Chapter 7 - THE NIGHT THE BAKERY BURNED
The fire started just after midnight.
Morning Light Bakery had closed three hours earlier.
Gabriel was upstairs in his apartment when the smoke alarm sounded.
He escaped through the rear staircase.
Firefighters arrived quickly.
But the kitchen suffered extensive damage.
Dante arrived while crews were still working.
Gabriel stood across the street wrapped in a blanket.
His face was streaked with soot.
“Someone did this,” Gabriel whispered.
Dante looked toward the flames.
“I know.”
Investigators later confirmed that the fire was deliberately set.
It had started near a storage area.
Fortunately, no one was seriously injured.
Gabriel looked at Dante.
“Is this because of you?”
Dante hesitated.
“Because of our family.”
Gabriel laughed bitterly.
“I didn't ask for any of this.”
“I know.”
“I had a bakery. A life. Friends.”
His eyes filled.
“And now someone wants me dead because of a name I never knew was mine.”
Dante looked down.
For the first time, he understood the full cost of his father's secrets.
They didn't just destroy the people who kept them.
They destroyed the people who never had a choice.
That night, Gabriel stayed at a secure hotel.
Dante arranged independent protection and worked with investigators to preserve evidence from the fire.
When Dante returned to Marisol's apartment, Sofia was asleep.
Marisol stood in the kitchen.
“You look terrible.”
He laughed without humor.
“Thank you.”
She handed him a cup of tea.
“Sit.”
He obeyed.
For a long moment, they sat in silence.
Then Marisol asked, “Do you ever get tired of being the man everyone fears?”
Dante looked at her.
“Every day.”
She nodded.
“Then stop being him.”
He stared at the tea.
“It's not that simple.”
May you like
“No,” she said.
“But it starts with deciding.”
