Chapter 4: The Price of a Child
Vincent Romano entered with two attorneys and four men in dark coats.
He saw the opened letter and stopped.
“That belonged to me.”
Alessandro stood behind the table.
“So you admit sending it.”
Vincent removed his gloves one finger at a time.
“I admit protecting an agreement that prevented more families from losing sons.”
“You threatened Rosa and my child.”
“I warned a frightened young woman against making a claim she could not prove.”
Rosa stepped forward.
“You wrote that Lily would never be safe.”
Vincent looked at her as if she were part of the furniture.
“You received enough money to disappear.”
“I never received a cent.”
One attorney opened a folder and placed a bank statement on the table.
“Fifty thousand dollars was transferred to an account under Rosa Mendes,” Vincent said.
“Two days later, she accepted employment here and began waiting for Alessandro to notice the resemblance.”
Rosa stared at the signature.
“That is not mine.”
“It is your name.”
“It is not my hand.”
Vincent turned to Alessandro.
“You are risking a truce for a woman who has lied inside your house for 4 years.”
“She hid because of your letter.”
“Or she kept the letter because it made useful insurance.”
Rosa’s face lost its color.
Alessandro pushed the statement back.
“We will verify everything.”
Vincent smiled.
“Then begin with the child.”
Isabella placed the genetics laboratory number on the table.
“The appointment is tomorrow morning,” she said.
“An independent test.
If Lily is Alessandro’s daughter, I will leave this house.”
“And if she is not?” Vincent asked.
Isabella looked directly at Rosa.
“She and her mother leave before sunset.”
“No,” Alessandro said.
Vincent’s attorney closed the folder.
“If you refuse a test, Mr.
Romano will petition for an investigation into attempted extortion.
Child services may also ask whether this estate is a suitable place for Lily.”
Rosa’s knees nearly folded.
“You would take my daughter?”
“If authorities decide you brought her here to manipulate a dangerous man, they may place her elsewhere while they investigate.”
“Stop.” Rosa pressed Lily against her chest.
“Please, stop.”
Alessandro caught Rosa’s arm before she fell.
“No one is taking her.”
Vincent leaned closer.
“Can you promise that when every judge sees your name?”
Lily began to cry.
Rosa covered the child’s ears.
“I will leave tonight.
I will sign whatever you want.
Just leave Lily alone.”
Alessandro’s hand slipped from her arm.
“You would disappear again?”
“What choice are they giving me?”
“The choice to trust me.”
“I trusted you once!” Her voice cracked through the hallway.
“Then a letter came with your seal, and I spent every night waiting for someone to punish my baby for being born.”
Alessandro stepped back as if she had struck him.
Rosa’s tears fell onto Lily’s hair.
“You walked past her for 4 years.
You saw her eyes.
You felt something.
And you kept walking.”
He lowered his head.
“You are right.”
The words silenced even Vincent.
Alessandro looked at Rosa again.
“I cannot return those years.
But I will not buy your forgiveness by making another promise I cannot prove.
We will take the test, and you will choose the laboratory.”
Vincent’s smile tightened.
Mr.
Bruno moved beside Rosa.
“I will go with her.”
“So will I,” said the young bodyguard from the doorway.
Vincent turned.
“Who are you?”
“Marco Bell.
I worked for your Chicago residence before coming here.”
Isabella’s head snapped toward him.
Marco removed his phone from his pocket.
“And last night, Miss Romano called Hudson Genetics from the west balcony.”
Isabella’s voice sharpened.
“You were spying on me?”
“No, ma’am.
You ordered me to stand outside the door.”
He placed the phone on the table.
“I heard only one sentence clearly.”
Marco touched the screen.
Isabella’s recorded voice filled the hallway.
“Use the sample we already sent.
My father said the result must be negative.”
Vincent reached for the phone.
Alessandro caught his wrist.
Marco swallowed.
“That is not the only copy.”
Vincent slowly pulled free.
Then his attorney’s phone rang.
He listened for several seconds and covered the receiver.
“Mr.
Romano, Hudson Genetics says the result has already been issued.”
May you like
Vincent looked at Rosa.
“Then there is no reason to wait until tomorrow.”
