Chapter 4 - The Man Behind the Locked DoorAdrian Cole knew the Moretti mansion better than almost anyone.
Men in his world who believed in coincidences usually died because of them.
Yet in less than an hour, his supposedly dead lover had returned, his four-year-old daughter had appeared in his home, and the name of his murdered brother had entered the same conversation.
That was not coincidence.
That was a war arriving late.
“Tell me everything,” Luca said.
Sofia sat opposite his desk.
“Matteo found me the night Vittorio’s men came looking.”
“How?”
“He’d been following Vittorio.”
Luca’s expression changed.
Matteo had always been reckless, charming, impossible to control.
But he had also been loyal.
Too loyal, Luca now realized.
“He knew Bellini was working behind my back?”
“He suspected it.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“Because he didn’t know who around you he could trust.”
Dominic leaned forward.
“That includes me.”
Sofia nodded apologetically.
“Yes.”
Dominic did not seem offended.
In their world, suspicion was healthier than trust.
Sofia continued.
“Matteo drove me to Milwaukee. He gave me cash, new identification, and instructions. I lived there six months before moving to Indianapolis. Then St. Louis. Then back to Chicago under another name.”
Luca stared at her.
“You came back here?”
“My mother got sick.”
“Your mother died two years ago.”
“I know.”
“You were in Chicago when she died?”
Sofia nodded.
“I watched the funeral from across the street.”
Pain crossed Luca’s face.
He remembered that funeral.
He had stood beside Sofia’s mother’s grave believing both mother and daughter were gone.
“You should have told me.”
“I wanted to.”
“But?”
“Matteo was dead.”
The room quieted.
Sofia twisted the chain from the key around her finger.
“Before his accident, Matteo called once a month from burner phones. After he died, I knew whoever had threatened us was still powerful enough to reach your family.”
“And you thought I might be part of it.”
“No.”
Her answer came immediately.
“I thought someone near you was.”
That hurt in a different way.
Because Luca knew she might have been right.
For years, his inner circle had been tiny.
Dominic.
His uncle Salvatore.
His cousin Marco.
His chief accountant, Henry Walsh.
His personal security commander, Adrian Cole.
People who had eaten at his table.
People who knew his habits.
People who could block calls from Sofia without raising suspicion.
Dominic looked at the brass key.
“We go tonight.”
Sofia shook her head.
“No.”
Luca frowned.
“Why?”
“Matteo left instructions. The box opens only during banking hours, and there are two keys.”
“Two?”
“I have one.”
“Who has the other?”
Sofia looked at Luca.
“You do.”
“I’ve never seen it.”
“Yes, you have.”
Luca searched his memory.
Then he understood.
Matteo’s watch.
After the funeral, Luca had received a sealed package from the county coroner containing Matteo’s personal effects.
Wallet.
Watch.
Ring.
A damaged phone.
Luca had locked them inside a drawer in his bedroom and never touched them again.
He stood.
“Stay here.”
He climbed upstairs.
The mansion was nearly silent now.
Guests had left.
Staff moved carefully, aware something enormous had happened.
Bianca stood in the upper hallway.
Still wearing her silver gown.
Mascara streaked beneath her eyes.
“Were you ever going to love me?”
Luca stopped.
It would have been easy to lie.
He didn’t.
“I respected you.”
She laughed bitterly.
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“No.”
Bianca stared at him.
“Because of her?”
“Because that part of me died before you and I ever met.”
“And now it’s alive again?”
Luca said nothing.
The answer was enough.
Bianca stepped aside.
“My father will never accept this.”
“I’m not marrying your father.”
“You know what I mean.”
Luca continued walking.
Bianca called after him.
“Be careful.”
He stopped.
She lowered her voice.
“My father knew the maid.”
Luca turned.
Bianca’s face had become pale.
“At dinner six months ago, she spilled wine near him. He stared at her like he recognized her.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I thought he was angry.”
“Did he speak to her?”
“No.”
“Did he ask about her?”
“Afterward.”
Luca’s eyes sharpened.
“What did he ask?”
“Who hired her. How long she had worked here. Whether she lived alone.”
A cold sensation moved through Luca.
“When?”
“February.”
Six months.
If Vittorio had recognized Sofia six months ago, why was she still alive?
Either he wasn’t certain—
or he had been waiting.
Luca went to his bedroom and opened the drawer containing Matteo’s belongings.
He removed the old steel watch.
Nothing.
Then he remembered something his brother used to do.
Matteo hated conventional hiding places.
“People search inside things,” he once said. “Nobody searches the thing that holds the thing.”
Luca examined the watch box.
He tore out the velvet lining.
A tiny silver key lay underneath.
Stamped with the same number as Sofia’s.
When Luca returned to the office, the door was open.
Dominic stood in the hallway with his gun drawn.
Luca’s blood froze.
“Sofia?”
“Inside.”
Luca entered.
Sofia was kneeling beside Lily.
Maria stood nearby.
The little girl was crying.
“What happened?”
Lily held something in her hand.
A folded piece of paper.
“Someone put it in my pocket.”
Luca crouched.
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
Sofia unfolded it.
Three words had been printed in black ink.
SHE SHOULD’VE STAYED DEAD.
Luca’s face changed.
Dominic immediately contacted security.
“Lock every gate. Nobody leaves.”
Sofia pulled Lily into her arms.
“I knew this would happen.”
Luca turned toward her.
“Nobody touches either of you.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“Yes, I can.”
“No, Luca. Matteo promised too.”
That stopped him.
Sofia stood.
“I’m leaving.”
“You’re not.”
“You don’t decide where I go.”
“Someone just threatened my daughter inside my house.”
“Our daughter.”
The correction sliced between them.
Luca softened his voice.
“Our daughter.”
Sofia looked away.
He continued.
“If Vittorio knows you’re alive, running won’t protect Lily anymore.”
“And staying beside you will?”
“It gives them one place to attack.”
“That’s supposed to comfort me?”
“No.”
Luca looked toward Dominic.
“It makes them predictable.”
Dominic nodded.
Luca called Adrian Cole, his security commander.
Adrian arrived ten minutes later.
Tall.
Forty-five.
Former military contractor.
He had protected Luca for seven years.
Luca handed him the note.
“Fingerprints. Cameras. Every employee.”
Adrian examined it.
“I’ll handle it.”
As Adrian left, Sofia stared after him.
Something bothered her.
“What?”
Luca noticed.
“Nothing.”
“Sofia.”
She lowered her voice.
“When I disappeared, Matteo told me there was one man I should never allow near Lily.”
Luca’s stomach tightened.
“Who?”
“He didn’t give me a name.”
“Then how—”
“He said I’d recognize him by a tattoo.”
Adrian was already halfway down the hall.
Sofia moved toward the door.
“On his right wrist. A black Roman numeral.”
Luca looked through the doorway.
Adrian reached for his radio.
His jacket sleeve lifted.
Black ink showed beneath his cuff.
Roman numeral XIII.
Thirteen.
Exactly as Sofia described.
Luca’s hand went toward his gun.
But Adrian suddenly looked back.
Their eyes met.
For one second, nobody moved.
May you like
Then Adrian smiled.
And ran.
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