Chapter 13 - THE CHILDREN AT THE GATE
Dante drove faster than Anthony wanted.
Nobody told him to slow down.
The estate called.
Clara answered.
“Dante.”
“Where are Leo and Mia?”
“With me.”
“Lock the interior doors.”
“Already done.”
“Any breach?”
“Not yet.”
“Javier is with me. Matteo is alive.”
Silence.
Then Clara:
“We can discuss dead men returning later.”
Dante almost smiled despite himself.
“Good.”
A warning alarm sounded through the phone.
Clara stopped.
“What was that?”
Dante heard Anthony speak from the passenger seat.
“East gate.”
Then Clara whispered:
“Someone’s here.”
Dante’s heart turned cold.
“Take the children downstairs.”
“No.”
“What?”
“They’re already moving.”
He heard Leo.
“Mom—”
Clara corrected him automatically.
“I’m not your mother, sweetheart.”
“Sorry. Aunt Clara.”
Mia crying.
Dante gripped the wheel.
“Clara.”
“I have them.”
Then another voice entered the line.
Leo.
“Dad?”
“Yes.”
“Are you coming?”
“Yes.”
“Promise?”
Dante looked at the road.
“I promise.”
This one mattered.
At the estate, three vehicles had stopped outside the east gate.
Not forced entry.
Waiting.
The lead driver stepped out.
Samuel Reed.
Dante’s former driver.
The traitor.
He held no weapon.
He carried a white cloth tied around a small wooden horse.
Bodyguards aimed from inside.
Samuel shouted:
“I need Dante.”
Clara remained hidden with the children.
Anthony spoke through the gate intercom from Dante’s phone as they approached.
“What do you want?”
Samuel answered:
“Nico lied.”
Dante looked toward Anthony.
Samuel continued:
“He’s not coming for the children.”
“What?”
“He’s going for Matteo.”
Javier heard from the back seat.
His face changed.
“My father.”
Samuel continued:
“The estate was supposed to make Dante panic.”
A diversion.
Again.
Dante felt anger at himself.
Even after everything, Nico still knew where to pull.
Children.
Dante’s reason abandoned itself.
“Where?”
Samuel gave a location.
St. Agnes.
Of course.
Everything returned to the room where Enzo divided them.
Dante stopped the car outside the gate.
Samuel stood beyond it.
Anthony’s men brought him inside under guard.
Dante approached.
“Why betray Nico now?”
Samuel looked exhausted.
“Because he said Leo was never supposed to be touched.”
Dante stared.
“And?”
“Then I saw what Javier did.”
Javier looked away.
Samuel continued:
“Nico laughed.”
Dante’s eyes hardened.
“He said?”
“That fear had entered the boy exactly where he wanted.”
Javier closed his eyes.
His attack had been part of Nico’s lesson.
Not planned in detail.
Desired in result.
Samuel looked at Dante.
“I have a son.”
“Congratulations.”
“I realized I was helping a man who thinks children are messages.”
Dante’s voice stayed cold.
“And before that?”
Samuel lowered his eyes.
“Money was easier than conscience.”
At least honest.
“Why should I believe you?”
“You shouldn’t.”
Good answer.
Samuel handed him the wooden horse.
Underneath:
ST. AGNES. MIDNIGHT.
BRING JAVIER.
Javier stared.
“Why me?”
Samuel answered:
“Because Nico wants Matteo to choose between his son and his brother.”
Dante frowned.
“Nico isn’t Matteo’s brother.”
Samuel looked at him.
“He believes he is.”
Another family fracture.
“Enzo told Nico his mother had also been with Matteo.”
Dante almost laughed.
Enzo used paternity like another weapon.
“True?”
Samuel shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Neither did anyone anymore.
Blood had become a maze because powerful men spent decades lying about it.
Dante looked toward the estate windows.
Leo appeared briefly upstairs beside Clara before being pulled back.
Alive.
Mia beside him.
Safe for now.
Dante touched the gate.
Then turned toward Javier.
“You coming?”
Javier stared.
“My father.”
“Yes.”
“And if this is another trap?”
“It is.”
Javier almost smiled.
“Finally something simple.”
Before leaving, Dante went inside.
Leo met him near the lower hall.
Dante crouched.
“I have to go.”
Leo looked afraid.
“You promised you were coming.”
“I came.”
“But you’re leaving.”
“Yes.”
Leo looked down.
“Because of Uncle Javier?”
“Because someone else is in danger.”
“Will you come back?”
Dante could not guarantee it.
Old Dante would have lied.
Instead:
“I will do everything I can.”
Leo’s eyes filled.
“I hate that answer.”
“So do I.”
Then Leo hugged him.
Dante froze briefly.
Not because his son rarely hugged him.
Because he realized Enzo had never once held him before leaving for violence.
Dante hugged him back.
Mia joined.
For several seconds, the Boss disappeared.
Only father remained.
When Dante stood, Clara watched him.
“You changed.”
“No.”
He looked toward the door.
May you like
“I’m trying.”
Then he went back into the night.
