I Wrapped an Abandoned Baby in My Own Coat—Then One Lion-and-Dagger Symbol Told Me Exactly Who Her Father Was.

Inside the observation room, the glass was opaque from the inside, but Lorenzo’s reflection in the dark glass was rigid. His knuckles were white against the edge of the console.

Elena walked in, the heavy door clicking shut behind her.

"Did you hear her?" Elena asked.

"Every word," Lorenzo replied. His voice was terrifyingly calm—the kind of calm that preceded an execution. "Marco, pull the archives from the Manhattan vault. I want every document related to the Palermo liquidation in 2000."

"Already sent the team, Boss," Marco said, his phone pressed to his ear.

Elena stepped closer to Lorenzo. "She pointed directly at your brother Dominic. Is it possible? Would your own brother destroy your family?"

"Dominic has lived in Milan for the last fifteen years managing our European shipping line," Lorenzo said, though doubt poisoned his tone. "He was my brother. He wept with me over Francesca's grave."

"Then why did Clara have that photo?" Elena pressed. "Why was my name written on it?"

Lorenzo turned slowly to face her. The emotional wall he had maintained for decades seemed to be cracking down the center. He reached into his pocket, took out a small linen handkerchief, and picked up the water glass Elena had used in the waiting room earlier.

"We don't rely on Clara's venom," Lorenzo said softly. "We rely on certainty."

He looked down at the glass. "There is enough of your saliva on this rim for a direct genetic match. I have a private laboratory in Queens that answers only to me. In four hours, we will have absolute medical proof."

Elena swallowed hard. The moment of truth she had spent her entire orphaned life dreaming of was four hours away.

"And if I am?" Elena asked, her voice trembling slightly. "What happens then?"

Lorenzo stepped forward, his eyes blazing with an intensity that took her breath away. "Then every person who kept you from me for twenty-four years will pay with their blood. No exceptions. Not even family."

Just then, Lorenzo's private encrypted satellite phone began to vibrate against the table.