Chapter 13 - THE PATERNITY FILEArabella waited until Lila was asleep before she opened the file.
The child slept curled on the couch in Dante’s safehouse, one hand clutching the sleeve of Arabella’s sweater. She had refused a bed. Refused a closed door. Refused to let Arabella leave her sight.
Arabella understood.
Some fears were inherited.
Dante stood by the window, watching the street below. News helicopters still circled parts of Manhattan, hungry for more footage.
Caleb sat at the kitchen table, wrists zip-tied. Dante had not trusted his sudden confession enough to leave him free.
Smart man.
Arabella opened the folder.
The first page was a DNA report.
Her name.
Lila’s name.
Maternal match: 99.9998%.
Arabella pressed the paper to her chest and cried without sound.
Dante looked away, giving her the only privacy available in a room full of criminals and ghosts.
Then she read the second page.
Paternal match: Caleb Nathaniel Whitmore.
The kitchen went silent.
Caleb closed his eyes.
“I didn’t know,” he whispered.
Arabella stood slowly.
Dante moved, but she lifted a hand.
No.
This was hers.
She crossed the room and stopped in front of Caleb.
“You signed papers that kept me sedated.”
His voice broke. “Yes.”
“You helped Malcolm erase me.”
“Yes.”
“You let the world mourn me while I was locked away.”
“Yes.”
“And during that time, I had your child.”
A tear slid down Caleb’s face.
“I deserve whatever you do next.”
Arabella bent close.
“No. You deserve to live long enough to answer every question Lila asks when she is old enough to hate you properly.”
That wounded him more deeply than a bullet.
Dante almost admired it.
Arabella returned to the file.
The transfer plan was worse.
Malcolm intended to use Lila once she turned seven. Her birthmark and DNA would let him access a backup clause in the original Vale bloodline trust if Arabella was ever legally restored. If Arabella returned, Lila would become leverage. If Arabella stayed dead, Lila would become a secret key.
A child turned into paperwork.
Arabella’s hand shook.
Dante took the page and read.
His face went cold.
“He was going to move her.”
“Where?”
“Zurich first. Then probably nowhere anyone could find.”
Lila stirred on the couch.
Arabella immediately went to her.
The little girl opened her eyes.
“Are the walls coming?”
“No,” Arabella whispered, brushing hair from her forehead. “No walls.”
“Promise?”
Arabella kissed her hand.
“Promise.”
Dante’s phone buzzed.
Nico.
“Boss, problem. Federal agents just took Malcolm from NYPD custody.”
“Which agents?”
“That’s the problem. No one knows.”
Dante’s eyes narrowed.
Arabella looked up.
“What happened?”
Dante ended the call.
“Your uncle has friends.”
Caleb laughed bitterly.
“Friends? Malcolm has judges, senators, bankers, prosecutors. You got him arrested on camera, but that only means his people have to work faster.”
Arabella stood.
“Where would they take him?”
Caleb hesitated.
“Private airfield. Westchester.”
Dante grabbed his keys.
Arabella reached for her coat.
“No,” Dante said immediately.
She stared at him.
“My daughter was almost shipped like cargo,” she said. “My mother may still be hidden somewhere. My father and your father were murdered. Don’t ever tell me to stay behind again.”
Dante looked at her for one long second.
Then he handed her a gun.
“Stay close.”
Lila sat up.
“Bird?”
Arabella froze.
She could not take Lila to danger.
She could not leave her either.
Evelyn stepped from the hallway. “I’ll stay with her.”
Lila looked terrified.
Dante crouched in front of the child.
“You know what wolves do?”
Lila shook her head.
“They come back.”
She studied him.
“You come back with Bird?”
“Yes.”
Lila held out her smallest finger.
Dante stared at it like it was a weapon he had never seen.
Then he hooked his finger around hers.
May you like
“I come back with Bird.”
For the first time, Lila almost smiled.
Related Stories
