One night, One secret

CHAPTER 7

DANTE’S POV

The boy’s eyes were mine.

It was the first thing I saw, the first thing that felt like a punch to the chest …. that sharp, storm-brown stare I had carried through battles, betrayals, years of blood and fire.

And now it was looking at me from a child’s face.

My son.

The words were foreign and familiar at the same time, a contradiction that made my pulse thunder in my ears. My son.

I had never thought those words would belong to me.

And yet here he was, sitting at a kitchen table too small for him, a book spread in front of him, looking at me like I was a stranger. Which, in his world, I was.

I wanted to tear through time itself and claim what was mine …. the birthdays I’d missed, the scraped knees I hadn’t bandaged, the nights he must have asked about me without answers. Rage boiled in my blood, hot, bitter, wild. Rage at Elena for stealing him from me. Rage at myself for not knowing, for letting it happen.

But underneath the rage was something else. Something I hadn’t felt in years.

Hope.

It scared the hell out of me.

…

Elena stood behind me, rigid, her breath uneven. I could feel her nerves like a current in the room. She thought I’d ruin him. That I’d drag my son into fire before he even knew what it was.

She didn’t know me anymore. She didn’t know that this boy … my boy ….was the first reason I’d had to breathe without blood on my tongue.

He tilted his head. “Do you like soccer?”

The question was so simple, so pure, it cut through me sharper than any blade. I had expected tears, anger, and fear. Instead, he asked if I liked soccer.

I almost laughed, but it caught in my throat. “I used to play.”

His eyes lit up, shining with something that punched the air out of my chest. “Can you show me sometime?”

Show me. Not prove, not explain, not justify….. show me.

I nodded once. “Yes. I can.”

His grin was quick, bright, and then it vanished as he glanced back at Elena, as if searching for permission.

The silence between us stretched, heavy with all the words unsaid. Elena’s hand twitched at her side, but she didn’t stop him. She didn’t stop me.

For the first time in years, I felt like I had won something worth more than all the territory in this city.

…

Mrs. Romano hovered in the doorway, her sharp eyes flicking between us. She didn’t trust me….and why should she? She knew what kind of man I was.

“I’ll give you some space,” she muttered, and left the kitchen. Her footsteps faded, leaving only the three of us in the room.

The air felt too small, too thick. Luca was staring at me, curiosity written across his small features. Elena was staring at me too, but hers was different…… tight, wary, filled with years of anger.

I looked at her, meeting her glare head-on. “We need to talk.”

“Not in front of him,” she snapped.

Luca frowned. “Mom?”

Her hand smoothed his hair, gentle, steady, even though I could see her fingers trembling. “It’s late, sweetheart. Go get your things. We’ll head home soon.”

Home. My jaw clenched. What home? The one she’d built without me? The one where my son didn’t even know I existed?

But I swallowed the anger. For now.

Luca nodded, slid off the chair, and padded out of the kitchen. The moment his footsteps faded, Elena rounded on me, fire blazing in her eyes.

“How dare you,” she hissed.

I straightened, the rage I’d been holding in roaring to the surface. “How dare I? You hid him from me. You had my son, Elena, and you let me walk the streets of this city every damn day without knowing. Do you know what I’ve done, what I’ve bled for …..while he was here?”

Her arms folded across her chest like armor. “I did what I had to do to protect him. To protect myself.”

“Protect him from what?” I stepped closer, my voice sharp. “From me?”

“Yes!” Her voice cracked. “From this…..from you and everything you drag behind you. Guns, blood, enemies at every turn. I wasn’t going to let my son grow up in the shadows, waiting for the day someone tried to use him against you.”

Her words sliced, but I didn’t back down. “And instead you let him grow up thinking he had no father. You thought that was better? That it wouldn’t break him one day?”

Tears glistened in her eyes, but her chin stayed high. “At least he was safe.”

Safe. That word again.

I shook my head, anger boiling over. “You think safety is real in this city? You think your lies could build walls high enough to keep him untouched? Elena, you’ve been gone too long. You don’t know what’s moving in the dark. If I didn’t find him tonight, someone else would have.”

Her lips parted, but no words came out. Fear flickered in her eyes …. not of me, but of what I was saying.

She knew I was right.

…

Luca returned, clutching his backpack, a stuffed bear sticking out from the zipper. He looked between us, sensing the tension like any child would.

“Are we going home?” he asked softly.

Elena swallowed hard. “Yes, baby. We’re going….”

“No.” My voice cut in, firm, final.

Both of them froze. Luca blinked. Elena’s head snapped toward me, fury blazing. “Excuse me?”

I met her glare. “He’s not leaving my sight. Not now. Not after this.”

“You can’t just decide that….”

“I can,” I growled, stepping closer. “And I will. He’s mine, Elena. Mine as much as yours. You don’t get to steal him again.”

Her breath hitched, anger warring with panic. “You’ll traumatize him. You can’t just drag him into your world overnight. He doesn’t even know you.”

“Then he’ll learn.” My eyes cut to Luca, softer, steadier. “I’ll show him who I am. He deserves that. I deserve that.”

Elena’s hands trembled at her sides. She wanted to fight, but she knew the truth …. I wouldn’t let her walk out that door with him. Not again.

Not ever.

…

Luca’s small voice broke the storm between us.

“Are you… are you gonna stay with us now?”

The room went silent. My chest ached with the weight of that question.

I bent down, meeting his eyes again. Those eyes that mirrored mine, strong and unflinching even in their innocence.

“Yes,” I said, steady, promising. “I’m staying.”

Elena turned away sharply, her shoulders rigid, but I saw the tears she tried to hide.

This was the beginning.

She thought she could keep him from me. She thought she could fight me. But I had already decided.

Nothing …. not Elena, not this city, not even the ghosts waiting in the dark would keep me from my son again.

…

As I rose, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out, glancing at the screen.

A message.

No name. No number. Just words.

“Nice family you’ve got. I wonder how long they’ll stay breathing.”

My blood went cold.

And I knew, in that moment, safety was already an illusion.