Chapter 12 - The Ghost of Isabella
Lorenzo did not scream, and he did not violently destroy the room.
His reaction was far more terrifying; he went completely, chillingly still, a silent storm brewing behind his dark eyes.
He slowly crumpled the genetic report in his massive fist, his knuckles turning entirely white.
"She played me for an absolute fool," Lorenzo whispered, his voice vibrating with a lethal, repressed fury.
"Isabella allowed a filthy street enforcer into my home, into my bed, and passed his bastard off as the future king of my empire."
He took a slow step away from Leo's crib, staring at the sleeping infant as if the child had suddenly transformed into a dangerous stranger.
My heart shattered for him, but my maternal instincts instantly flared up to protect the innocent baby.
I stepped firmly between Lorenzo and the crib, placing my hand gently on his tense, rigid chest.
"Leo is completely innocent in this, Lorenzo," I pleaded, forcing him to look directly into my eyes.
"He does not have Marcus's violent soul. He only knows the love and protection that you have given him since the day he was born."
Lorenzo looked down at me, his eyes filled with a devastating, agonizing grief that completely broke my heart.
"My bloodline ends here, Elena," he rasped, the weight of the mafia world crashing heavily onto his broad shoulders.
"If the other families find out that the Rossi heir is illegitimate, they will use it as an excuse to launch a massive, bloody war for my territory."
I reached up and cupped his rough face, refusing to let the shadows of his past consume the beautiful man he had become.
"You already stepped away from the underworld," I reminded him fiercely. "You are a legitimate businessman now. The old families cannot touch us."
Before Lorenzo could respond, the heavy oak doors of the nursery violently burst open.
Lorenzo’s head of security, Marco, sprinted into the room, his tactical vest covered in thick, gray dust.
"Sir, we have a massive breach in the underground vault at the old estate," Marco gasped, catching his breath.
Lorenzo's demeanor instantly shifted from a grieving father back to a hardened, lethal commander.
"That vault was permanently sealed after the attack," Lorenzo demanded coldly. "What exactly was stolen?"
"Nothing was stolen, boss," Marco replied, handing Lorenzo a heavily encrypted digital tablet.
"Someone used Isabella Rossi's personal biometric thumbprint to bypass the security grid ten minutes ago."
The room plunged into an absolute, suffocating silence.
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Isabella Rossi had been dead and buried for over a year.
But the security logs on the tablet clearly showed that a dead woman had just walked into the most secure vault in the city.
