Chapter 6 - The Bloodline Test
By Friday morning, Chicago was under an unseasonable freeze. The wind howling off Lake Michigan rattled the tall bay windows of my brownstone.
Julian Vance arrived at eight sharp with two thick leather dossiers.
"You were right," Julian said, dropping the heavy folders onto the dining room table without even saying good morning. "The audio recording you sent me of Sofia Russo was enough to force an emergency judicial conference. Judge Miller granted an immediate discovery freeze on Moretti Logistics' primary secondary ledger."
"And Adrian?" I asked, handing him a mug of black coffee. "How did he react?"
"He didn't scream. He didn't threaten to burn the courthouse down," Julian said, taking a sip and looking at me with deep concern. "That’s what worries me, Claire. Adrian fired his primary legal team yesterday afternoon. He replaced them with David Sterling—the most ruthless corporate litigator in the Midwest. And then Adrian did something nobody expected."
"What?"
"He filed a formal motion requesting a court-ordered, early-term prenatal paternity test."
I froze, the coffeepot hovering an inch above my cup.
"He requested the test?"
"He did," Julian nodded. "Non-invasive prenatal paternity via maternal blood draw and buccal swab. Under Illinois family law, a putative father can petition for it if there's an active dissolution proceeding involving high-value trusts. Sofia was served with the order at eight o'clock yesterday evening."
"How did she take it?"
"According to my contacts in Adrian's office, she had a complete hysterical breakdown. She claimed Adrian was insulting her honor, that he was letting his 'bitter ex-wife' poison his mind. She locked herself in her apartment in River North."
I sat down slowly, staring at the dossiers.
So Adrian hadn't believed her blindly. Even in his betrayal, his suspicious, calculating mafia brain had never completely turned off.
"There's something else, Claire," Julian added, his voice dropping into a solemn register. "Donna Francesca has summoned you."
"I don't take summons from the Moretti family anymore."
"You might want to take this one. She invoked the Council of Families protocol. In their world, if a matriarch calls a domestic tribunal before a divorce is finalized, and you refuse to show, Adrian has the traditional right under their internal code to liquidate every family-tied trust—including the foundation that pays your father’s medical facility."
My jaw tightened until my teeth ached.
"She’s using my father."
"She’s playing the only card she has left," Julian agreed. "The dinner is tonight at the Moretti estate in Lake Forest. Just the family. Donna Francesca, Adrian, Sofia, and you. Adrian’s mother wants to settle this under their own roof before the judge unseals the ledgers on Monday."
"Tell her I'll be there," I said, my voice cold as winter ice.
"Claire, it's a lion's den," Julian warned, leaning forward. "Adrian will be there. His mother will try to bully you into signing an NDA and taking a nominal payout. And Sofia is backed into a corner—a cornered animal is dangerous."
"Let them bring their claws," I replied. "I've stopped bleeding."
At seven o'clock that evening, an armored black Mercedes pulled up to the sprawling Moretti estate in Lake Forest. The iron gates parted like the jaws of a beast, swallowing us into acres of manicured, snow-dusted pines.
The estate had once felt like a sanctuary to me. Tonight, it felt like an execution ground.
The massive double doors opened before I even reached the top step. Marco stood in the foyer, bowing his head solemnly. "Mrs. Moretti."
I didn't answer. I walked straight into the grand dining room.
The room was illuminated by a massive iron chandelier. A long mahogany table stretched across the floor, laden with untouched silver serving dishes, roasted meats, and vintage red wine.
Donna Francesca sat at the head of the table, dressed in high-collared black silk, her posture rigid as an empress holding court.
To her right sat Sofia Russo. Sofia looked awful. Her makeup was caked on, trying to hide the pallor of her skin, her eyes darting nervously toward the doors every few seconds.
And sitting at the opposite end of the table was Adrian.
He had lost weight in just one week. His high cheekbones were sharper, the hollows of his cheeks shadowed with dark fatigue. He wore a crisp white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, revealing the dark, intricate tattoos that marked his rank within the organization.
The moment I walked in, his eyes found mine. The hunger, the sorrow, and the burning intensity in his gaze was so thick it was suffocating.
"Claire," Adrian breathed, his voice rough. He stood up immediately, but I held up a single, flat hand.
"Don't," I said.
Adrian stopped dead in his tracks. For the most feared man in the city, the fact that a single gesture from me could paralyze him spoke volumes.
"Sit down, Claire," Donna Francesca commanded, gesturing to the empty chair directly across from Sofia. "We have family matters to resolve."
"I am not your family, Francesca," I said, remaining standing near the foot of the table. "You have five minutes to tell me why you threatened my father's care, or my lawyer releases the secondary ledgers to the federal district attorney tonight."
Donna Francesca’s eyes flared with aristocratic fury. "You insolent girl. You forget who picked you up out of the dirt! You forget that my son gave you an empire!"
"Your son broke his vows," I shot back, my voice echoing off the vaulted ceilings. "He brought a snake into his bed, and now that snake is trying to swallow your empire whole."
"That's enough!" Sofia snapped, slamming her hands onto the table. "Donna Francesca, make her sign the papers! She's trying to destroy Adrian! She doesn't love him! She never loved his world!"
"Shut up, Sofia," Adrian said.
The command was so quiet, so flat, and so terrifyingly cold that the entire room seemed to freeze.
Adrian hadn't looked at Sofia. His eyes were still fixed entirely on me.
"Adrian, baby—" Sofia started, reaching for his arm.
Adrian pulled his arm away as if she were made of venom. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a manila envelope sealed with red legal tape.
He tossed it onto the center of the table. It slid across the polished wood, coming to a halt directly in front of Sofia’s plate.
"What is this?" Sofia asked, her voice cracking with sudden terror.
"The results of the preliminary blood panel," Adrian said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "The lab in Geneva expedited the sequencing. They called me two hours ago."
Sofia’s entire body began to shake. "Adrian... you said we would wait for the court order—"
"Open it," Adrian ordered.
Donna Francesca frowned, looking between her son and the trembling woman. "Adrian, what is the meaning of this?"
"Open the envelope, Sofia," Adrian repeated, his voice dropping an octave into pure, lethal darkness. "Or I will have Marco read it out loud to the entire room."
Sofia’s trembling fingers broke the red wax seal. She pulled out the white pages, her eyes scanning the black text for less than three seconds before a choked, dying sob escaped her throat.
Donna Francesca snatched the paper from Sofia's hands, putting on her reading glasses.
The matriarch’s eyes widened in horror.
May you like
"Paternity exclusion: 99.9%," Donna Francesca whispered, her voice failing her for the first time in her life. "The child... is not a Moretti."
***
