Chapter 5 - The Man in the Penthouse
I couldn't breathe.
Lucia grabbed my hand.
“Quiet.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your husband is alive.”
“Then who—”
“The man who kissed Sofia was Dante.”
I stared at her.
She nodded.
“But the man who has been giving orders from the penthouse isn't.”
My mind couldn't process it.
“What does that mean?”
“Victor has been using a double.”
I almost laughed.
“That sounds insane.”
“It is.”
Lucia pulled out an old photograph.
Two men stood beside each other.
Dante.
And another man who looked almost exactly like him.
“His name is Adrian.”
“Dante's brother?”
“Half-brother.”
I looked at her.
“You told everyone he died.”
“I had to.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian was the only person who could infiltrate Victor's operation.”
Suddenly, everything shifted.
The strange moments.
The slight changes in Dante's voice.
The different cologne.
The nights he insisted I stay in the bedroom.
The way he sometimes seemed to know things he couldn't possibly know.
I had thought stress was changing him.
Maybe it wasn't.
Lucia whispered:
“Adrian took Dante's place temporarily.”
“Why didn't Dante tell me?”
“Because the person controlling Victor's operation had access to your home.”
My stomach turned.
“Who?”
Lucia's eyes filled with tears.
“Your housekeeper.”
I remembered Margaret.
She had worked for us for three years.
She knew my schedule.
My medications.
My doctor's appointments.
Everything.
Lucia continued.
“She was sending copies of your medical records.”
“And the vitamins?”
“Contaminated.”
I froze.
“Were they dangerous?”
“Not dangerous enough to kill you.”
“Then what?”
“To alter hormone levels.”
I looked down.
“The triplets.”
Lucia nodded.
“The treatment was designed to increase the chance of multiple implantation.”
My knees nearly gave out.
“You're saying my children were deliberately created?”
“Yes.”
I covered my mouth.
“Why me?”
“Because you were already Dante's wife.”
“And because of the trust.”
“Yes.”
Then the door opened.
Dante walked in.
He saw Lucia.
His face broke.
“Mom?”
She ran toward him.
They embraced.
For the first time, I saw the feared Dante Moretti become a son.
A little boy who had believed his mother dead.
I turned away.
I gave them privacy.
When Dante finally came to me, his eyes were red.
“You should have been told.”
“I should have been told everything.”
“Yes.”
“Are you really you?”
He almost smiled.
“Unfortunately.”
I laughed through my tears.
Then I punched his chest.
He let me.
“That was for the anniversary.”
“Fair.”
“That was for Sofia.”
“Also fair.”
“That was for the vitamins.”
He winced.
“Very fair.”
I stared at him.
“Are you going to lie to me again?”
“No.”
“Promise?”
“I swear.”
Then an alarm sounded.
Marco rushed inside.
“Victor knows Lucia is here.”
Dante's expression changed.
“How?”
“We found a tracker.”
“Where?”
Marco looked at me.
My blood froze.
He pointed to my purse.
Inside was a tiny device.
Someone had been tracking me since I left the penthouse.
Dante crushed it.
Then every phone in the room buzzed simultaneously.
A message.
BRING LENA TO THE MORETTI TRUST BY MIDNIGHT OR THREE PEOPLE DIE.
Below it were three photographs.
Sofia's missing brother.
Dr. Warren.
And a man I didn't recognize.
Dante stared at the third photograph.
His face drained.
“Who is that?”
I asked.
He didn't answer.
Lucia whispered:
“Your father.”
I turned.
“Your father is alive too?”
Dante shook his head.
“No.”
Lucia looked at the photograph.
“Yes.”
May you like
The man in the picture was smiling.
And beside him stood Victor.
