Chapter 2 - The Secret of the Crest
The silence in the VIP section of the restaurant was so thick that the faint clinking of silverware from across the room sounded like breaking glass.
Alina stood frozen beside the booth. Her heart hammered against her ribs as baby Leo held the silver locket in his small fist, babbling softly while his father stared up at her with an expression that could cut steel.
"Answer me," Dante commanded, his gravelly voice quiet, flat, and absolute.
Alina swallowed hard, reaching down to gently pat baby Leo's tiny hand. "It... it belonged to my mother, Mr. Rosselli. She gave it to me before she disappeared fifteen years ago."
Dante’s dark eyes narrowed into razor-sharp slits. He reached out his broad, tattooed hand, his large fingers gently touching the side of the silver pendant held by his son. He turned the metal slightly toward the light, exposing a microscopic inscription carved into the back rim: R.1996.
Dante’s chest heaved with a slow, heavy breath. He looked up at Alina's dark-brown hair, her fair, rosy cheeks, and the intelligent, cautious fire burning in her eyes.
"Your mother's name was Clara," Dante stated, not as a question, but as a fact.
Alina gasped, taking a small step back, though Leo’s tiny fingers kept the chain taut against her neck. "How... how do you know my mother's name?"
Before Dante could answer, his chief bodyguard, Frank, stepped up to the table, leaning down to whisper in Dante's ear. "Boss, Marco Vance’s men just parked two armored SUVs across the street. We need to move."
Dante didn't flinch. He looked down at nine-month-old Leo, who was currently resting his small cheek against Alina's arm, completely refusing to release the silver necklace.
Dante reached into his burgundy suit jacket, pulling out a thick, leather-bound business card embossed with a gold dragon emblem, and set it flat on the white table before Alina.
"You're coming with me, Alina," Dante said, his deep voice leaving no room for argument.
"I can't just leave my shift, Mr. Rosselli!" Alina protested, her eyes widening in shock. "I have work, I have an apartment—"
"Your shift ended the moment my son took hold of that necklace," Dante interrupted calmly, taking a thousand-dollar stack of bills from his pocket and dropping it on the table. "And your apartment is no longer safe."
Dante stood up to his full height, holding baby Leo securely in his arm. Leo kept his small fingers wrapped around Alina's necklace, pulling her along as Dante walked toward the private rear exit of the restaurant, flanked by his two armed bodyguards.
Alina had no choice. She untied her dark restaurant apron, dropped it onto a chair, and followed the towering Mafia Boss out into the rain-soaked alleyway where a bulletproof black limousine waited with its motor idling.
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As the heavy leather door of the limousine closed, sealing them inside the plush, warm interior, Dante looked across the seat at Alina.
"Your mother didn't vanish fifteen years ago, Alina," Dante revealed softly as the limousine surged into the city traffic. "She was hidden by my family."
