Chapter 13 - The Day Dante Chose His Son|
The morning of the guardianship hearing, Dante couldn't fasten his cuff links.
I found him standing in front of the bedroom mirror, trying repeatedly to secure the silver clasp.
His hands were shaking.
This was a man who had negotiated billion-dollar deals without raising his voice.
Now a pair of cuff links had defeated him.
I approached quietly.
"Let me help."
He lowered his hands.
I fastened the first cuff.
Then the second.
He watched me in the mirror.
"What if the judge believes him?"
I looked up.
"Then we keep fighting through the legal process."
"What if that's not enough?"
I had no easy answer.
The truth was that Dante had failed Nico in ways that couldn't be explained away by money or grief.
He had trusted the wrong people.
He had remained absent when his son needed him.
And now someone was weaponizing those mistakes.
But I had also watched him change.
He had attended Nico's therapy appointments.
He had learned the names of his son's teachers.
He had canceled international trips and delegated responsibilities that once seemed impossible to surrender.
More importantly, he had listened when Nico said he was frightened.
I finished adjusting his cuff.
"Tell the truth."
Dante looked at me.
"Even the parts that make you look bad?"
"Especially those."
He closed his eyes briefly.
"You're a terrifying woman, Alessia Moretti."
I smiled.
"That's what my family keeps telling me."
At the courthouse, Salvatore sat beside a team of attorneys.
He looked confident.
My father occupied a bench behind him, wearing an expression of practiced concern.
I wanted to walk over and ask how either man could claim to care about a child they had used as leverage.
Instead, I sat beside Mara.
The hearing was not open to the public.
The court had appointed an independent representative to assess Nico's interests, and the judge had reviewed the relevant reports.
Nico wasn't required to sit in the courtroom and listen to adults argue about him.
He was safely at home with Rosa and Gabriel.
Salvatore's attorney spoke first.
He described Dante as emotionally unavailable and consumed by his career.
He cited the locked room, the disrupted household, and the ongoing child welfare investigation.
He argued that Salvatore could provide greater stability.
I listened until I thought I might break my own teeth from clenching them.
Then Dante's attorney presented the evidence of Valentina's appointment.
Her contract had been arranged through Salvatore's office.
Her access privileges had been authorized by his staff.
Her consulting company had received payments from businesses under investigation.
And the household records showed that Dante had relied on reports that concealed the actual conditions of Nico's care.
None of that erased Dante's responsibility.
But it raised serious questions about Salvatore's claimed concern for the boy.
Then the judge asked Dante to speak.
He stood slowly.
"Mr. DeLuca, do you believe you adequately supervised your son's care after your wife's death?"
Dante's voice was steady.
"No, Your Honor."
The courtroom became completely silent.
He continued.
"I believed that providing financial security was enough."
He looked down briefly.
"I was wrong."
The judge watched him carefully.
"What has changed?"
"My priorities."
Dante swallowed.
"I used to schedule my life around work and fit my son into whatever time remained."
He looked toward the empty space where Nico might have sat.
"Now I schedule my work around being his father."
Salvatore shifted in his chair.
Dante continued.
"I'm not asking the court to pretend I was a good father when I wasn't."
His voice trembled.
"I'm asking for the opportunity to continue doing the work I've finally begun."
The judge questioned the independent representative and reviewed the safety arrangements already in place.
The reports documented Nico's progress, the steps taken to protect him, and the continuing professional support available to the family.
After considering the emergency petition, the judge declined to transfer guardianship to Salvatore.
The existing protective measures and oversight would continue.
The court also directed that any further concerns be addressed through the appropriate process rather than through private family pressure.
I felt the breath leave my body.
Dante sat motionless.
For several seconds, he didn't seem to understand what had happened.
Then he looked at me.
His eyes were wet.
I nodded.
He covered his face with both hands.
Outside the courthouse, reporters gathered behind the security barriers.
Dante ignored their questions.
He didn't celebrate.
He didn't make a speech about winning.
He simply got into the car and asked Gabriel to take us home.
When we entered the apartment, Nico came running from the living room.
"Daddy!"
Dante dropped his briefcase.
He knelt and caught his son in his arms.
"Hey, buddy."
Nico wrapped his arms around his neck.
"Are you staying?"
Dante pressed his cheek against the boy's hair.
"Yes."
"Even tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow too."
"And after tomorrow?"
Dante laughed through his tears.
"That's the plan."
Nico looked at me.
"Did Daddy win?"
I crouched beside them.
"Your daddy told the truth."
Nico considered that.
"Is that better than winning?"
Dante looked at me before answering.
"Sometimes it's the only way to win."
That evening, while Nico slept, Dante and I stood on the balcony.
The city stretched beneath us, full of lights and distant sirens.
He turned toward me.
"I don't know what happens to us when this is over."
I felt my heart tighten.
"Neither do I."
He took a slow breath.
"But I know I don't want you here because of a contract."
I looked at him.
"Then what do you want?"
His gaze held mine.
"For the first time in my life, I want someone to choose me when she has every reason to walk away."
Before I could answer, his phone rang.
It was Mara.
Valentina had spoken to investigators through her attorney.
She had provided messages, payment records, and the name of a mechanic who had worked on Elena's vehicle shortly before her fatal accident.
Mara's next words changed everything.
"There's enough information for investigators to pursue the person who sabotaged Elena's car."
Dante closed his eyes.
May you like
The battle to keep Nico safe had finally turned in our favor.
But the fight to uncover what had happened to his mother was entering its most dangerous stage.
