Chapter 34 - The Price of a Son
Roman did not shout.
That frightened everyone more.
He stood in the center of the estate’s security room while twenty people searched every camera.
Clara sat beside Sofia.
Her daughter was crying now.
Antonio had vanished fourteen minutes earlier.
Fourteen minutes.
Roman had built walls, cameras, guards, biometric locks.
And someone had taken his son in fourteen minutes.
Marcus rewound the east corridor footage.
“There.”
A maintenance worker pushed a laundry cart.
Roman stared.
The uniform was correct.
The face was hidden beneath a cap.
“Who authorized him?”
“No one.”
The footage skipped.
Thirty-seven seconds disappeared.
Then the cart reappeared near the north service entrance.
Roman’s voice was almost soundless.
“He was inside before the alarm.”
Marcus nodded.
“They triggered the breach remotely to distract us.”
Clara stood.
“Where did the SUV go?”
“We’re tracking it.”
Roman turned toward Marcus.
“No police.”
Clara looked at him.
“Roman.”
“They want attention controlled.”
“Our son is missing.”
“I know.”
His voice cracked.
Just once.
Clara crossed the room and grabbed his face.
“Then don’t become the man you used to be.”
His eyes burned.
“What do you want me to become?”
“His father.”
That landed.
The phone rang.
Roman answered immediately.
Vincent Moretti spoke.
“Your son is unharmed.”
Roman gripped the phone.
“If he has one bruise—”
“He is eating cookies.”
Roman stopped.
In the background, faintly, came Antonio’s voice.
“Dad?”
Roman nearly broke.
“Antonio!”
“I’m okay!”
Clara covered her mouth.
Vincent returned.
“He’s remarkably calm.”
“He’s five.”
“He told my men his father would find him.”
Roman’s expression became something terrible.
“He’s right.”
Vincent sighed.
“I do not want the boy.”
“Then return him.”
“Bring the two key fragments.”
“We don’t know where they are.”
“You have Sofia Duca’s piano records and Elias Vane’s ledger.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed.
“You’ve been watching us.”
“For years.”
Clara moved closer to the speaker.
“Vincent.”
Silence.
“Clara Duca.”
“You know my name.”
“Everyone knows the woman who domesticated Roman.”
Roman looked offended despite everything.
Clara ignored him.
“You said you don’t want Antonio. Prove it.”
“How?”
“Let him go.”
Vincent laughed.
“You misunderstand negotiation.”
“No. You misunderstand Roman.”
She looked at her husband.
“If Antonio is harmed, you get nothing. Roman burns everything.”
Vincent became quiet.
Clara continued.
“But if Antonio comes home alive, we talk.”
Roman stared at her.
Marcus stared too.
Vincent said, “You bargain confidently.”
“I once negotiated with your kind while pregnant.”
Roman muttered, “Clara.”
She waved him off.
Vincent chuckled.
“Midnight tomorrow. Pier Nine.”
Roman’s face hardened.
“No.”
“Then the conversation ends.”
Clara said, “We’ll be there.”
Roman turned toward her.
Vincent disconnected.
For three seconds nobody spoke.
Then Roman exploded.
“You just agreed to walk into another pier trap?”
“Our son is there!”
“You are not going.”
“Yes, I am.”
“No.”
“Roman!”
Sofia flinched.
Both stopped.
Clara lowered her voice.
“Not in front of her.”
Roman closed his eyes.
He knelt beside Sofia.
His daughter looked terrified.
“Is Antonio going to die?”
“No.”
The certainty in Roman’s voice filled the room.
“No one is taking your brother from us.”
Sofia wiped her eyes.
“You promise?”
Roman hesitated.
Clara knew why.
Roman did not promise what he could not control.
But this time, he touched Sofia’s cheek.
“I promise I will do everything a father can do.”
Sofia nodded.
Later, Marcus found the abandoned SUV.
Empty.
A tablet sat inside.
On it was a live video feed.
Antonio sat inside an elegant room eating chocolate-chip cookies.
A woman entered.
Roman froze.
She was approximately sixty.
Silver-black hair.
Italian features.
Elegant black dress.
She crouched beside Antonio and smiled.
Adrian whispered, “That’s her.”
Clara looked at him.
“Who?”
“The woman who came to my hospital years ago pretending to be Sofia.”
Roman stared at the screen.
The woman looked directly into the camera.
“Hello, Roman.”
Her voice was soft.
“My name is Elena Moretti.”
Vincent appeared behind her.
“My sister,” he said.
Elena placed one hand on Antonio’s shoulder.
“And unlike my brother,” she said, “I do want something from your son.”
Roman’s face emptied.
Elena smiled.
May you like
“I want him to inherit what should have belonged to us.”
Then the screen went black.
