Chapter 4 - The Child Hidden From The Mafia
Nora was living in Connecticut under a different last name.
Emily had never been told exactly where.
Her aunt had moved the child several times.
The address Daniel found was a small yellow house behind a church in a quiet town.
When they arrived, Emily ran.
"Nora!"
A little girl opened the door.
She had Emily's brown eyes.
And Matteo's gray-green ones.
Emily dropped to her knees.
Nora threw herself into her arms.
"Mommy."
Matteo stopped several feet away.
The word hit him harder than any bullet.
Mommy.
Emily held the little girl and cried.
Nora looked past her.
"Who is he?"
Emily turned.
Matteo couldn't speak.
Nora studied him.
Then she smiled.
"You look like my picture."
Emily stared at Matteo.
"What picture?"
Nora ran upstairs and returned with a small box.
Inside was a photograph.
Matteo holding a newborn.
Emily beside him.
A hospital bracelet around his wrist.
On the back were four words.
Our little girl, Nora.
Matteo sat down.
His hand shook.
"I wrote that."
Emily crouched beside him.
"You did."
He looked at her.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I tried."
"When?"
"Four years ago."
He frowned.
She continued.
"You were already planning to leave the syndicate. You told me the only way to protect me was to pretend we meant nothing."
"Why?"
"Because your father had people watching you."
Matteo stared at the photograph.
"And Nora?"
"They were looking for her."
"Why?"
"Because they believed she was your weakness."
He shut his eyes.
Memories came.
A hospital.
A man shouting.
Gunfire.
Emily begging.
A baby crying.
His father saying, "That child makes you vulnerable."
And Matteo answering:
"Then I'll become dangerous enough that nobody touches her."
He opened his eyes.
"They took her from us."
Emily nodded.
"They tried."
Matteo looked at Nora.
"Who knows she's alive?"
"Very few people."
"And Julian?"
Emily hesitated.
"I don't know."
Daniel appeared at the doorway.
"We have a problem."
Everyone turned.
He held a phone.
"Someone knows we're here."
Matteo stood.
"How many?"
"Four vehicles."
Emily pulled Nora behind her.
Matteo stepped in front of both of them.
Then the front windows shattered.
Daniel shouted.
The attackers rushed the house.
Matteo moved with frightening precision.
His body remembered what his mind did not.
He disarmed one man.
Dropped another.
Daniel covered the hallway.
Emily grabbed Nora and moved toward the basement.
But one attacker saw them.
Emily froze.
Matteo appeared between them.
"Run."
The gunman raised his weapon.
Matteo tackled him.
The gun discharged.
A bullet struck the ceiling.
Emily pulled Nora down.
Seconds later, silence returned.
One attacker lay unconscious.
Another fled.
Daniel rushed in.
"Are you hurt?"
Emily shook her head.
Matteo stood against the wall.
Blood stained his shirt.
Emily rushed toward him.
"You're shot."
He looked down.
"Not mine."
A bullet had grazed his side.
Emily's hands trembled.
Nora came out from behind her.
"Mr. Romano?"
Matteo looked at her.
She stepped closer.
"Are you my daddy?"
Everyone went silent.
Matteo couldn't breathe.
He crouched down.
"I don't know."
Nora tilted her head.
"My mommy says I should wait until you remember."
He smiled painfully.
"Your mommy is very smart."
"Are you dangerous?"
He laughed softly.
"Sometimes."
Nora thought about it.
"Are you dangerous to bad people?"
Matteo looked at Emily.
"Only the bad ones."
Nora held out her hand.
He took it.
Something in him shattered.
A memory returned.
The first time he held her.
He had cried.
He had promised to protect her.
Then he had placed a tiny silver bracelet around her wrist.
Nora was wearing that same bracelet now.
Matteo stared.
"That bracelet."
Nora looked down.
"My mommy says my daddy gave it to me."
Matteo's eyes filled with tears.
"It was me."
Emily started crying.
Matteo rose.
"I remember."
He looked at Emily.
"Not everything."
"But enough."
Daniel approached.
"There is another issue."
Matteo's expression hardened.
"What?"
"The attackers weren't freelancers."
"Who sent them?"
Daniel showed him a photograph taken from one attacker's phone.
Julian.
Standing with Vincent Romano.
Matteo went completely still.
His cousin.
His partner.
His supposed family.
Emily whispered, "Vincent."
Matteo's jaw tightened.
"Everyone thought Julian controlled the operation."
Daniel shook his head.
"He doesn't."
"Then who does?"
Daniel looked at the photograph.
"Vincent."
Matteo stared at his cousin's face.
Then he remembered one final piece.
A meeting six months before the crash.
Vincent had stood across from him and said:
"You're not leaving this life, Matteo. You're inheriting it."
Matteo had answered:
"Watch me."
The next morning, he had hired Emily's private investigator.
The investigator had disappeared two days later.
And Matteo had begun preparing evidence against Vincent.
Emily understood.
"The crash wasn't meant to kill you."
Matteo looked at her.
"It was meant to erase me."
She nodded.
"Then someone could replace you."
Daniel said quietly, "Or control you."
Matteo looked at Nora.
"Which means they thought I'd forget enough to become obedient."
His eyes moved to Emily.
"But they made one mistake."
"What?"
May you like
He took her hand.
"My heart remembers you."
Related Stories
