Chapter 536: The Seventh Blood
Chapter 536: The Seventh Blood
Chapter 536: The Seventh Blood
The rain had stopped by the time Isabella and Dante left the office building.
Chicago glittered beneath the streetlights, wet pavement reflecting every passing headlight. The city looked normal.
Isabella knew better now.
She sat in the passenger seat of Dante's car, staring through the window while he drove toward the address Elena had given them.
Michael Vale.
Dante's uncle.
The missing heir to an empire.
And possibly the only man alive who knew where Antonio was.
Dante drove in silence.
Finally Isabella said, “You're thinking too loudly.”
He glanced at her.
“I didn't know I did that.”
“You do when you're angry.”
“I'm not angry.”
She looked at him.
“Dante.”
He sighed.
“Fine. I'm angry.”
“At Michael?”
“At everyone.”
His hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“My father disappears. Your mother knows more than she tells us. Voss has been watching you. Six families are apparently fighting over an empire neither of us wants.”
“And your family has a missing seventh branch.”
“Exactly.”
Isabella reached across the console and placed her hand over his.
“Then we'll figure it out.”
Dante looked at her hand.
“You keep saying that like it's simple.”
“It isn't.”
“Then why aren't you afraid?”
“I am.”
He looked at her.
“I'm terrified.”
“Good.”
She frowned.
“Why do you keep saying that?”
“Because fear keeps you alive.”
“And what keeps you alive?”
“You.”
The answer came so quickly that Isabella forgot what she had been about to say.
Dante looked back at the road.
“I mean it.”
She squeezed his hand.
“I know.”
The address led them to an old private club on the north side. Its sign had been removed years ago, but the building still looked expensive enough to belong to people who didn't want their names displayed.
Dante parked across the street.
“No security cameras on the front,” Isabella said.
“There are cameras.”
She looked at him.
“Where?”
“Everywhere.”
He pointed toward a streetlamp.
“Hidden camera.”
Then toward a parked delivery truck.
“Another.”
Isabella frowned.
“Who owns this place?”
“That's what we're going to find out.”
They crossed the street.
Dante didn't enter through the front.
He led Isabella around the building and opened a rusted service gate.
Inside, the hallway smelled of old tobacco and expensive whiskey.
A single light burned at the end.
Dante raised his weapon.
Isabella stayed close.
“Do you think Michael is here?”
“No.”
“Then why are we here?”
“Because someone wants us to think he is.”
They reached a locked office.
Dante examined the door.
Then he noticed the brass plaque.
M. VALE.
He went completely still.
Isabella touched his arm.
“Dante?”
“He's here.”
The lock clicked open.
Inside, everything was covered in dust except one desk.
On it sat a glass of whiskey.
Still full.
Beside it was a black envelope.
Dante approached slowly.
He opened it.
A photograph fell onto the desk.
It showed Antonio Vale standing outside the Saint Marlowe Hotel.
Beside him stood Michael.
Both men were alive.
The photograph was dated three weeks earlier.
Isabella's breath caught.
“Three weeks.”
Dante stared at the image.
“My father was alive three weeks ago.”
A voice came from behind them.
“He still is.”
Dante spun around.
A man stood in the doorway.
Late fifties.
Dark suit.
Silver at his temples.
His face carried the same sharp features as Dante.
Isabella immediately knew.
“Michael.”
The man smiled faintly.
“You look like your father.”
Dante raised his weapon.
“Where is he?”
Michael didn't move.
“Lower the gun.”
“No.”
“You won't shoot me.”
“Try me.”
Michael studied him.
Then he looked at Isabella.
“And you're Isabella.”
“Yes.”
“I've wanted to meet you for a long time.”
“Why?”
“Because your father believed you were the key.”
“To what?”
Michael's expression darkened.
“To ending Blackwater.”
Dante lowered the weapon slightly.
“Then why did he build it?”
“He didn't.”
Michael walked toward the desk.
“Blackwater existed before Antonio. Your grandfather built the original network. Antonio inherited it.”
“And Voss?”
“A servant.”
Dante's jaw tightened.
“He said he was your father's strategist.”
“He was.”
Michael poured himself the whiskey.
“Voss was brilliant. Patient. Loyal.”
“Was?”
“He stopped being loyal twenty years ago.”
Isabella stepped forward.
“What happened twenty years ago?”
Michael looked at her.
“Antonio discovered the council had decided to eliminate the Vale family.”
“Why?”
“Because Antonio wanted out.”
Dante frowned.
“Out of Blackwater?”
“Completely.”
Michael drank.
“He wanted to dismantle the organization and disappear with his family.”
“And they wouldn't let him.”
“No.”
“Then why is he alive?”
Michael set the glass down.
“Because your father made a deal.”
“With whom?”
“The council.”
Dante stared.
“What deal?”
Michael's voice lowered.
“Antonio agreed to remain the seventh head until a successor could be prepared.”
Isabella felt cold.
“And that successor is Dante?”
Michael nodded.
“Yes.”
Dante shook his head.
“I never agreed to this.”
“Neither did your father.”
“Then why me?”
“Because you're the last direct heir.”
Dante looked away.
Michael continued.
“There is another reason.”
Isabella waited.
“Your father discovered the council had another plan.”
“What plan?”
“They don't want Dante to lead.”
“Then who?”
Michael looked directly at Isabella.
“They want you.”
Isabella's stomach dropped.
“Why?”
“Because the six families fear Dante.”
Michael paused.
“They believe you can unite them.”
Dante stepped closer.
“No one is taking her.”
Michael looked at him.
“You still don't understand.”
“Then explain it.”
“The council doesn't need Isabella to rule.”
Michael's expression became grim.
“They need her bloodline to legitimize the seventh seat.”
Silence filled the office.
Isabella shook her head.
“I don't have your blood.”
Michael smiled.
“Your mother is not your mother by blood.”
Isabella stopped breathing.
Dante turned toward Michael.
“What did you just say?”
Michael looked at the door.
“You should ask Elena.”
“No.”
Dante stepped forward.
“You're going to tell us now.”
Michael shook his head.
“Not here.”
A gunshot shattered the window.
Michael ducked.
Dante pulled Isabella behind the desk.
Another bullet tore through the wall.
“Sniper!” Dante shouted.
Michael grabbed a hidden pistol from beneath the desk.
Isabella stared at him.
“You knew this was coming.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Michael looked toward the broken window.
“Voss.”
Dante fired toward the opposite rooftop.
Michael grabbed his coat.
“We have seconds.”
“Where are we going?”
“To your father.”
Dante froze.
“You know where he is?”
Michael nodded.
“He's waiting.”
“Where?”
Michael looked at Isabella.
“The place where Blackwater began.”
Outside, another shot cracked through the night.
Dante grabbed Isabella's hand.
“Let's go.”
Michael opened a hidden door behind the bookcase.
Before stepping through, Isabella looked back at the photograph on the desk.
Antonio and Michael.
Alive.
Together.
Three weeks ago.
For the first time, the mystery felt close enough to touch.
Then Michael spoke from the darkness.
“One more thing.”
Isabella turned.
“What?”
Michael's face was grim.
“Your father didn't disappear to save himself.”
“Then why?”
“Because someone inside the family betrayed him.”
Dante's expression hardened.
“Who?”
Michael looked directly at him.
“Your mother.”
Isabella couldn't move. Dante couldn't speak. For one terrible moment, even the rain outside seemed to disappear.
Michael stepped closer, his voice barely above a whisper.
“Elena didn't betray Antonio because she wanted the empire. She betrayed him because the council gave her one choice: protect her daughter, or watch Isabella die.”
Dante's eyes darkened.
“And what did she do?”
Michael opened the hidden passage.
“She chose Isabella.”
Then he disappeared into the darkness.
Dante looked at Isabella.
She looked back at him, tears gathering in her eyes.
“My mother saved me?”
“Maybe.”
“And destroyed your family?”
Dante reached for her hand.
“We'll find out the truth.”
Isabella nodded.
Together, they followed Michael into the hidden passage, leaving the abandoned club behind.
Neither of them noticed the figure standing across the street.
Voss lowered his binoculars.
His phone rang.
He answered.
“She's with them.”
A pause.
Then Voss smiled.
“No. Let them reach Antonio.”
He looked toward the hidden entrance.
“Tonight, the Vale family finally comes home.”