Chapter 2 - The Siren and the Secret Bloodline
Paramedics and Dr. Russo’s private trauma team swarmed into the narrow bedroom within ninety seconds.
Dante stood immovable by the doorway, his broad frame filling the space, his dark wool coat dripping rain onto the floorboards. In his arms, five-year-old Lily clutched his lapel with small, trusting hands, her face buried into the curve of his neck.
“Acute bilateral lobar pneumonia with severe physical exhaustion and dehydration,” Dr. Russo announced, shining a penlight into Elena’s eyes as the paramedics secured an oxygen mask and hooked up an intravenous saline drip. “Her core temperature is 104 degrees Fahrenheit. If this child hadn’t found help tonight, respiratory arrest would have followed within hours.”
Dante’s jaw tightened until his molars groaned.
He looked at Elena’s thin wrists, the rough calluses on her fingers from five years of industrial sewing, and the frayed collar of her cotton shirt.
The woman who should have been living in a private penthouse on Lake Shore Drive, draped in silk and protected by sixty armed men, had been killing herself over ten-dollar alterations to buy bread for his child.
“Where are you taking her, Dr. Russo?” Dante asked, his voice low, steady, and vibrating with absolute authority.
“To the private executive wing at St. Jude Memorial, Mr. Moretti,” Dr. Russo replied, signaling the stretcher team. “We have already locked down the entire fourth floor under your code.”
Elena was lifted onto the gurney. As they wheeled her toward the door, her hand weakly reached out, her fingers trembling in the air.
“Lily…” Elena rasped through the plastic mask, tears leaking into her hair. “My baby…”
Dante stepped forward, holding Lily securely against his chest with one arm, while his free hand caught Elena’s icy fingers in an unbreakable, warm grip.
“She is safe, Elena,” Dante said, his dark eyes locking onto hers with an intensity that silenced the room. “Nobody touches a single hair on her head. And nobody will ever make you run again.”
Elena’s eyelids fluttered closed as the sedative took effect, her fingers loosening in his grasp.
Marco Bellini stepped up behind Dante. “Boss, the convoy is ready downstairs. The neighborhood is secured.”
Dante looked down at Lily, who was blinking through sleepy, tear-stained eyes.
“Marco,” Dante commanded quietly.
May you like
“Yes, Boss?”
“Order a comprehensive forensic DNA panel at the hospital lab. Not because I doubt it.” Dante’s eyes softened as he touched the tiny dimple on Lily’s left cheek. “Because by midnight, I want the entire world to have legal proof that Lily Moretti is the sole heir to this empire.”
