Chapter 6 - THE BAKER WHO DIDN'T KNOW HIS NAME
Gabriel Hayes was thirty years old.
He owned a bakery on the South Side called Morning Light.
He had warm brown eyes, dark hair, and a quiet smile.
When Dante entered the shop, Gabriel was pulling cinnamon rolls from the oven.
He looked up.
“Can I help you?”
Dante stared.
The resemblance was unmistakable.
The shape of the jaw.
The dark eyes.
The small crease between the eyebrows.
Gabriel looked like a younger version of Vittorio Rizzo.
“I'm Dante.”
Gabriel's smile faded.
“Enzo's brother.”
Dante nodded.
Gabriel set down the tray.
“I'm sorry about Enzo.”
His voice broke.
“He was my friend.”
Dante swallowed.
“He was my brother.”
Gabriel nodded.
“I know.”
Dante hesitated.
“No. I mean—”
He stopped.
How did you tell a stranger that his entire life might have been built on a lie?
They sat in the empty bakery.
Dante explained the documents.
The birth certificate.
The Mercer Trust.
The photograph.
Gabriel listened without speaking.
When Dante finished, Gabriel stared at the table.
“My mother told me I was adopted.”
Dante nodded.
“She may have been trying to protect you.”
Gabriel looked up.
“My adoptive parents died five years ago.”
Dante's chest tightened.
“I'm sorry.”
Gabriel smiled sadly.
“They were good people.”
Dante slid the photograph across the table.
Gabriel stared at the woman holding the baby.
His hands began trembling.
“That's my birth mother?”
“I believe so.”
Gabriel touched the photograph.
“Isabella.”
He whispered the name as though testing whether it belonged to him.
Then he looked at Dante.
“Why did Enzo come here?”
Dante swallowed.
“Maybe he knew.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“He never said anything.”
Dante looked toward the bakery window.
“Enzo was trying to protect someone.”
Gabriel's eyes filled.
“Me?”
Dante nodded.
For a long moment, neither spoke.
Then Gabriel whispered, “I spent my whole life wondering why my parents gave me away.”
Dante looked at him.
“I don't think your mother wanted to.”
Gabriel began crying.
May you like
And Dante realized that Enzo had left him more than a mystery.
He had left him a brother.
