Chapter 5 - Bloodline Secrets
By noon the following day, the DNA results arrived.
I sat in the estate's massive private library, sipping tea from a delicate porcelain cup while Dr. Harrison, a distinguished-looking gray-haired physician, handed two thick blue folders to Lucian.
Lucian stood by the tall arched windows, light filtering through the glass and highlighting the sharp angles of his jaw. He flipped open the folders, scanning the complex genetic charts.
"Well, Doctor?" Lucian demanded, his voice flat.
"It’s an exact genetic match, Don Vane," Dr. Harrison declared, adjusting his spectacles. "Miss Valdez and the late Clara Vane shared ninety-nine point nine percent of their DNA. They were monozygotic identical twins. Furthermore, the maternal markers confirm they were born from the same mother in Chicago twenty-four years ago."
I set my teacup down with a loud rattle against the saucer. Even though I had prepared myself for the news, hearing it confirmed by a medical authority sent a shockwave through my system.
I had a sister. A twin. Someone who had shared my face, my blood, my breath. And she was gone before I ever got the chance to know her name.
"How did she die?" I asked quietly, looking up at Lucian. "Nobody will tell me the truth. You said she died the night Leo was born."
Lucian closed the blue folders with a heavy thud. He gestured for Dr. Harrison to leave the room. Once the heavy double doors clicked shut, Lucian walked over and sat on the edge of the mahogany desk across from me.
"Clara didn't die of childbirth complications, Elina," Lucian said, his eyes darkening like storm clouds. "Three hours after Leo was delivered at our private clinic, a bomb was detonated beneath her transport vehicle. I was holding Leo in the trailing car when it happened."
I gasped, pressing my hands against my mouth. "Oh God..."
"The Rossi syndicate was trying to eliminate my entire line," Lucian continued, his knuckles turning white as his hands clenched into fists. "They thought Leo was in the lead car with Clara. They murdered my wife because they wanted to destroy my future."
"And now they think I'm her," I realized, the horrifying reality dawning on me. "They saw me at the restaurant. They think Clara survived, or that you hid her away!"
"Precisely," Lucian said. "Which means Mateo Rossi will stop at nothing to finish what he started nine months ago. He thinks you are Clara returned from the dead."
"Then let me leave!" I stood up, panic rising in my throat. "Send me away! Put me on a plane to Europe, to Asia, anywhere! I don't belong in this mafia war!"
Lucian stood up in one fluid, intimidating movement. He stepped into my path, his tall frame cutting off my exit.
"You leave this house, and Rossi's hitmen will find you within two hours," Lucian said, his low voice vibrating with dangerous certainty. "You have Clara's face, Elina. In the eyes of the underworld, you are a ghost walking the streets. I can offer you two things right now: absolute protection, and the chance to raise your sister's son."
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"Raise him?" I whispered, my eyes darting toward the open door leading toward the nursery. "I'm just a waitress!"
"You are the only person on this planet my son trusts," Lucian said, stepping so close I could feel the heat radiating from his chest. "You carry his mother's blood. Stay, Elina. Be his guardian. Be my guest. And I give you my word on my life—no harm will ever touch you."
