CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 10
The Girl Who Called Him Father
The first rule Alessandro Moretti had ever learned was simple:
Never let anyone know what you love.
Because love created openings.
Enemies searched for openings.
They waited.
They watched.
They calculated.
And when they found the thing that mattered most...
They destroyed it.
For thirty-four years, Alessandro followed that rule.
He built walls around himself.
He hid emotions behind silence.
He turned pain into discipline.
Fear into control.
Loss into ambition.
People believed Alessandro Moretti had no weakness.
They were wrong.
He simply had not found one yet.
Until Emma.
The empty room felt impossible.
Alessandro stood beside the bed where she had slept every night.
The small blanket was still there.
The stuffed rabbit's missing thread lay on the floor.
A drawing was taped beside the lamp.
A childâs drawing.
Four figures holding hands.
Clara.
Emma.
Alessandro.
And Daniel.
He stared at the picture.
Then slowly picked it up.
His hands were shaking.
Luca noticed.
He said nothing.
Because everyone in the room understood something terrifying.
Alessandro Moretti was afraid.
"Find her."
The command was quiet.
But every person in the mansion moved instantly.
Every camera.
Every road.
Every vehicle leaving Milan.
Every contact.
Every possible hiding place.
The entire Moretti organization woke up.
Not because their leader demanded it.
Because they had seen his face.
And they knew.
Someone had crossed a line.
Clara stood frozen near the doorway.
Tears filled her eyes.
"This is my fault."
Alessandro turned.
"No."
"I should have left with her."
"No."
"I should have knownâ"
"Clara."
His voice stopped her.
For the first time, there was no anger.
Only certainty.
"This is not your fault."
She looked at him.
"Then whose is it?"
Alessandro looked at the empty bed.
"The people who forgot she is a child."
That sentence changed something.
Because Alessandro Moretti did not say:
They took the Romano heir.
They took my responsibility.
They took my advantage.
He said:
They took a child.
And everyone heard the difference.
Two hours later, Luca found the location.
An abandoned warehouse outside Milan.
Old Romano territory.
A message had been sent from inside.
Alessandro prepared himself.
Weapons.
Men.
Vehicles.
Everything.
But before leaving, Clara stopped him.
"Bring her back."
He looked at her.
"I will."
"No."
Her voice broke.
"Don't promise me as Alessandro Moretti."
A pause.
"Promise me as the man Emma believes you are."
The words hit deeper.
Because Emma did not know the feared man.
She knew the one who cut strawberries badly.
The one who listened to her stories.
The one who promised he would stay.
Alessandro nodded.
"I'll bring her back."
The warehouse was dark.
Cold.
Empty.
The kind of place where people disappeared.
Alessandro entered alone.
Exactly as the note demanded.
"Emma!"
His voice echoed.
No answer.
Then...
A small sound.
A child's voice.
"Daddy?"
Alessandro froze.
She was there.
Sitting on a wooden chair.
Holding Mr. Bunny.
A man stood behind her.
Antonio Moretti.
But Antonio was not alone.
The woman in the white coat stood beside him.
Isabella.
Alessandro's expression changed.
"Isabella."
She looked away.
"You came."
"You knew I would."
"Yes."
Antonio smiled.
"Look at you."
"What?"
"You."
A laugh.
"The great Alessandro Moretti."
"The man who never cared about anything."
Antonio looked at Emma.
"And now?"
Alessandro's eyes never left the child.
"Let her go."
Antonio shook his head.
"You still don't understand."
He stepped closer.
"Emma is not just a girl."
"She is a symbol."
"A symbol that could unite every old family under one name."
Alessandro's voice was cold.
"She is not a weapon."
Antonio smiled.
"That's what your father said."
A pause.
"Look how well that worked out for him."
Emma looked at Alessandro.
She wasn't crying.
That worried him more.
She was scared.
But she was trying to be brave.
Like Daniel.
"Are you hurt?"
She shook her head.
"No."
"Did they touch you?"
"No."
Then quietly:
"I knew you would come."
Those words almost destroyed him.
Because she had believed.
Completely.
Antonio laughed.
"She really does trust you."
"She shouldn't."
Alessandro looked at him.
"She should."
Antonio's smile disappeared.
"Do you know what happens when people like us love someone?"
Antonio asked.
"They become weak."
Alessandro looked at Emma.
Then answered:
"No."
A pause.
"They become brave."
Antonio raised his weapon.
The guards surrounding the warehouse moved.
But Alessandro didn't.
Because Emma was between them.
Then something unexpected happened.
Emma stood.
"Stop."
Everyone froze.
The little girl walked forward.
Clara would have screamed if she had been there.
Luca would have moved instantly.
But Alessandro remained still.
Because he trusted her.
Emma looked at Antonio.
"You are sad."
Antonio blinked.
"What?"
"You are angry."
A pause.
"But you are sad."
Nobody spoke.
Emma held up Mr. Bunny.
"Daddy said people who are angry usually hurt because someone hurt them first."
Antonio's face changed.
For a second...
He looked human.
Then the anger returned.
"Your father was wrong."
Emma shook her head.
"No."
A small pause.
"He was kind."
The words landed.
Because everyone who knew Daniel knew that was his greatest strength.
And greatest weakness.
Antonio raised the weapon again.
But before he could move...
Isabella stepped forward.
"No."
Everyone looked at her.
Antonio turned.
"You?"
She looked at Emma.
Then at Alessandro.
Then back at Antonio.
"Daniel was right."
Antonio laughed.
"You betrayed your family."
"No."
Her voice trembled.
"You did."
A silence.
"You killed him."
Antonio's face changed.
"You don't know what you're saying."
"I do."
Isabella stepped closer.
"I found the records."
Alessandro watched carefully.
"The order didn't come from Lorenzo Moretti."
She looked at Antonio.
"It came from you."
Antonio's expression broke.
Just slightly.
But enough.
Alessandro understood.
The final piece.
The betrayal of blood.
Antonio moved suddenly.
Everything happened at once.
A gunshot.
A scream.
Movement.
Alessandro didn't think.
He only reacted.
He reached Emma.
Pulled her into his arms.
And turned.
The bullet struck him.
For one second...
Nobody moved.
Then Emma screamed.
"Daddy!"
The word echoed through the warehouse.
Not because of the volume.
Because of the meaning.
Alessandro fell to one knee.
But he kept holding her.
Emma grabbed his face.
"No."
Her small hands trembled.
"Don't go."
He looked at her.
The world became quieter.
"I promised."
His voice was weak.
"I said I would stay."
Tears filled her eyes.
"Please."
And for the first time in his life...
Alessandro Moretti cried.
Not from pain.
Not from fear.
From the impossible weight of being loved by someone who had no reason to love him.
He touched her hair.
"I found you."
A shaky breath.
"I found my daughter."
The warehouse went silent.
Because everyone heard it.
The mafia boss.
The feared man.
The man who had never bowed.
Had finally admitted the truth.
Not by blood.
Not by name.
By choice.
DADDY.
And somewhere far away...
The person watching the entire scene smiled.
Because the plan had worked.
Alessandro Moretti had finally found his weakness.
May you like
Now they only had to take it away.
End of Chapter 10
