Chapter 6 - THE BOY IN THE WINDOW
Javier looked from the photograph to Dante.
“No.”
Dante stared at his younger self.
Fifteen?
No.
Wrong.
The date was 2000.
Dante had been twenty-nine.
The boy in the window looked fifteen.
“Not me.”
Anthony took the photograph.
“Looks like you.”
Dante nodded.
Same eyes.
Same nose.
Same hard set to the mouth.
But too young.
Javier stared.
“You have another brother?”
“Not that I know.”
The phrase sounded pathetic now.
Families like theirs were built on men not knowing what they should.
Anthony checked the back.
One word.
NICO.
Dante stopped.
Nico Romano.
Another forgotten name.
His father’s bastard son.
A rumor from Dante’s adolescence.
Enzo denied it.
The woman supposedly left the city.
Dante never met the boy.
Maybe the rumor had been true.
“Nico,” Dante said.
Javier frowned.
“Who?”
“My half-brother.”
“You have another brother?”
“Apparently.”
Dante laughed without humor.
Javier looked at the photograph.
“If Nico was there with Matteo…”
“He knew Matteo survived.”
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know.”
Anthony walked toward the basement wall.
“Someone wants us building a family tree.”
Dante looked at him.
“No.”
“What?”
“They want us seeing succession.”
Gabriel.
Dante.
Matteo.
Javier.
Nico.
Leo.
A line of sons.
Fear moving through them.
Enzo had built authority around controlling male heirs.
Maybe someone was now dismantling that structure by turning each generation against the last.
They returned to the estate before dawn.
Clara was waiting.
Leo and Mia slept upstairs.
Javier showed her the photograph.
She studied Nico.
“I’ve seen him.”
Everyone froze.
“Where?” Dante asked.
“At Teresa’s funeral.”
Javier turned.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“She never mentioned Nico.”
“He didn’t introduce himself.”
Clara thought.
“He stood behind the trees near the cemetery.”
Javier stared at her.
“You never told me.”
“I thought he was one of your relatives.”
“He is.”
Clara looked at Dante.
“He looks like you.”
“Enough to fool someone at a distance.”
Clara nodded.
“Older now.”
Dante’s mind moved.
Teresa died eight years ago.
If Nico had watched her funeral, he remained connected.
Maybe he had been watching for decades.
Leo appeared in the doorway.
Dante immediately stopped.
“Why are you awake?”
“I heard cars.”
“Go back to bed.”
Leo looked at Javier.
Javier looked away.
Leo’s voice became smaller.
“Is he staying?”
Dante understood.
The boy was afraid of Javier.
Javier heard it.
Something collapsed quietly inside him.
“No,” Javier said.
Everyone looked at him.
He stood.
“I’m leaving.”
Clara frowned.
“Javier.”
He looked toward Leo.
“I shouldn’t be here.”
Dante said nothing.
Javier approached the door.
Leo moved closer to his father.
Javier saw.
He stopped several feet away.
“I’m sorry.”
Leo did not answer.
Javier continued:
“What I did was wrong.”
The words were difficult for him.
Good.
“I was angry because you had something I wanted. That doesn’t make it okay.”
Leo looked at Dante.
Dante did not rescue Javier from the silence.
The apology belonged to the child.
Not the adults.
Leo finally said:
“Why did you push Mia?”
Javier closed his eyes.
“I lost control.”
“Dad says losing control is how weak men pretend they’re strong.”
Dante almost looked away.
Javier absorbed it.
“He’s right.”
Leo did not forgive him.
He simply nodded.
“Okay.”
Then went upstairs.
Javier stood there for a long moment.
Clara looked at her husband.
“That was the first honest thing you’ve said today.”
He gave a tired laugh.
“Low standard.”
“Yes.”
Javier left.
Dante watched from the window as his cousin drove through the gate alone.
Anthony stood beside him.
“You think he’s safe?”
“No.”
“Follow him?”
Dante considered.
Then:
“At a distance.”
Anthony nodded.
Twenty minutes later, the tracking vehicle called.
Javier’s car had stopped three miles from the estate.
Empty road.
No traffic.
Dante took the phone.
“What happened?”
“He pulled over.”
“Why?”
“He’s standing in the road.”
“Alone?”
Pause.
“No.”
Dante’s chest tightened.
“Who?”
The guard answered:
“An older man with a limp.”
Rocco.
Dante was already reaching for his jacket.
Then the guard said:
“Boss…”
May you like
“What?”
“Javier just hugged him.”
