Chapter 5 - His Mother's Secret
Maria Romano was seventy-one and hated being frightened.
So when Alessandro walked into her apartment without calling first, she knew something was terribly wrong.
“What happened?”
“Emma’s been taken.”
Maria dropped her tea.
The cup shattered.
“Taken?”
“By Enzo.”
She went pale.
Alessandro noticed immediately.
“You know something.”
Maria looked away.
“Mom.”
“I don’t.”
“Isabella told me to ask you what Dad did twenty-eight years ago.”
Maria sat down.
Slowly.
That was answer enough.
“What happened twenty-eight years ago?”
She closed her eyes.
“Your father made a mistake.”
“What kind of mistake?”
“He had an affair.”
Alessandro stared at her.
“With who?”
“A woman named Claire Moretti.”
The last name hit him like a fist.
“Moretti?”
Maria nodded.
“Isabella’s mother.”
Alessandro backed away.
“No.”
“You were ten.”
“Isabella is thirty-two.”
“I know.”
His mouth went dry.
“Are you telling me Isabella is Dad’s daughter?”
“No.”
Maria answered quickly.
“Claire already had Isabella when she met your father.”
Alessandro exhaled.
“Then what does this have to do with anything?”
“Claire believed Vittorio would leave me.”
“He didn’t.”
“No.”
Maria’s voice grew bitter.
“He ended the relationship.”
“And?”
“She lost everything afterward.”
“How?”
“Claire’s husband discovered the affair. He left her. She had no money. She blamed your father for destroying her life.”
“And Isabella grew up hearing that.”
Maria nodded.
“But that’s not the worst part.”
Alessandro waited.
Maria looked down at her hands.
“Vittorio gave Claire money for years.”
“How much?”
“Enough to live comfortably.”
“Why?”
“Guilt.”
Alessandro shook his head.
“So Isabella targeted me because she hated Dad?”
“At first, maybe.”
“At first?”
Maria’s eyes lifted.
“Then she met Enzo.”
Alessandro stared at her.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“Since when?”
“Three months ago.”
Anger exploded inside him.
“You suspected my fiancée was involved with my cousin and you said nothing?”
“I didn’t know what they were doing!”
“You knew enough.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
Maria’s voice broke.
“Of losing another son.”
Alessandro stopped.
Another son?
“What did you say?”
Maria stood.
She crossed the room to an old wooden cabinet.
From the bottom drawer, she removed an envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Vittorio Romano stood beside a young woman Alessandro recognized as his aunt Sofia.
Between them was a teenage boy.
Enzo.
Maria whispered, “Enzo isn’t your cousin.”
Alessandro stared at her.
“What?”
“Your father had another affair years before Claire.”
“No.”
“With your aunt.”
“No.”
“Enzo is your father’s son.”
Alessandro felt the room tilt.
“Dad was Enzo’s father?”
Maria nodded.
“He never publicly admitted it.”
Alessandro suddenly understood.
Enzo wasn’t simply stealing from the Romano family.
He believed the Romano family had stolen something from him.
A name.
An inheritance.
A place beside Alessandro.
Maria touched his arm.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Your father changed his will three days before he died.”
Alessandro looked at her.
“He planned to recognize Enzo publicly.”
“And did Enzo know?”
Maria’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“Yes.”
Alessandro’s phone suddenly buzzed.
A picture had arrived from an unknown number.
Emma sat tied to a chair.
A clock was visible behind her.
May you like
Beneath the photograph were seven words.
YOU HAVE TWO HOURS TO GIVE IT BACK.
