Chapter 11 - Two Heirs
Emery tried not to cry.
Grandpa Vittorio had always told her crying was allowed.
He said courage did not mean your eyes stayed dry.
Courage meant you kept thinking while you were afraid.
So Emery kept thinking.
The room smelled like metal and old wood.
There were no windows.
Vittorio sat beside her.
He looked much thinner than she remembered.
His hair had become completely white.
His hands shook.
But when Emery had been pushed into the room, Vittorio opened his eyes.
For several seconds, he simply stared.
Then he whispered.
“Passerotta.”
Emery ran to him.
“Grandpa.”
Vittorio wrapped his arms around her.
He cried.
Emery had never seen Grandpa cry before.
“Daddy thought you went to heaven.”
Vittorio looked toward the locked door.
“Not yet.”
“Why didn’t you come home?”
“I couldn’t.”
“Grandma was mean.”
Vittorio closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“She pushed me.”
His eyes opened.
“What?”
“Out of your chair.”
Something changed in Vittorio’s face.
“Did the horse break?”
Emery nodded.
“The ring came out.”
Vittorio almost smiled.
“Good.”
“It broke, Grandpa.”
“The horse did its job.”
Emery looked confused.
“You wanted it to break?”
“When it needed to.”
She held up her empty hand.
“The bad man took the ring.”
Vittorio’s smile disappeared.
“Dante?”
Emery nodded.
Vittorio looked toward the door again.
“Did he open it?”
“The black part?”
“Yes.”
“I already did with Daddy.”
Vittorio relaxed slightly.
“Good.”
Emery leaned close.
“Daddy has copies.”
Vittorio looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“I heard Uncle Carlo say it.”
Vittorio almost laughed.
“Smart girl.”
The door opened.
Dante entered.
He had stopped pretending to be friendly.
Emery disliked him more each time she saw him.
Dante looked at Vittorio.
“Beautiful reunion.”
Vittorio said nothing.
Dante turned toward Emery.
“Your father is coming.”
Emery’s face brightened.
Vittorio grabbed her hand.
“Do not believe him.”
Dante smiled.
“Your grandfather has become suspicious.”
Vittorio glared.
“I became suspicious forty years too late.”
Dante’s smile tightened.
He placed the DeLuca ring on a table.
Then he produced a laptop.
“Your son opened Ravenna.”
Vittorio’s eyes flickered.
“I know.”
Dante frowned.
“How?”
“Because you are angry.”
Dante stared.
Vittorio continued.
“If Salvatore had failed, you would be smiling.”
Emery looked proudly at her grandfather.
Dante snapped the laptop shut.
“You always thought you were smarter than everyone.”
“No.”
Vittorio leaned back weakly.
“I only eventually realized you were crueler than everyone.”
Dante stepped toward him.
“You gave everything to her.”
Vittorio looked at Emery.
“Yes.”
“She is a child.”
“Yes.”
“She knows nothing about the companies.”
“Neither did you at seven.”
“You know what I mean.”
Vittorio’s eyes became cold.
“You mean you spent your life believing blood made you worthy.”
“And then discovered the wrong blood was in your veins.”
Dante struck the wall beside Vittorio’s head.
Emery screamed.
Vittorio did not flinch.
“Do not frighten her.”
Dante leaned close.
“You should have named me.”
“Why?”
“Because I earned it.”
“You stole from me.”
“I built half your modern empire.”
“You stole eighty million dollars.”
“I moved money that should have been mine.”
Vittorio shook his head.
“Nothing was yours.”
Dante’s face twisted.
“I am a DeLuca.”
“Yes.”
The answer surprised him.
Vittorio continued.
“Roberto was my cousin.”
“You carry the name.”
“You carry some blood.”
“But inheritance was never your real problem.”
Dante waited.
“You wanted someone to tell you that being abandoned made you important.”
Dante’s face hardened.
Vittorio spoke softly.
“Francesca gave you that story.”
“You were Alessandro’s hidden son.”
“The stolen heir.”
“The child denied his throne.”
“You built yourself around it.”
Dante whispered.
“Shut up.”
“Then you discovered Roberto was your father.”
“Shut up.”
“And instead of accepting reality, you decided everyone who knew had to disappear.”
Dante grabbed Vittorio’s shirt.
Emery jumped up.
“Stop!”
Dante looked at her.
Vittorio immediately moved between them as much as his weakened body allowed.
Dante released him.
He looked at Emery.
“You really think you belong here?”
Emery’s chin trembled.
“My daddy says I do.”
Dante laughed.
“Your daddy adopted you.”
Emery stared back.
“He chose me.”
Vittorio’s eyes filled.
Dante’s smile disappeared.
Emery continued.
“Grandpa chose me too.”
Dante said nothing.
“And Grandma wanted your chair.”
Vittorio almost smiled.
Emery looked at Dante.
“So maybe nobody chose you because you’re mean.”
Dante’s face went blank.
Vittorio whispered.
“Emery.”
Dante slowly walked toward her.
Vittorio stood despite his weakness.
He placed himself between them.
“If you touch her, you will never get what you want.”
Dante stopped.
“What do I want?”
“The final archive.”
Dante narrowed his eyes.
“The ring and pendant open Ravenna.”
“Yes.”
“But they do not open everything.”
Dante became still.
Vittorio smiled faintly.
“I knew one day someone might force me to surrender both.”
“So I built another lock.”
“What lock?”
Vittorio looked at Emery.
“Her.”
Dante followed his gaze.
Emery looked confused.
“What did you do?”
Dante’s voice became quiet.
Vittorio explained.
The deepest section of the Founders Trust required biometric confirmation from the senior heir.
Not merely DNA.
A living verification.
Emery’s presence was necessary.
Dante now understood why Vittorio’s documents repeatedly referred to protecting the heir herself.
Dante smiled slowly.
“Then bringing her here was exactly right.”
Vittorio’s expression remained calm.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because she will never cooperate.”
Dante looked toward a seven-year-old child.
“You think she has a choice?”
Vittorio stared at him.
“That sentence is why you will lose.”
Dante left.
The door locked again.
Emery immediately hugged Vittorio.
“Grandpa.”
“Yes?”
“I’m scared.”
“So am I.”
“You are?”
“Very.”
She looked surprised.
Vittorio smiled.
“Being old does not make frightening people less frightening.”
“What do we do?”
Vittorio looked around.
“We wait for your father.”
“How do you know he’s coming?”
Vittorio touched her hair.
“Because Salvatore would walk through fire for you.”
Emery thought.
“He already went to the burned building.”
Vittorio blinked.
“You know about Ravenna?”
“A little.”
He laughed weakly.
“Apparently I made everything too complicated.”
Emery nodded.
“Yes.”
For the first time in eleven months, Vittorio laughed genuinely.
Outside the room, Dante listened through the monitor.
He did not smile.
He opened another video feed.
It showed the DeLuca courthouse evidence room.
The pendant sat inside a sealed container.
Dante picked up his phone.
“Begin.”
Across town, a man wearing a maintenance uniform entered the courthouse basement.
Salvatore believed the pendant was secure.
It was not.
Dante no longer needed Salvatore to bring it.
The demand had been a distraction.
Ten minutes later, the evidence-room alarm failed.
Twelve minutes later, the pendant disappeared.
Twenty minutes later, Dante held both keys.
He entered the room again.
He showed Vittorio the pendant.
The old man’s face changed.
Dante smiled.
“Now we only need the little heir.”
Emery moved closer to Vittorio.
Dante looked at her.
“Your father has two hours to find you.”
Then he leaned toward Vittorio.
May you like
“But I’m not sure I need him anymore.”
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