Chapter 7 - THE FATHER AT THE GATE
Ranata did not go outside.
Not immediately.
She stood in the kitchen staring at the security monitor while Gabriel waited beyond the gate.
Mila sat on the counter eating apple slices.
“Who's the old man?”
Nobody answered.
Mila looked at Lorenzo.
“You know?”
“Maybe.”
“Is he bad?”
Lorenzo looked at Ranata.
“That remains to be seen.”
Ranata wiped her hands on a towel.
“I can't.”
Lorenzo understood.
“Then don't.”
“He says he looked for me.”
“Yes.”
“What if he's lying?”
“Then we find out.”
“What if he's telling the truth?”
Lorenzo had no answer for that.
Lies were easy.
Truth could destroy people much more efficiently.
Gabriel waited twenty minutes.
Never knocked again.
Never raised his voice.
Finally Ranata said:
“Bring him in.”
Marco escorted him inside.
Gabriel entered the living room and stopped when he saw Ranata.
The reaction was immediate.
His eyes filled.
His entire body seemed to lose strength.
“Anna.”
Ranata frowned.
“My name is Ranata.”
Gabriel wiped his face.
“Your mother wanted to name you Anna.”
“You knew my mother?”
“I loved your mother.”
Ranata didn't move.
“Then where were you?”
Gabriel looked like he'd expected the question for decades.
“In prison.”
Silence.
Lorenzo's expression changed.
Gabriel looked at him.
“Not legal prison.”
“What does that mean?”
“Vittorio had me taken in 1992.”
Ranata stared.
“I was held overseas for seven years.”
“That is impossible.”
“No.”
He opened the leather suitcase.
Inside were documents.
Old photographs.
Letters.
Newspaper clippings.
A passport under an assumed name.
“When I escaped, your mother was gone.”
Ranata whispered, “She died when I was eighteen.”
“I know.”
“You didn't come.”
“I found the family that raised you.”
“Thomas.”
Gabriel nodded.
“He begged me not to disrupt your life.”
Ranata's face hardened.
“So you listened.”
“I watched from a distance.”
“You watched?”
“School graduations. Your wedding.”
Her breath caught.
“You were at my wedding?”
“Across the street.”
Ranata slapped him.
The sound cracked through the room.
Mila froze.
Ranata immediately looked at her daughter.
“Baby, go with Lorenzo.”
Gabriel touched his cheek.
He didn't look angry.
Lorenzo crouched.
“Mila.”
She climbed down and took his hand.
Pino followed them to the hallway.
Lorenzo didn't go far.
Ranata deserved privacy.
She also deserved someone nearby.
Her voice carried.
“You let me think I had no one.”
“I thought Thomas was protecting you.”
“Thomas died.”
“I know.”
“My mother died.”
“I know.”
“Matteo died.”
Gabriel's face changed.
“That one I learned too late.”
Ranata went still.
“You knew Matteo?”
“I met him once.”
“When?”
“Six months before he died.”
Lorenzo stepped back into the room.
“What?”
Gabriel looked at him.
“Matteo found me.”
Ranata whispered, “Why?”
“Because he discovered who you were.”
The room shifted.
“Matteo knew?”
“Yes.”
“And never told me?”
“He was trying to confirm it.”
Gabriel opened another folder.
“Matteo believed Vittorio would target you if your identity became public.”
Ranata started crying again.
Not loudly.
Almost angrily.
“So every man loved me enough to lie.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
That answer surprised everyone.
“No excuses?”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“We failed you.”
Ranata sat.
For the first time, Gabriel approached.
He stopped several feet away.
“May I sit?”
She nodded once.
Lorenzo left the room with Mila.
He found himself in the garden ten minutes later.
Mila held his hand.
Pino walked beside them.
“Do you have a mommy?” Mila asked.
Lorenzo looked at the house.
“Yes.”
“Was she gone?”
“For a long time.”
“Did you cry?”
He almost lied.
“Yes.”
Mila nodded as if that was sensible.
“My mommy cries in the bathroom sometimes.”
Lorenzo stopped walking.
“She thinks I don't hear.”
His chest tightened.
“Do you tell her?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“So she doesn't be sad that I know.”
Three years old.
Already protecting adults.
Lorenzo crouched.
“You don't have to protect grown-ups.”
Mila thought.
“Do you?”
He almost smiled.
“Apparently I'm learning.”
She leaned forward and kissed his cheek.
Then ran toward Pino.
Lorenzo remained crouched for a moment longer than necessary.
When he returned inside, Gabriel and Ranata were still talking.
Bianca had arrived.
So had Marco.
Bad news followed her.
“My father disappeared.”
Lorenzo straightened.
“Emilio?”
“His guards found his house empty.”
“Vittorio?”
“Probably.”
Gabriel stood.
“Then they're moving.”
“Moving where?”
Gabriel looked at Lorenzo.
“Your port.”
“What port?”
“The Duca container terminal.”
Lorenzo's stomach tightened.
It was the largest legitimate asset the family owned.
Worth hundreds of millions.
“If they seize the records and move money before the trust dispute becomes public, they can make it look like Ranata has no claim.”
Ranata laughed.
“I told you I don't want the money.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“It isn't only money.”
He pulled out another document.
“Your grandfather's trust gives Gabriel's descendants veto authority over any sale of the port.”
Lorenzo understood instantly.
“Which means Vittorio can't sell it without Ranata.”
“Yes.”
Bianca's face went pale.
“My father has been trying to sell the terminal to a foreign consortium for six months.”
“For how much?”
“Four hundred million.”
Ranata stared.
“I hate this family.”
Lorenzo nodded.
“Fair.”
Marco's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“Emergency at the port.”
Lorenzo stood.
“What?”
“Fire alarm in the administrative building. Security system offline.”
Gabriel looked toward the window.
“They're destroying documents.”
Lorenzo grabbed his coat.
Ranata stood too.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“You're staying.”
She crossed her arms.
“Try again.”
“Ranata.”
“The records involve me.”
“So?”
“So I'm tired of everyone deciding what I can handle.”
Gabriel opened his mouth.
She turned on him.
“Especially you.”
He closed it.
Lorenzo stared at her.
Then nodded.
“You stay with me.”
“Fine.”
Mila appeared from the hallway.
“I stay with Pino.”
Lorenzo almost smiled.
“No.”
Mila frowned.
Ten minutes later, Mila was secured at the safe house with Isabella, Pino, and eight guards.
She did not approve.
Before Lorenzo left, she grabbed his sleeve.
“Bring Mommy back.”
“I will.”
“And you.”
Lorenzo looked at her.
“And me.”
At the port, smoke rolled from one administrative building.
Fire crews were already working.
Lorenzo, Ranata, Gabriel, Marco, and Bianca entered through a side warehouse.
The records room had been emptied.
Not burned.
Emptied.
“They're moving them,” Gabriel said.
A truck engine started outside.
Marco ran toward the loading bay.
Then stopped.
Three black SUVs blocked the exit.
Vittorio stepped from the center vehicle.
Emilio Valenti stood beside him.
Alive.
Bianca whispered, “Dad.”
Emilio looked at his daughter.
“Come home.”
“No.”
His face hardened.
Vittorio smiled at Lorenzo.
“Family always complicates business.”
Lorenzo stepped forward.
“You're done.”
Vittorio shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed toward Ranata.
“She is.”
Gabriel moved in front of his daughter.
Vittorio laughed.
“Still playing father after thirty-four years?”
Gabriel's hands curled.
Then Vittorio said the one thing that changed Ranata's face completely.
“Ask him who gave Matteo your address.”
Ranata turned toward Gabriel.
“What?”
Gabriel went pale.
Vittorio smiled.
“Your father led us straight to your husband.”
May you like
And Ranata slowly stepped away from Gabriel as if the man she had just found had already betrayed her.
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