Chapter 10 - THE MAN WHO HAD BEEN HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
The breakthrough came from a former administrator of the closed rehabilitation center.
She remembered Nico.
Not by name.
By the wooden boat he carried everywhere.
“He was quiet,” she said.
“Very quiet.”
Dante leaned forward.
“Where did he go?”
The woman hesitated.
“After the center closed, he was transferred to a supported-living program.”
She provided the name.
Dante stared at the paper.
The facility was in Michigan.
Less than four hours away.
He drove there the next morning.
Not with an army.
Not with threats.
With Roman and a social worker.
The facility director met them in a small office.
She confirmed that a man matching Nico's history lived there.
But she explained that any meeting would require his consent.
Dante nodded.
For the first time in his life, he was grateful someone was willing to tell him no.
An hour later, the door opened.
A man entered.
He was twenty-five.
Thin.
Dark-haired.
With a scar near his eyebrow.
Dante stood.
The man stopped.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then the younger man whispered:
“Dante?”
Dante's eyes filled.
“Nico.”
His brother stared.
Then stepped forward.
And for the first time in eleven years, the two brothers embraced.
Dante held him carefully.
As though he were afraid the world might take him away again.
Nico began crying.
“I thought you forgot me.”
May you like
Dante closed his eyes.
“Never.”
