Chapter 7 - The Bloodline Test
By 3:00 AM, the fire was crackling in the hearth of the Lake Geneva cabin.
The boys, cleaned and dressed in oversized flannels Elena found in the master bedroom, were fast asleep on a massive down mattress in the center of the living room, piled together like wolf cubs to keep warm.
Dr. Julian Alvarez set his stainless-steel medical kit on the dining table. He had just finished drawing blood samples from all four sleeping boys while Elena watched like a protective hawk from the corner.
Julian swabbed my inner cheek, sealed the swab in a sterile tube, and placed it alongside the four vials of blood.
"I have the portable rapid-PCR sequencer in my van," Julian said, his lined face drawn with tension. "It will take ninety minutes to confirm the match."
"Do you really need a test, Julian?" I asked, staring through the glass at the four identical faces sleeping peacefully under the firelight.
"In our world? Yes," Julian said grimly. "If you claim these boys as the heirs to the Moretti empire, every captain, every soldier, and every rival family will demand proof. If there is even a fraction of doubt, they will see it as a ploy to consolidate power. You know the syndicate rules, Alejandro. A false heir means war."
"It's already war," I said, turning away from the window. "Someone poisoned Sofia. Someone sent Russian mercs to slaughter my blood. When I find out who authorized this, the syndicate rules won't save them."
Julian sighed, adjusting his glasses. "There's something else you need to see, Alejandro. While Elena was getting the boys settled, she gave me Sofia's final pathology reports from that Mexican clinic. I ran the chemical markers through my database while driving up here."
My fists clenched so tightly the skin over my knuckles turned chalk white. "What did they use?"
"Thallium-201," Julian said quietly. "A tasteless, odorless radioisotope. Highly restricted. It mimics progressive multi-organ failure. But more importantly... it has a signature."
"Whose signature?"
"The supplier is based in Chicago. He only sells to one buyer: The Moretti Import Company."
My heart stopped.
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The Moretti Import Company was managed exclusively by one man: my uncle, Silvio Moretti.
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