My heart raced.
“Who is my father?”
Dante went silent.
“Who?”
Before he could answer, a gunshot cracked through the station.
Dante shoved me to the ground.
Another shot.
Glass shattered.
His men returned fire.
I crawled behind a pillar.
Gabriel was in the car with the guards.
I could hear him crying.
Dante looked at me.
“Stay here.”
He disappeared into the fog.
Then I saw someone running toward the car.
A man.
He opened the rear door.
I screamed.
“GABRIEL!”
I ran.
The man grabbed the baby.
I reached him and struck his arm.
He dropped Gabriel.
I caught him.
The man looked directly at me.
His eyes widened.
“Impossible.”
I froze.
“You know me?”
He stepped backward.
“Your father said you were dead.”
I couldn't move.
“Who is my father?”
The man smiled.
“Ask Moretti.”
He fired into the air and disappeared into the fog.
Dante reached me seconds later.
Gabriel was crying.
I held him tightly.
Dante stared after the man.
“Did he say anything?”
I looked at him.
“He said my father told him I was dead.”
Dante's face became unreadable.
“Then we have a problem.”
“What problem?”
He looked at Gabriel.
“He knew exactly which baby to take.”
My blood ran cold.
“The attacker wasn't after me.”
Dante shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“He was testing whether you would protect Gabriel.”
“Why?”
“Because Isabella once said you would.”
I stared.
“She knew I would protect him?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Dante's voice dropped.
“Because she had already met you.”
My heart stopped.
“That's impossible.”
“No.”
He took out another photograph.
A hospital security still.
A woman in a hooded coat stood beside a nurse.
She was holding newborn Gabriel.
Her face was turned toward the camera.
It was Isabella.
May you like
And beside her...
I was standing there.
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