Chapter 3 - THE TWO BOYS IN THE ALLEY
Luca did not speak for several seconds.
He could not.
The alley seemed to have narrowed around the stroller.
Two boys.
About a year old.
Dark hair beginning to curl at the ends.
One with Natalie’s mouth.
One with something horribly, unmistakably familiar around the eyes.
Luca looked at Natalie.
“You had twins.”
Her face went hard.
“You knew I was carrying twins.”
“I mean—you had them.”
“Yes.”
His eyes went back to the stroller.
“Are they—”
“Don’t.”
The word stopped him.
Natalie moved herself between Luca and the children as much as the
narrow alley allowed.
He stared.
“Nat.”
“You don’t get to call me that.”
The old nickname died instantly between them.
Luca swallowed.
“What are their names?”
She hesitated.
It angered him that she had to think about whether he deserved even
that.
Then she said, “Eli and Noah.”
He repeated the names under his breath.
“Eli. Noah.”
Noah kicked one shoe against the stroller bar.
Luca almost smiled.
The expression collapsed before it finished.
“How old?”
Natalie laughed once, sharp and joyless.
“You can do the math.”
His face changed.
“Natalie.”
“They were born seven weeks after you left.”
Luca went still.
Seven weeks.
Premature.
He looked at the boys again, suddenly seeing everything he had not seen.
Hospital bracelets. Incubators. First cries. First night. First bottle.
First fever. First laugh.
A year of firsts had happened somewhere without him.
He had made that possible.
“The test said—”
“I know what the test said.”
“I need to know if they’re mine.”
Natalie’s expression turned so cold it almost steadied him.
“You needed to know that when I was standing in our bedroom begging you
to stay.”
His jaw tightened.
“I made a decision based on evidence.”
“You made a decision based on one piece of evidence.”
“A medical test.”
“One test, Luca.”
“It excluded me.”
“And I told you it was wrong.”
“You expect me to pretend that meant nothing?”
“No.” Her voice shook now. “I expected you to remember who I was.”
Silence.
Luca looked away first.
Footsteps approached the alley entrance behind him.
Evelyn.
She stopped when she saw Natalie.
Then she saw the stroller.
Her entire face changed.
“Natalie.”
Natalie laughed softly.
“You too.”
Evelyn’s gaze moved to the twins.
For one second, raw emotion broke through her control.
Then she rebuilt herself.
Luca noticed.
“You knew,” he said.
Evelyn’s eyes snapped to him.
“No.”
Natalie looked between them.
“Interesting choice of first word.”
Evelyn took one careful step forward.
“I did not know where you were.”
“That is not what he asked.”
“Natalie—”
“Did you know they were born?”
Evelyn said nothing.
That silence lasted one second too long.
Luca turned fully toward his sister.
“Did you?”
Evelyn’s face hardened.
“I knew she had been admitted to St. Catherine’s.”
Natalie closed her eyes briefly.
There it was.
Luca stared.
“When?”
“Last year.”
“When?”
“After the Chicago financing closed.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Luca.”
“When?”
Evelyn exhaled.
“Three weeks after you left.”
His face went white.
Natalie looked away.
Luca’s voice dropped.
“She was seven months pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“And hospitalized.”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t tell me?”
“I was told it was pregnancy-related and that Natalie did not want
Moretti contact.”
Natalie spun toward her.
“That is a lie.”
Evelyn’s jaw tightened.
“It is what family counsel reported.”
“I never told anyone not to contact Luca until after the babies were
born.”
The alley went silent.
Luca looked between them.
Something dark and old opened behind his eyes.
Natalie grabbed the stroller.
“We’re done.”
She moved toward the far exit.
Luca stepped aside but said, “Wait.”
She kept going.
“I’m not going to stop you.”
That made her pause.
He stood where he was.
No reaching. No grabbing. No demand.
“I need one thing.”
Natalie turned.
“What?”
“An independent DNA test.”
Her expression hardened again.
“No.”
“If I’m their father—”
“You signed that you weren’t.”
“I signed an affidavit based on fraud if that test was falsified.”
“You signed a paper that said you wanted no custodial claim.”
“Because I believed they weren’t mine.”
“And before you signed anything, you left.”
The sentence landed cleanly.
Evelyn looked away.
Luca did not defend himself.
Good.
Natalie pushed the stroller toward the exit again.
Then Noah dropped the cloth rabbit.
It landed near Luca’s shoe.
He bent automatically and picked it up.
For one second he held the small toy in his hand.
Noah looked at him.
Luca stepped toward the stroller slowly.
Natalie tensed.
He stopped two feet away and held out the rabbit to her, not the child.
Natalie took it.
Their fingers almost touched.
Luca whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Natalie’s eyes filled, but her voice remained steady.
“That apology is thirteen months late.”
She walked away.
Luca stood in the alley watching the double stroller disappear into
sunlight.
Then he turned toward Evelyn.
His expression was no longer shocked.
It was controlled.
Moretti controlled.
That was worse.
“Tell me everything you knew.”
Evelyn held his stare.
“I will.”
“Now.”
She hesitated.
Luca’s eyes sharpened.
“What?”
Evelyn said quietly:
“There is something else about the affidavit you signed.”
He went still.
“What?”
“It was filed after the twins were born.”
Luca stared at her.
“That’s impossible.”
“No,” Evelyn said. “It’s worse.”
May you like
And for the first time, Luca understood that the paternity test might
not have been the biggest lie.
