Chapter 5 - THE FIRST TIME HE HELD HIS DAUGHTER
The DNA test was my idea.
That surprised Sebastian.
It surprised me too.
Two days after the Connecticut trip, I called him.
“We should do it.”
Silence.
Then, “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the children deserve facts.”
Not whispers.
Not eyes.
Not family legends.
Facts.
The pediatrician arranged cheek swabs privately.
No men in suits.
No Vale facility.
No dramatic laboratory.
I explained to the children that the test would help confirm whether Sebastian was biologically their father.
Ivy said, “We already know.”
Owen asked, “What if he isn’t?”
Noah said nothing.
That night I cried after they slept.
Because Owen’s question revealed what he feared.
Another man appearing.
Another possibility of disappearing.
Three days later, the results came.
Probability of paternity exceeded 99.99 percent for all three children.
Sebastian stared at the report for a long time.
Then looked at me.
“Can I see them?”
He had not demanded.
Not once since Central Park.
That mattered.
“You can have two hours.”
His face changed.
“Here?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll come alone.”
“Roman can wait outside.”
He nodded.
The first visit began badly.
Sebastian arrived with gifts.
Too many gifts.
Three enormous boxes.
I stared.
“No.”
He stopped.
“What?”
“You cannot buy four years in toy form.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“I know what you meant.”
He looked at the boxes.
“What do I do with them?”
“Return most.”
His face almost became funny.
“Most?”
“One each.”
He studied the labels.
He had clearly spent time choosing.
A wooden train set for Owen.
A child-size telescope for Noah.
A dollhouse for Ivy.
Ivy looked at the dollhouse.
Then at Sebastian.
“I wanted a dinosaur.”
His face fell.
I covered my mouth.
Owen looked at the train.
“I like this.”
Sebastian relaxed slightly.
Noah touched the telescope box.
“What does it do?”
“It lets you see stars.”
“Real ones?”
“Yes.”
Noah considered.
“Okay.”
Ivy remained betrayed.
Sebastian crouched.
“What kind of dinosaur?”
“T. rex.”
He nodded seriously.
“I can fix that.”
I cleared my throat.
He looked at me.
“One.”
“Right.”
The first thirty minutes were awkward.
Sebastian sat on the floor in trousers that probably cost more than my first apartment’s monthly rent.
Owen built track.
Noah asked complicated questions about space Sebastian could not answer.
Ivy announced that Clarissa had “prettier hair.”
Sebastian nearly choked.
“How do you know Clarissa?”
“She was at the park.”
“Right.”
“She looked mad.”
“Yes.”
“Are you marrying her?”
“No.”
Ivy looked at me.
“Are you marrying Mommy?”
I almost dropped a mug.
Sebastian went completely still.
“No,” I said.
Ivy frowned.
“Why?”
“Adults are complicated.”
“I know.”
Apparently she had heard that phrase too much.
Sebastian said softly, “Your mom and I are figuring out how to be your parents.”
I looked at him.
Good answer.
Owen asked, “Do you live with bad guys?”
Sebastian paused.
I had told the children only that their father’s family was dangerous and complicated.
Nothing more.
“Some men who work for me have done bad things.”
“Have you?”
Silence.
I watched him.
He could have lied.
He didn’t.
“Yes.”
Owen stopped moving the train.
“Are you bad?”
Sebastian’s face changed.
“I’ve done things I’m not proud of.”
Children demand moral clarity adults rarely possess.
Owen looked at me.
I said, “People can make bad choices and still choose better ones later.”
Sebastian’s eyes met mine.
That sentence was for both of us.
Noah finally asked, “Why weren’t you here?”
The room became still.
Sebastian did not look at me for rescue.
Good.
“Because I didn’t know about you.”
“Mom said adults lied.”
“Yes.”
“Did you lie?”
“Yes.”
“What about?”
Sebastian looked toward his hands.
“I told your mother I didn’t love her.”
My breath stopped.
The children looked at me.
Ivy asked, “Did you?”
Sebastian raised his eyes.
“Yes.”
The word landed in the room.
Not past tense enough.
I looked away.
He corrected gently.
“I loved her then.”
My heart continued beating.
“Why did you lie?” Noah asked.
“Because I was hurt and angry, and I wanted her to hurt too.”
Owen frowned.
“That’s mean.”
“Yes.”
No excuses.
“I’m sorry.”
To him.
To all of them.
Then Ivy climbed into Sebastian’s lap.
No warning.
She simply picked up a book and settled against him.
Sebastian froze.
Completely.
He looked at me as though he required instructions.
I almost smiled.
“She likes being read to.”
He carefully placed one arm around her.
His hand trembled.
Ivy opened the book.
“Start.”
The mafia boss obeyed.
He read badly.
Too formal.
Like legal testimony.
Ivy corrected his voices.
Owen eventually moved closer.
Noah remained beside me.
Watching.
When Sebastian finished, Ivy yawned and rested her head against his chest.
He stopped breathing.
I watched emotion move across his face.
Wonder.
Grief.
Love arriving too late to be comfortable.
His eyes filled.
He did not wipe them.
Noah saw.
“Why are you crying?”
Sebastian gave a broken smile.
“Because I’m happy.”
Ivy looked up.
“You cry when happy?”
“Apparently.”
“That’s weird.”
“Yes.”
She went back to the book.
After two hours, Sebastian stood.
He did not ask for more.
That impressed me.
At the door he paused.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Not making them punish me for what I did to you.”
I looked at him.
“I’m not doing this for you.”
“I know.”
“Good.”
He nodded.
Then Owen came running.
“Dad.”
Sebastian turned instantly.
Owen held the wooden locomotive.
“You forgot this.”
“It’s yours.”
“Oh.”
He looked embarrassed.
Sebastian crouched.
“Keep it.”
“Will you come back?”
The question changed everything.
Sebastian stared at his son.
“Yes.”
“When?”
He looked at me.
I answered.
“Sunday.”
Owen nodded.
“Okay.”
Sebastian swallowed.
“Sunday.”
He left.
That evening, Roman called me.
Not Sebastian.
“Maya.”
“What happened?”
“We found the source of the threatening messages.”
My stomach tightened.
“Dominic?”
“An employee tied to one of his companies.”
“Ordered by him?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Where is Sebastian?”
“At Vale Tower with counsel.”
“What does that mean?”
Roman was quiet.
“He is separating family assets from the organization.”
I sat.
“What?”
“He’s changing succession structures.”
“Why?”
“The children.”
My fear returned.
“I told him—”
“Not to give them criminal power.”
I stopped.
Roman continued.
“He agrees.”
That surprised me.
“He’s establishing independent trusts containing only legitimate holdings.”
“And?”
“Removing the children from every operational succession document.”
I stared.
“He did that?”
“He’s trying.”
“Vittorio can block part of it.”
“Why?”
“Because the old trust gives him certain veto rights while alive.”
Of course.
The grandfather who hid the children still had legal power over their inheritance.
“What does Sebastian want from me?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why are you calling?”
“Because somebody attacked one of our accountants tonight.”
My blood went cold.
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He was auditing payments between Beaumont Holdings and Dominic.”
Clarissa’s father.
“What did he find?”
Roman lowered his voice.
“Payments began four years ago.”
“After the divorce?”
“Two weeks before.”
I froze.
“What were they for?”
“The memos say succession consulting.”
The marriage.
The trust.
The pregnancy.
It had been financial from the beginning.
Then Roman said something worse.
“One payment was made the morning you went to Vale Tower.”
“To whom?”
“Leonard Russo.”
I closed my eyes.
“How much?”
“Five hundred thousand dollars.”
The price of four stolen years.
I almost laughed.
Then Roman continued.
“And another payment went to a private medical-records company.”
My eyes opened.
“What records?”
“We’re finding out.”
I already knew.
Pregnancy.
Hospital.
Birth.
Someone had monitored me.
“Roman.”
“Yes?”
“Did they know the triplets were born?”
A long silence.
“Yes.”
My blood turned cold.
“How long?”
“Since the week after delivery.”
I stood so quickly the chair behind me fell.
My children had not been hidden from the Vale family.
They had been watched.
For four years.
And whoever watched them had allowed Sebastian to believe they did not exist.
May you like
That was not concealment.
It was control.
