Chapter 5 - A Brother She Never Knew
The first DNA test was arranged through independent professionals.
I insisted on that.
I didn't want Mateo's employees collecting samples.
I didn't want the family lawyer deciding which laboratory we used.
I wanted a result neither of us could control.
Mateo agreed.
When the result arrived, Rebecca called me first.
"Gia."
My heartbeat accelerated.
"It's confirmed."
I closed my eyes.
"Half-siblings?"
"Yes."
For several seconds, I couldn't speak.
Then I laughed.
Then I cried.
Somewhere across Chicago, a man I had once feared was learning he had a sister.
---
Mateo asked to meet me at a quiet restaurant.
I chose the place.
A small Italian café with ordinary chairs, good bread, and no security display.
He arrived wearing a dark sweater.
Without the suit and armed entourage, he looked almost normal.
Almost.
He stood when I approached.
"Gia."
"Mateo."
We sat.
For a long moment, neither spoke.
Then he said, "I wish I'd known."
I studied him.
"Would it have changed anything?"
He looked down.
"I hope so."
I appreciated that he didn't pretend certainty.
He knew nothing about the person he might have been twelve years earlier.
Neither did I.
---
We talked about our father.
Mateo remembered Lorenzo as strict, demanding, and difficult to please.
I remembered him only through my mother's stories.
A man who sent birthday cards.
A man who once bought me a telescope because I loved watching the moon.
A man who never came to school performances.
"He was complicated," Mateo said.
I smiled sadly.
"That seems to be a family trait."
He laughed.
It surprised both of us.
---
Then he grew serious.
"There's something you should know about me."
I waited.
"I've done things I'm not proud of."
I held his gaze.
"I know who you are, Mateo."
He looked down.
"I don't expect you to excuse any of it because we're related."
"Good."
He looked up.
I continued.
"Being my brother doesn't automatically make you someone I can trust."
He nodded.
"That's fair."
"But I'd like to get to know you."
His expression changed.
For a moment, the feared mafia boss looked like a boy who had been offered something he'd stopped expecting.
"I'd like that too."
---
When Leo learned the test confirmed our relationship, he burst into my training studio.
"Aunt Gia!"
Every student turned.
I laughed.
"Leo!"
He ran toward me.
Then stopped awkwardly.
"Can I call you that?"
My eyes filled.
"Of course."
He hugged me.
And for the first time, I understood that family could arrive late and still become important.
---
That evening, Mateo called.
"Gia, there's something else."
I looked toward my desk.
"What?"
"The hospital found a reference to an operative note stored under an archived case number. They're reviewing whether it belongs to me."
My stomach tightened.
"That's good."
"Maybe."
A pause followed.
Then Mateo whispered, "Bellini signed the original admission authorization."
I sat very still.
May you like
The doctor who declared me dead had also controlled the records of my brother's injuries.
And now those records were beginning to reappear.
