Chapter 13 - Echoes of the Past
The tension between us snapped when a heavy knock pounded on the steel door of the medical bay.
Dante stepped back instantly, the soft vulnerability in his eyes vanishing behind a mask of cold authority.
"Enter," he commanded, pulling a fresh black shirt from a supply closet and pulling it over his head.
The door swung open to reveal the head of his security detail, a gruff man named Marco.
"The perimeter is secure, Boss," Marco reported, his eyes briefly flicking to me before returning to Dante.
"We wiped out the strike team, but Alexei was not among them."
"He sent his foot soldiers to do his dirty work," Dante sneered, his hands balling into fists.
"Find out where he is operating from, and double the guard on the nursery wing."
Marco nodded sharply and left the room, leaving us alone with the heavy truth of the night's events.
I walked back to the cot, gently brushing a stray blonde curl from Leo's forehead.
"If Alexei knows about me, he knows about my mother," I said, a new wave of panic washing over me.
"I need to make sure she is safe."
Dante walked over to a secure landline on the wall, dialed a sequence of numbers, and spoke briefly in rapid Italian.
He hung up the phone and turned to me.
"My men are already at her apartment," he assured me.
"They are bringing her here tonight."
I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding, my knees going weak with relief.
"Thank you," I whispered.
Dante crossed the room, stopping just inches from where I stood beside his son.
"I am not the butcher Alexei claimed I am," Dante said quietly, addressing the lingering doubt in my eyes.
"I read the diary," I reminded him gently.
"She wrote that she knew you were going to kill her."
Dante's expression hardened, but this time, it was not directed at me.
"Elena wrote many things to justify her own treason," he explained, his voice hollow.
"She hated me, and she hated the boy because he was a reflection of me."
"When the Volkovs offered her money and a new identity, she gave them the security codes to this estate."
I covered my mouth with my hand, horrified by the depth of my own sister's betrayal.
"The fire was started by the Volkov assassins she let through the gates," Dante continued, his eyes darkening with the memory.
"She thought they would only kill me."
"But cartels leave no loose ends, Mara."
"They set fire to the entire wing, intending to burn her and the child alive as well."
Tears blurred my vision as the pieces of the puzzle finally slammed into place.
"You went back into the fire for them," I realized, staring at the scarred tissue on the left side of his face.
"I reached the nursery just as the roof collapsed," Dante whispered, looking down at his sleeping son.
"I could only carry one of them out."
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"Elena was already running for the door with a bag of cash, leaving him in the crib to burn."
My heart shattered for the little boy in front of me, and for the man who had to live with that impossible choice.
