Chapter 2The Moretti Daughter They Denied

“Who are you calling?”

An armored black Cadillac stopped beside me. The rear window lowered, revealing my father in the back seat.

“Get in.”

I ended the call and climbed inside.

Before the car moved, he threw a gray envelope into my lap.

My DNA search request, hospital invoice, and blood-sample barcode spilled across my knees.

Moretti security monitored everyone connected to the Family. They had flagged my name as soon as I entered it into a public DNA database.

“You submitted a blood sample without permission,” my father said. “What were you looking for?”

“My biological family.”

His expression hardened.

“And if the test connected you to the Morettis? Were you planning to show the council and claim Bianca's seat?”

The hospital invoice lay between us. The name of the hematology department was printed across the top, but he never looked at it.

I had searched for my birth parents because I wanted to live.

He saw only an attack on Bianca.

“I wasn't trying to take anything from her.”

“After everything we've given you, you went behind our backs looking for another family.”

“I only wanted to know where I came from.”

He leaned back, his voice quiet with contempt.

“Luca Russo died saving my life. Everything Bianca has is what the Morettis owe his daughter. If you're trying to use your blood to take it from her, you will fail.”

“So protecting Bianca meant I had to have nothing?”

It was the first time I had asked him directly.

His eyes narrowed. “So you have been keeping score.”

The Cadillac turned back toward the Moretti estate.

When we arrived, two guards searched me at the door. One handed my fever medicine to my father. The other found the brochure from the cremation service.

He barely glanced at either.

“More theatrics?”

“Planning ahead.”

He dropped them back into my bag.

My mother and Bianca were choosing jewelry for the gala. Behind them hung last year's family portrait.

My parents and Bianca stood in the center.

I wasn't in it.

My father threw the DNA request onto the table.

“She was trying to prove she has a claim to the Moretti inheritance.”

My mother stared at me. “You know how important this week is to Bianca.. Why would you do this now?”

Bianca came toward me, her eyes already shining with tears.

“If you want the council seat, I won't take it. I never meant to steal anything from you.”

She spoke softly enough to sound frightened and loudly enough for my father to hear.

His patience disappeared.

“Dominic.”

His consigliere stepped forward. “Yes, Don?”

“Send her to Black Pine.”

My mother looked up. “Matteo, that's five hours away.”

Black Pine was a Moretti safe house in the northern Wisconsin woods. The Family used it to hide witnesses and punish soldiers who had forgotten how to obey.

“She needs distance from the council,” my father said. “She can come home after she admits the DNA test was about Bianca's inheritance.”

“I didn't do anything to Bianca.”

“Then a few days alone should help you understand that.”

He turned to Dominic.

“No phone, no car, no visitors. She doesn't leave until I authorize it.”

Dominic sent the order to Rocco, the enforcer who managed Black Pine.

A reply arrived seconds later.

[Understood. Subject remains secured until the Don authorizes release.]

I picked up the hospital invoice and folded it into my pocket.

“What if I need medical care?”

My father's gaze moved over my fever-flushed face without changing.

“Sign the confession, and you can come home.”

For a moment, no one spoke.

Then I nodded.

“Fine.”

My mother seemed surprised by how easily I agreed. She had probably prepared another speech about gratitude and everything the Morettis had done for me.

I no longer had the strength to argue.

I went upstairs and packed everything I owned into one faded canvas bag: three sweaters, four paperbacks, my fever medicine, and the receipt for a cremation already paid in full.

When I came down, Bianca was standing beside the family portrait.

“I'll be here when you get back,” she said.

I walked past her.

At the door, my mother called my name.

“Serena.”

I stopped.

“Think carefully while you're away,” she said. “When you finally understand how much this family has given you, call us. We'll bring you home.”

I looked at my father.

“Will the people at Black Pine let me call?”

“They answer to me,” he said. “Until I give the word, that door stays shut.”

I opened the front door.

“Then I won't call.”