Isabella's POV
"No DNA test."
I held Sofia tighter, backing away from both men. My daughter was still crying, confused and scared by all the violence she'd just witnessed.
"Isabella, be reasonable," Dante said. "If Sofia is Marcus's daughter—"
"She's not! I know who her father is!" But even as I said it, doubt crept into my voice.
Because the truth was, I couldn't remember everything from that time. The months before I met Alexander were fuzzy. Blurred. Like my brain had locked away memories too painful to keep.
"Then a DNA test will prove it," Dante pressed. "And we can all move on."
"Move on?" I laughed, but it sounded broken. "You think if Sofia isn't Alexander's daughter, everyone will just leave us alone? They'll leave us more alone because Marcus's daughter would be worth even more to your enemies!"
Dante's silence told me I was right.
"I need a sample," Dr. Patel said quietly from the doorway. "Just a cheek swab. Takes two seconds. We can have results in a few hours."
"No!" I started toward the door, but Alexander blocked my path.
"Isabella, please. I need to know." His voice cracked. "I need to know if she's mine."
"Why? So you can abandon her again if she's not?" The words came out harsh. Mean. But I was terrified and angry and I couldn't think straight.
"So I can protect her properly!" Alexander's eyes were wet. "If she's mine, she gets Romano family protection. Resources. Money. But if she's Marcus's daughter, she needs different protection. Witness protection, maybe. A new identity. A new life far away from all of this."
He was right. God help me, he was right.
"Sofia, baby." I set her back on the bed, my hands shaking. "The doctor needs to do something. It won't hurt, I promise."
"I don't want to." Sofia clutched my shirt. "I'm scared, Mama. Those bad men—"
"Are gone. They're all gone." I kissed her forehead. "You're safe now. I promise."
Dr. Patel came forward with a cotton swab. "Open your mouth, sweetheart. Just like at the dentist."
Sofia looked at me for permission. I nodded, even though everything in me screamed to grab her and run.
The swab took five seconds. Dr. Patel sealed it in a tube and handed it to a nurse.
"Rush this to the lab. Tell them it's priority one." He turned to Alexander and Dante. "Both of you will need to provide samples too. For comparison."
They did. Quickly. Silently.
And then we waited.
Sofia fell back asleep, exhausted from fear and medication. I sat beside her bed, holding her hand, watching her breathe.
Alexander stood by the window. Dante leaned against the wall. Neither spoke.
The silence was suffocating.
"Tell me about Marcus," I finally said to Dante. "Who was he?"
"He worked for me. Financial analyst. Very smart. Very idealistic." Dante's voice was flat. Emotionless. "He discovered that multiple crime families—including the Romanos, including my organization—were using the same bank to launder money. Billions of dollars. All traceable if you knew what to look for."
"And he knew what to look for," Alexander said bitterly.
"Yes. He compiled everything into files. Evidence that could send hundreds of people to prison for life." Dante pushed off the wall. "He told me he was giving the evidence to the FBI. I told him that was suicide. That the families would kill him before he made it to a federal building."
"But he tried anyway," I whispered.
"He tried anyway. The night of the fire, he was supposed to meet with federal agents. But someone found out. Someone set the fire to destroy the evidence and Marcus." Dante looked at Sofia. "His wife had died two years before. Cancer. His daughter went to live with his wife's sister after he died. Marcus's mother—the woman who just attacked us—went crazy with grief. Blamed everyone. Especially the Romanos, since they owned the club."
"Did you kill him?" I asked Alexander directly.
"No. But my family might have." He turned from the window. "I was out of the country when it happened. When I came back, the club was ashes and Marcus was dead. My father said it was an accident. A gas leak. But I heard whispers. Rumors."
"That your family murdered him," Dante finished.
Alexander didn't deny it.
I felt sick. If Sofia was Marcus's daughter, that meant the Romano family had killed her biological father. And now Alexander wanted to protect her? Raise her? Make her part of his family?
"I didn't know," Alexander said, reading my face. "About Marcus. About any of it. My father kept me out of the family business back then. Said I was too soft. Too weak."
"And now?" I asked.
"Now I'm not."
The coldness in his voice made me shiver.
A nurse entered with a tablet. "Dr. Patel asked me to give you this. It's Sofia's latest test results."
I took the tablet with shaking hands. Scanned the numbers and medical terms I barely understood.
But I understood one thing clearly: Sofia's heart was failing faster than expected.
"How long does she have?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
"Without surgery? Maybe forty-eight hours." The nurse's eyes were sad. "With surgery... Dr. Patel says there's a seventy percent chance of success. But we need to operate soon. Tonight, if possible."
"Then do it." Alexander stepped forward. "I'll authorize payment right now."
"Actually..." The nurse hesitated. "The hospital board has frozen all financial authorizations pending the police investigation. The attack earlier... they're saying the hospital isn't safe. They want to transfer all critical patients to other facilities."
"You can't move her!" I stood up. "She's too weak!"
"I know. Dr. Patel is fighting the board, but..." The nurse looked genuinely sorry. "I'm not sure how much longer we can keep her here."
After she left, I wanted to scream. To throw things. To make the world stop spinning for just one second.
"My penthouse," Dante said. "Bring her there. I have a private medical suite. Doctors on call. Everything needed for the surgery."
"And put her in debt to you forever?" Alexander snapped. "No. I'll take her to—"
"To where?" Dante challenged. "A Romano facility that will be raided by the FBI tomorrow? A private hospital that will refuse service once they know she's connected to your family?"
They started arguing. Voices rising. Getting louder.
"Stop!" I shouted. "Both of you, just stop!"
They fell silent.
"This isn't about you. Either of you. This is about Sofia." I looked at my daughter's sleeping face. "She needs surgery. Tonight. I don't care where it happens or who pays for it. I just need her to live."
"Then we do it at my place," Dante said firmly. "No FBI. No hospital boards. No complications."
"Fine," I agreed. "But I have conditions."
"You're not exactly in a position to make demands."
"Yes, I am. Because you both want something from me." I looked between them. "You want the box. You want Sofia. You want to know the truth about who her father is. Well, here's my condition: whoever helps us—whoever actually keeps Sofia safe—gets my loyalty. My cooperation. Everything."
"And the other one?" Alexander asked.
"Gets nothing."
Dante smiled. "I like her. She thinks like a criminal."
"I think like a mother." I crossed my arms despite the pain in my shoulder. "So what's it going to be? Are we moving Sofia to Dante's penthouse or not?"
Before anyone could answer, Dr. Patel burst into the room.
His face was ghost-white.
"We have a problem," he said. "A big problem."
"What now?" I was so tired of problems.
"The DNA results came back early. The lab rushed them because of the priority status." He looked at Alexander. "You're not Sofia's biological father."
The room went completely silent.
Alexander's face crumbled. "What?"
"The DNA is a clear negative. No genetic match." Dr. Patel turned to Dante. "We didn't have a sample from Marcus to compare, but based on the blood type and genetic markers we do have..." He paused. "There's a ninety percent probability that Marcus was her father."
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think.
Sofia wasn't Alexander's daughter.
She was Marcus's daughter.
The daughter of a dead man who'd tried to expose the criminal underworld.
"This changes everything," Dante said quietly.
"No." Alexander's voice was hard. "It changes nothing. I've been Sofia's father for the past hour. That doesn't stop now just because of some DNA test."
"The law says otherwise."
"I don't care about the law!" Alexander moved toward Sofia's bed. "She's mine. I claimed her. I protected her. That makes her mine."
"That makes her a target," Dante corrected. "Every family that Marcus exposed will want her dead. Every agent who wants the evidence will want to use her. And the Romano name won't protect her—it'll make things worse."
"Then what do you suggest?" I asked, my voice breaking.
Dante pulled out his phone and made a call. "Prepare the medical suite. We're bringing a patient tonight. High security. Total lockdown." He hung up. "Sofia comes with me. Tonight. We do the surgery at my place, and then we disappear. All of us."
"Disappear where?"
"Somewhere safe. Somewhere no one will think to look." He looked at Alexander. "You can visit. Once things calm down. Once the FBI finishes their investigation and the families stop hunting for Marcus's heir. But until then, Sofia stays hidden."
"Like hell she does." Alexander pulled out his own gun. "She's not going anywhere with you."
Dante's men appeared in the doorway. All armed. All ready.
We were seconds from another shootout. In a hospital. With my daughter right in the middle.
"Please," I begged. "Please don't do this. Not here. Not now."
Dante lowered his gun first. "You're right. This isn't the place." He looked at me. "But you need to make a choice, Isabella. Tonight. Come with me, and Sofia lives. Stay with Romano, and you're both dead within a week."
"That's not a choice. That's a threat."
"That's reality." Dante walked toward the door. "My car will be waiting downstairs in one hour. Be in it, or I leave without you. And then you're on your own."
He left. His men followed.
Alexander immediately went to Sofia's bed. He touched her hair gently. Tears ran down his face.
"She's not yours," I said softly. "The test—"
"I don't care about the test. I love her. That makes her mine." He looked up at me. "These past few hours, seeing her, talking to her, promising to protect her... I felt like a father. For the first time in my life, I felt like I had something worth fighting for."
"Alexander..."
"Let me help you. Please." He took my hand. "I have resources Dante doesn't. Connections. People who owe me favors. We can hide Sofia somewhere safe. Get her the surgery. Give her a real life. A normal life."
"How? The FBI is after your family. Your accounts are frozen. Your enemies want revenge."
"I'll figure it out. I always do." His grip tightened. "Just don't go with Dante. Don't trust him. He's using you, Isabella. Using Sofia. Everything he says is a manipulation."
"And you're not manipulating me?"
He didn't answer.
I pulled my hand away and walked to the window. Outside, the sun was starting to rise. A new day. But it didn't feel new. It felt like the end.
"I need to think," I said.
"You don't have time to think. Dante's car leaves in an hour."
"Then I'll think fast."
I walked out of the room, leaving both men behind.
In the hallway, I found a quiet corner and let myself finally break down.
Silent tears. The kind that hurt your chest. The kind that make you feel like you're drowning.
My daughter wasn't who I thought she was. Her father was dead, killed by the same people who now wanted to protect her. And I had to choose between two dangerous men, either of whom could destroy us.
How had my life become this mess?
My phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number.
You don't know me, but I knew Marcus. If you want to know the truth about that night—the REAL truth about why he gave you that box—meet me at Riverside Park in thirty minutes. Come alone. Don't tell Romano or Moretti. This is the only chance you'll get for answers.
I stared at the message.
It could be a trap. Could be someone trying to kill me or kidnap me.
But it could also be the truth.
The truth about who Marcus was. Why he chose me. What really happened that night.
The truth about who Sofia's father really was.
I looked back at Sofia's room. At the two dangerous men inside, both claiming they could save her.
Then I looked at my phone again.
Thirty minutes. Riverside Park. Answers.
I made my decision.
I walked toward the elevator, past security, past the chaos still unfolding in the hospital.
I was going to that park.
And I was going alone.
But as the elevator doors closed, I saw something in the reflection that made my blood freeze.
Someone was following me.
A woman in a nurse's uniform.
With a scar on her left cheek.
Marcus's mother had found me.
And this time, there was no one to save me.