Chapter 5 - The Mother Matteo Believed Was Dead
Matteo could not breathe.
His mother had died sixteen years earlier.
A heart attack.
A funeral.
A sealed coffin.
He had watched it.
Or believed he had.
Now she stood twenty feet away.
Older.
But alive.
“Mom.”
The woman looked at him.
“Matteo.”
His voice was barely audible.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She looked at Lucia's files.
“Because your father wasn't the only one lying.”
Matteo's gun remained raised.
“Put your weapon down.”
“No.”
“I'm not here to hurt you.”
“You came with Calvin.”
“I came because I knew you would find the vault.”
“Why didn't you come sooner?”
Her eyes filled.
“I was trapped.”
“By whom?”
“The council.”
Matteo laughed bitterly.
“Everyone is trapped.”
His mother looked at Grace.
“You kept them safe.”
Grace nodded.
“For twelve years.”
Matteo's gaze shifted.
“Tell me everything.”
His mother stepped closer.
“Your father wanted Lucia to marry into a political family.”
“She refused.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she loved someone else.”
Grace looked away.
Matteo's chest tightened.
“Who?”
His mother whispered:
“Marcus Bell.”
Norah froze.
“Bell?”
“Yes.”
“Who is he?” Matteo asked.
Grace answered.
“Your father.”
Matteo's expression changed.
“What?”
Grace looked at Norah.
“Marcus was not a Bannon.”
“He was your father's enemy,” Matteo's mother said.
“And Lucia loved him anyway.”
Matteo stared.
“So Norah…”
“Is Lucia's daughter.”
He looked at the child.
“And Leon.”
“Lucia's son.”
The room felt unbearably small.
His mother continued.
“Lucia knew your father would never accept them.”
“So she hid them.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did she die?”
His mother looked down.
“Because your father found out.”
Matteo's voice hardened.
“What happened?”
“Your father ordered someone to kill Marcus.”
“What about Lucia?”
“She tried to escape.”
“And?”
“She was shot.”
Grace closed her eyes.
“She survived long enough to give birth to Norah.”
Matteo looked at the little girl.
Norah's eyes were filled with tears.
“Did my mommy know me?”
“Yes.”
“Did she love me?”
Grace knelt.
“She loved you more than anything.”
Norah cried.
Matteo's heart broke.
She had spent years believing her mother simply disappeared.
Now she knew she had been loved until the end.
Then Calvin spoke.
“Enough.”
Everyone turned.
He stepped toward the vault.
“The trust.”
Matteo moved between him and the children.
“You won't touch them.”
Calvin laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
“Explain.”
“The trust is not money.”
Matteo froze.
His mother nodded.
“It is ownership.”
“Of what?”
“Every legitimate company your father controlled.”
Matteo stared.
“Why would Lucia leave it to children?”
“Because she didn't trust adults.”
Silence.
Matteo looked at Norah.
Then Leon.
Calvin's voice sharpened.
“With the children united, the trust can be transferred.”
“To whom?”
“Whoever controls them.”
Matteo's eyes went cold.
“You.”
Calvin smiled.
“Exactly.”
A gunshot shattered the ceiling.
Calvin dropped.
Someone fired from above.
The room erupted.
Matteo grabbed Norah.
Leon grabbed Grace.
His mother disappeared behind a pillar.
Security flooded the vault.
The attacker ran.
Matteo chased.
He caught him in the upper hallway.
A fight followed.
The man pulled a knife.
Matteo disarmed him.
“Who sent you?”
The man laughed.
“Mercer.”
“No.”
The man smiled.
“Not Calvin.”
Matteo's blood froze.
“Then who?”
The man whispered:
“Your mother.”
Matteo stopped.
Behind him, his mother's voice came softly.
“He's lying.”
Matteo turned.
She stood there holding a gun.
He stared.
“Mom?”
She lowered it.
“I had no choice.”
He was silent.
“Explain.”
“The council has your brother.”
“My brother?”
“Yes.”
“Which brother?”
She looked toward Leon.
“The one Lucia never told you about.”
Another secret.
Another child.
Matteo closed his eyes.
“How many lies are there?”
His mother cried.
“Enough to destroy all of us.”
That night, the vault was moved.
The children were hidden.
Grace disappeared from hospital custody.
And Matteo received one final message.
A photograph of a man tied to a chair.
Below it:
BRING THE KEY OR YOUR LAST FAMILY MEMBER DIES.
Matteo stared at the photograph.
He recognized the man.
His younger brother.
And now he understood.
Calvin had never been the final enemy.
He was only the door.
May you like
Someone else had been controlling the entire game.
Someone who had been inside Matteo's family from the beginning.
