Chapter 6 - The Price of a Child.
Thomas drove past the townhouse without slowing again.
Emily stared at the frozen image of Victoria on her phone.
"She has Naomi."
Luca's face showed nothing now.
That frightened Emily more than anger would have.
"She wants a trade."
"You cannot give her Noah."
"I did not say I would."
"Then what are you thinking?"
"I am thinking that Victoria expects me to behave like the boy she raised."
"And what does that mean?"
"It means she expects me to choose family reputation over a stranger."
Emily looked at him sharply.
"Am I a stranger?"
Luca glanced at the brass key in her hand.
"I am starting to think you never were."
Thomas took them to an underground parking structure beneath an office building owned by a retired federal judge.
There, a second vehicle waited with medical supplies inside.
Dr. Aaron Pierce sat in the back seat.
His shirt was untucked, and a bruise darkened one side of his face.
"Give me the baby."
Emily resisted instinctively.
Luca nodded.
"Let him examine Noah."
Dr. Pierce worked quickly.
The baby had a respiratory infection and dehydration, but his lungs were still clear enough to avoid immediate hospitalization if they could keep him stable and monitored.
Emily nearly collapsed with relief.
"He can recover?"
"Yes, but he needs rest, fluids, and observation."
Dr. Pierce looked at Luca.
"And he needs to stop being moved around Manhattan like evidence in a trial."
"I agree."
"Then end whatever this is."
Luca placed the black ledger on the hood of the car.
"I intend to."
He opened it to the final pages.
Most entries were decades old.
Then he found a newer sheet tucked inside the back cover.
It listed a series of trusts and beneficiary codes.
One code appeared repeatedly.
G.C. BLOODLINE SUCCESSOR.
Beside it was a date eighteen months earlier.
Emily turned pale.
Luca looked at her.
"Tell me now."
She lowered her eyes.
"My sister's name was Ava."
"You said that before."
"I didn't tell you who she was with."
Luca felt the answer before she spoke it.
"Gabriel Cafalli."
The parking garage seemed to become completely silent.
Luca stared at Noah.
Emily continued before he could interrupt.
"They met years ago when Gabriel was investigating your family's companies."
"My brother died eight years ago."
"Ava kept one thing from everyone."
"A child cannot be eight years late."
"Noah is not Gabriel's son."
Luca's shoulders relaxed for half a second.
Then Emily added the rest.
"He is Gabriel's grandson."
Luca stared at her.
Ava had secretly given birth to a daughter after Gabriel died.
That daughter, Sophie, had been raised under another name far from New York.
Eighteen months earlier, Sophie had Noah.
Three months ago, Sophie disappeared after telling Emily that people with scorpion tattoos had found her.
Emily became Noah's guardian and followed instructions left by her mother to take the child to Luca if the Circle ever returned.
"Why work as my maid?"
"Because I needed to know what kind of man you were before I put a child in your hands."
The words hit harder than an insult.
"Seven months."
"I watched how you treated staff."
"You investigated me while cleaning my apartment."
"I protected him while deciding whether you were another Cafalli monster."
Luca looked away.
"And your conclusion?"
Emily's voice softened.
"You checked his fever before you asked why I lied."
No one spoke for several seconds.
Dr. Pierce turned the ledger toward the light.
"What does bloodline successor mean?"
Thomas answered quietly.
"Antonio changed the family trust before he died."
Luca looked at him.
"Changed it how?"
"If Gabriel had a living descendant, control of thirty-one percent of Cafalli Holdings would pass to that descendant."
Emily stared at Noah.
"That's why Victoria wants him."
Thomas shook his head.
"No."
"Then why?"
"Because as long as Noah is alive, Victoria can never legally control the company."
Luca's phone rang.
Victoria's name appeared on the screen.
He answered.
May you like
"You have ten minutes," she said pleasantly.
Then Naomi screamed in the background.
