Chapter 6 - The DNA Test That Changed Everything
The kiss was an explosion of raw, pent-up passion that had been building since the moment I walked into his life.
Dante’s uninjured arm wrapped around my waist like an iron band, pulling me flush against his hard chest. His lips were demanding, hungry, yet filled with an aching tenderness that made my head spin. I tangled my fingers in his dark, thick hair, losing myself entirely in the taste of him—smoky, dangerous, and utterly addictive.
When we finally broke apart, both of us breathless, the panic room’s communication console chimed.
Dante took a deep breath, resting his forehead against mine for one lingering second before pressing the speaker button. "Speak."
"Boss, the perimeter is clear," Marco’s voice sounded through the speaker. "All six hostiles neutralized. The forensic team found something in their transport vehicle you need to see. Also... the independent genetic results from Zurich arrived."
Dante’s eyes sharpened. "Bring them to my private study. We're coming out."
Ten minutes later, the estate was bustling with clean-up crews and heavily armed guards. Matteo was safely in the arms of our most trusted nanny in the fortified nursery, while Dante and I stood inside his private office.
Marco entered, placing two sealed documents on the desk.
"First, the DNA profile," Marco said, glancing nervously between Dante and me. "We ran Elina’s genetic markers against Isabella’s preserved umbilical tissue and Matteo’s bloodline."
Dante broke the wax seal on the first envelope, scanning the clinical data sheets with sharp eyes.
"It's confirmed," Dante stated, handing the paper to me. "A 99.9% identical match. You and Isabella were monozygotic twins. Matteo is your biological nephew."
Seeing the proof in black and white brought a profound sense of closure to the emptiness I had felt my entire life. I wasn't an unwanted orphan cast aside by the universe. I belonged to someone.
"And the second document?" Dante asked Marco, his voice darkening.
Marco swallowed hard. "We pulled the encrypted burner phones off the dead mercenaries. The raid tonight wasn't planned from Moscow, Boss. The IP addresses used to disable our exterior motion sensors came from inside Chicago."
"Who?" Dante growled, the temperature in the room plummeting.
"The communications were routed through an offshore shell corporation registered to the Valenti Banking Firm," Marco revealed cautiously. "Gianna’s fiancé, Vincent Valenti."
The room went dead silent.
Gianna’s upcoming marriage to Vincent Valenti was supposed to unite two of the most powerful factions in the Midwestern underworld.
"Vincent," Dante whispered, the name dripping with venomous wrath. "He has been feeding intel to the Volkovs all along. He orchestrated Isabella's execution so that Gianna’s future children would inherit the entire Moretti syndicate."
"What are you going to do?" I asked, a knot of dread forming in my stomach.
Dante looked up at me, his eyes transformed into absolute, terrifying darkness. The lover from the panic room was gone; the ruthless mafia kingpin had returned.
"Tomorrow night is the annual Winter Equinox Gala at the Drake Hotel," Dante said coldly. "The entire underworld elite will be present, including Vincent Valenti and his Russian backers. They think they caught me off guard tonight. They think I am weak."
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Dante walked over to me, taking both of my hands into his large, warm palms.
"Tomorrow night, Elina, you will walk into that ballroom on my arm. You will wear the Moretti family diamonds. And together, we will show them that what they tried to destroy has only made us invincible."
