Chapter 6
I wanted to break Dante’s jaw.
Instead, I let Detective Voss hear every word.
That was harder.
More useful.
After Dante left under escort, I went to Leo’s room.
He was sitting on the carpet with wooden blocks, building a crooked tower.
“Papa,” he said. “Look. House.”
“It is beautiful.”
“It has no garage.”
My chest tightened.
“No garage.”
He smiled.
Then knocked it down himself.
“Again.”
Children understand rebuilding better than adults.
Luca arrived with documents before lunch.
Trust papers.
Old medical records.
A sealed file Sofia had opened under her maiden name.
My hands shook when I saw the DNA lab logo.
Alessia stood beside me.
“I don’t know what that is.”
I believed her.
I opened it.
Paternity test.
Leo Bellucci.
Carmine Bellucci.
Probability of paternity: 0%.
The room went silent.
I read it again.
The numbers did not change.
Alessia whispered, “Carmine.”
I could not speak.
Leo was not my biological son.
For one terrible heartbeat, Dante’s words filled the room.
Your son?
Then Leo ran in holding a block.
“Papa, fix.”
He placed it in my hand.
My heart answered before pride could poison it.
I picked him up.
He was mine.
Before blood.
After blood.
Always.
Luca watched my face carefully.
“What do you want to do?”
“Find out who his biological father is.”
Alessia looked terrified.
“And Leo?”
I held him closer.
“Leo is my son.”
She nodded, crying.
I kissed his hair.
“Nothing changes for him.”
But everything else changed.
Sofia had hidden the test.
Not because she betrayed me.
I knew my wife.
She had been protecting something.
Someone.
Maybe Leo.
Maybe me.
Maybe the truth that got her killed.
That evening, Dr. Marino came to draw a new sample with my consent for legal confirmation.
I hated every second of it.
Leo cried when the swab touched his cheek.
I nearly stopped the whole thing.
But then he whispered, “Am I bad?”
I pulled him into my arms.
“No. Never.”
“Helena said I’m not real.”
The room froze.
I looked at Alessia.
Then at Luca.
Helena had known.
Before me.
And if Helena knew, Dante knew.
May you like
The question was not whether Leo was mine.
The question was why someone wanted him erased.
