Chapter 3 - The Child Both Families Needed

Julian stared at the photograph.

“A merger?”

Anthony nodded.

“Russo shipping.”

“Bell banking.”

“Two families.”

“One alliance.”

Albert sat beside the desk.

“Dominic Russo wanted Bell money.”

“Michael Bell wanted Russo ports.”

Julian looked at Anthony.

“And my mother?”

“A convenient bridge.”

Anthony’s voice tightened.

“Claire was a Russo by blood.”

“I was a Bell.”

Julian understood.

“If she had my child…”

Anthony nodded.

“You connected both families without contracts.”

Julian looked at Albert.

“But then why erase Anthony?”

Albert answered:

“Because Anthony discovered where Bell money came from.”

Michael’s illegal transfers.

Offshore accounts.

False charities.

Bribes.

Anthony continued.

“I threatened to go to federal investigators.”

Julian looked at him.

“And Michael needed you gone.”

“Yes.”

“But why let me live?”

Anthony smiled bitterly.

“Because you were still useful.”

Julian’s face went hard.

“So Robert married my mother.”

“Yes.”

“And adopted me.”

“Yes.”

“Without Anthony’s consent.”

Albert nodded.

“The false death certificate solved that problem.”

Julian paced once across the room.

“Did my mother know Anthony was alive?”

Anthony looked at Albert.

Albert answered:

“Not until Julian was eight.”

Julian stopped.

“What happened when I was eight?”

Anthony said:

“I found her.”

Silence.

Julian turned.

“You met my mother?”

“Yes.”

“Where?”

“In Boston.”

“She was there for a charity event.”

Julian stared.

“What did she do?”

Anthony’s face softened.

“She cried.”

Julian looked away.

His mother had died when he was twelve.

He remembered her perfume.

Her piano.

Her habit of touching his hair when he was sick.

He remembered none of this.

“She believed you were dead.”

“Yes.”

“And when she found out?”

“She wanted to leave Robert.”

Julian’s expression changed.

“But she didn’t.”

Anthony said nothing.

Julian understood.

“Robert stopped her.”

Albert spoke.

“Robert threatened Anthony.”

Julian looked at him.

“With what?”

“With you.”

Anthony continued.

“He said if I approached Claire again, you would disappear.”

Julian froze.

“As in kidnapped?”

Anthony looked directly at him.

“As in dead.”

Silence.

Julian stared at the floor.

“So you left.”

“Yes.”

“For me.”

“Yes.”

Julian laughed without humor.

“Everyone keeps saying they lied to protect me.”

Anthony stood.

“I am not asking you to forgive me.”

Julian looked at him.

“I don’t even know you.”

“I know.”

“That may be the worst part.”

Anthony nodded.

Julian asked:

“What happened to my mother four years later?”

Anthony’s eyes changed.

Albert looked down.

Julian saw both reactions.

“She died in a car accident.”

Anthony said nothing.

Julian stepped closer.

“Didn’t she?”

Albert opened the folder again.

A crash report.

Julian took it.

He read.

Brake failure.

Rain.

Bridge.

No witnesses.

He looked up.

“You think it was intentional.”

Anthony answered:

“I know it was.”

Julian’s face hardened.

“How?”

Anthony removed a small cassette tape.

“My mother recorded this two days before she died.”

Julian stared.

“You have her voice?”

“Yes.”

Anthony placed the tape in an old recorder.

Pressed play.

Claire’s voice filled the room.

Older than Julian remembered.

Tired.

Afraid.

“Anthony, if something happens to me, Robert knows I found the original Bell ledgers.”

Julian stopped breathing.

The recording continued.

“Michael knows too.”

A pause.

“And Dominic Russo told Robert that Julian can never learn who his father is.”

Julian’s hand tightened.

Claire continued:

“The ledgers are not about money.”

“They are about children.”

The tape clicked.

Stopped.

Julian looked at Anthony.

“What does that mean?”

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Anthony answered:

“I’ve been trying to find out for twenty-two years.”