The Mafia Boss’s Son Recognized My Dead Sister’s Necklace

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

The words on my phone blurred beneath the tears gathering in my eyes.

Save the daughter, or save the son.

I looked at Leo, who was clinging to my sweater, then at Ricardo, whose expression had turned so cold that even his own men stepped away from him.

“Who sent this?”” he demanded.

“I don't know.””

“Show me.””

I handed him the phone.

He studied the photograph of Sarah in the hospital bed. His thumb hovered over the screen, stopping just above her bruised face.

“That's her,” he whispered.

I'd never heard Ricardo Moretti sound so fragile.

He enlarged the image, studying the medical equipment behind Sarah. A whiteboard hung on the wall, but the writing was partially obscured by her shoulder.

“Where was this taken?”” I asked.

Ricardo turned toward Marco.

“Tell me.””

Marco lay on the carpet with two guards holding his arms behind his back. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but he still managed a crooked smile.

“You think I'm the only one who knows where she is?””

Ricardo crouched in front of him.

“I'm going to ask you once more. Where is my wife?””

Marco looked at Leo.

Then he looked at the necklace in my hand.

“Your wife is trying to keep your children alive. Something you apparently haven't managed to do yourself.””

Ricardo grabbed him by the collar.

“Say another word about my family, and you'll regret being born.””

“Ricardo!”” I snapped.

He froze.

“Leo is watching.””

His gaze shifted to his son.

The toddler had pressed both hands over his ears. His lower lip trembled as he tried not to cry.

Ricardo slowly released Marco.

Then he knelt in front of Leo.

“Hey, buddy. Look at me.””

Leo shook his head.

“Daddy's not going to hurt you.””

“You hurt Uncle Marco.””

“Uncle Marco was trying to take you away.””

“He said Mommy was waiting.””

Ricardo's face crumpled for a fraction of a second.

“I know, son.””

“Can we go see her?””

Ricardo swallowed.

“Yes,” he whispered.

“We're going to bring Mommy home.””

Leo reached for him.

Ricardo gathered his son into his arms, holding him so tightly that I wondered how long he'd been afraid to do exactly that.

Then his phone rang.

He answered without looking at the caller ID.

“What?””

A man's voice crackled through the speaker.

“Boss, we have a problem. The security footage from the east entrance has been erased.””

Ricardo stood.

“By whom?””

“We're checking. But there's something else. Someone accessed the family medical archive twenty minutes ago.””

Ricardo's expression hardened.

“What did they take?””

“The birth records. Both of them.””

Silence.

I could hear the faint hum of the air conditioner.

“Both?”” Ricardo repeated.

“Yes, boss. Leo's records and the records for the female infant delivered the same night.””

Ricardo closed his eyes.

“Lock down the building. Nobody leaves until I get there.””

He ended the call and turned to me.

“Someone is moving before we can.””

“Then stop wasting time interrogating Marco.””

His gaze sharpened.

I stepped closer.

“Sarah sent that message because she wants us to make a choice. But we don't even know where the children are. We don't know what happened to the daughter. And we don't know who is threatening her.””

“You think I haven't considered that?””

“I think you're so angry that you might make the wrong decision.””

For a moment, I thought he would throw me out.

Instead, he looked down at the phone again.

“You're right.””

The admission surprised me.

He handed the device to one of his guards.

“Trace the number. Recover the deleted footage. Get every vehicle we own ready.””

Then he turned to Marco.

“Put him in the basement. No contact with anyone.””

Marco laughed as the guards dragged him upright.

“You're making a mistake, boss.””

Ricardo approached him until they stood inches apart.

“No. My mistake was trusting you with my family.””

Marco's smile vanished.

As the guards pulled him through the doorway, he twisted his head toward me.

“Ask Ricardo what happened in the delivery room, Clara. Ask him why he never saw his daughter.””

The door slammed shut behind him.

I turned slowly toward Ricardo.

“What happened in the delivery room?””

He didn't answer immediately.

Instead, he walked to the window and stared at the dark Brooklyn streets below.

“Sarah went into labor early,” he finally said.

“There were complications. I was outside the operating room when the doctor came out and told me we'd lost our daughter.””

“And Sarah?””

“She was unconscious. When she woke up, the doctor told her the baby hadn't survived.””

“Did either of you see the child?””

His silence was answer enough.

I felt sick.

“Who delivered the baby?””

“Dr. Elias Bennett. He'd treated Sarah throughout her pregnancy.””

“Where is he now?””

“Dead.””

The word landed like a stone.

Ricardo looked at me.

“Three months after the delivery, his car went off a bridge. The police called it an accident.””

I remembered Sarah's final message.

Find Leo. Don't trust the men guarding him.

She'd known something was wrong.

Maybe she'd known all along.

My phone vibrated again.

This time, it was a video.

I pressed play.

Sarah appeared on the screen, sitting in a dimly lit room. She looked thinner than in the hospital photograph, but her eyes were alert.

“Clara, if you're watching this, I need you to listen carefully. Ricardo doesn't know the whole truth. I didn't tell him because I was afraid of what he'd do when he found out.””

She looked over her shoulder.

Then she leaned closer to the camera.

“Our daughter is alive. But the person who took her has been raising her under another name.””

My breath caught.

Sarah began crying.

“And Clara, there's something else. The man who took her isn't Marco.””

The screen went black.

A final line appeared beneath the video.

*LIVE TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED.*

Ricardo stared at the phone.

Then his private security chief rushed into the room, holding a tablet.

“Boss, we found the source of the transmission.””