Chapter 13 - I Heard My Name Behind the Locked Door
Why would Dominic protect me?
Nobody had an answer.
Mateo hated that more than anyone.
Novak survived surgery.
Police placed him under federal protection.
For the first time, official investigators began examining the ledger.
Then Dominic disappeared.
Vincent disappeared too.
Chicago news exploded.
Mateo’s name appeared everywhere.
One headline called him a criminal kingpin.
Another called him the possible victim of a decades-long police conspiracy.
I hated both.
Neither described the man who sat at the kitchen counter eating cereal at midnight because Rosa had banned him from drinking whiskey.
“You eat children’s cereal?” I asked.
Mateo looked at the bowl.
“It was available.”
“It has marshmallows.”
“I noticed.”
“I am learning devastating secrets about you.”
He looked almost peaceful.
That frightened me.
Because peace felt temporary.
“I heard what Rosa said,” I admitted.
His spoon stopped.
“What did Rosa say?”
“That one of us might be doing foolish things for someone we love.”
He became very still.
“And?”
“And nothing.”
“You brought it up.”
“I’m investigating.”
“Dangerous habit.”
I smiled.
Then he reached across the counter and touched my face.
Slowly.
Giving me time to move.
I didn’t.
His thumb brushed my cheek.
“Harper.”
The way he said my name changed the air.
I whispered, “You’re terrible for me.”
“I know.”
“You frighten me.”
“I know.”
“You order people around.”
“I’m working on it.”
“You have secret tunnels.”
“One.”
I laughed.
Then kissed him.
It wasn’t dramatic.
No crashing into walls.
No desperate tearing at clothes.
Just one cautious kiss between two exhausted people who had almost died several times and had stopped pretending fear was the only thing connecting them.
When we separated, Mateo rested his forehead against mine.
“This is a bad idea.”
“Definitely.”
“We should stop.”
“Yes.”
Neither moved.
Luca entered.
“Oh.”
Mateo closed his eyes.
Luca backed away.
“I’ll return.”
“Stay,” I said.
Mateo looked betrayed.
“We’re adults.”
“That doesn’t mean Luca needs to witness anything.”
Luca handed him a file.
“We found Dominic’s private office.”
The romance disappeared.
It was beneath an abandoned Valente garage.
Inside were surveillance photographs.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Caroline.
Robert.
Emily.
Me.
Mateo.
Dominic had watched all of us for years.
A locked interior room required a code.
I noticed four numbers scratched into a desk.
1017.
October 17.
The night my father called Mateo.
The lock opened.
Inside was a tape recorder.
Boxes of documents.
And a wall covered with photographs.
At the center:
A picture of my mother holding me as a baby.
Beside us stood Dominic Valente.
My stomach dropped.
“No.”
On the back:
HARPER, 3 MONTHS.
Below that:
MY DAUGHTER.
I couldn’t breathe.
Mateo caught me before I fell.
“No.”
I shook my head.
“My father was Robert.”
“Yes.”
“My father was Robert.”
“Yes.”
I repeated it like saying it could make the photograph disappear.
Then a recording automatically began playing.
Dominic’s voice.
“If Harper ever finds this, then I failed again.”
I stared at the machine.
“Robert Jenkins was her father in every way that mattered.”
My chest tightened.
“But biologically…”
Dominic paused.
“She is mine.”
Mateo stepped away as though the words physically struck him.
I looked at him.
His face had gone completely white.
Because Dominic wasn’t simply his uncle.
Dominic was my biological father.
Which made Mateo—
I calculated.
Then exhaled.
“Your cousin.”
Mateo closed his eyes.
“Half cousin,” Luca said automatically.
Mateo glared at him.
“This is not helping.”
My stomach twisted.
The kiss.
“Oh my God.”
Mateo rubbed both hands over his face.
“We didn’t know.”
“I kissed my cousin.”
“Harper.”
“I KISSED MY COUSIN.”
Luca looked desperate to vanish.
Then the recording continued.
Dominic’s voice said:
“If Mateo is listening, calm down. You are not related.”
We all froze.
Mateo slowly turned toward the recorder.
Dominic continued:
“Elena Valente was not your biological mother.”
Silence.
I stared at Mateo.
He stared at me.
Luca whispered:
“What the hell is wrong with this family?”
May you like
And for once, Mateo and I agreed completely.
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