Chapter 4 - The Investigation and the DNA
Inside his private study on the third floor, Alessandro locked the heavy mahogany door from the inside.
He sat behind his father's desk, but he could not bring himself to look at the financial portfolios or shipping manifests spread across the leather blotter. Instead, he stared at a small, unremarkable object resting in the center of the desk: a tiny gold button engraved with a delicate floral pattern.
Knock. Knock.
"Enter," Alessandro commanded without looking up.
Mr. Bruno, the elderly butler who had served three generations of Morettis, stepped into the room. His steps were slow, measured, and carried the quiet dignity of a man who had seen empires rise and fall within these walls. He closed the door securely behind him.
"You called for me, Boss?" Mr. Bruno asked, his voice raspy with age.
Alessandro looked up, his dark eyes piercing. "Bruno. How long did you know?"
The old butler did not blink. He clasped his hands behind his back, his expression remaining entirely neutral. "I knew that Rosa was a good girl, Boss. And I knew that little girl possessed eyes that belonged in this room."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you were drowning in ghosts and blood four years ago," Bruno said softly, stepping closer to the desk. "And Rosa was protecting her child from a world she knew would swallow them both. You cannot fault a mother for building a fortress out of silence."
Alessandro let out a harsh, humorless breath, rubbing the bridge of his nose where a headache had begun to hammer behind his temples.
"Isabella is watching," Alessandro said, his tone turning clinical and lethal. "And the Romanos have spies in every corner of this city. If word gets out that Lily is my blood, they will try to use her to break the truce."
"Then we make certain the word does not get out," Bruno replied instantly. "And we make certain the child is protected."
"I need absolute proof," Alessandro said, standing up from the desk. He walked over to a small, secure medical safe embedded in the wood-paneled wall, dialing a combination from memory. He pulled out a sterile collection kit—the kind used discreetly by syndicate capos for paternity disputes before blood lines were settled in court. "Bruno, I want you to go down to the west wing quarters. Bring me a hairbrush or a blanket belonging to Lily. Quietly. No one must see you."
May you like
"Consider it done, Boss," Bruno said, turning toward the door.
"And Bruno?" Alessandro added, his voice dropping an octave. "Double the guard rotation around Rosa’s quarters. Put men I trust—men from the old neighborhood—at her door. If Miss Romano so much as breathes in their direction, I want to know before she exhales."
