Chapter 3 - The Brother Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Matteo spent the night tearing through every record he owned.
Adrian Rossi.
Older brother.
Former heir.
Declared dead after a warehouse explosion nine years earlier.
The official story was simple.
Adrian had been moving weapons through the waterfront.
A rival organization attacked.
The warehouse exploded.
No recoverable body.
Matteo had mourned him.
Their father had buried an empty coffin.
And Norah had somehow found him.
The next morning, Matteo sat across from his security team.
“Where is she?”
No one answered.
He slammed his hand against the table.
“Where is my wife?”
His chief of security, Luca, finally spoke.
“She hasn't violated any security protocols.”
“She's carrying my child.”
“I know.”
“She left with no escort.”
“She has her own.”
Matteo looked up.
“Her own?”
Luca placed a photograph on the table.
Norah entering a building.
Two bodyguards behind her.
Neither belonged to Matteo.
“Who are they?”
“We're still identifying them.”
Matteo stared.
For years, Norah had looked like the least threatening person in the room.
Apparently, that had been part of the disguise.
He found her address in Boston.
The house was empty.
But the neighbors said she had been there for several weeks.
A woman with glasses.
A pregnant woman.
Sometimes accompanied by an older man.
Matteo knew where to look.
He found Adrian at a private clinic outside Boston.
When Matteo entered the room, Adrian was sitting by the window.
Older.
Thinner.
Alive.
“You look angry.”
Matteo stared at him.
“You died.”
Adrian smiled bitterly.
“Not quite.”
“Why?”
“Because Father wanted me dead.”
Matteo went still.
“That's impossible.”
Adrian looked at him.
“Our father knew the organization was corrupt.”
“Who corrupted it?”
“You.”
Matteo's face hardened.
“I built it.”
“You inherited it.”
Adrian's voice softened.
“And you became exactly what he feared.”
Matteo ignored him.
“Where is Norah?”
Adrian looked toward the door.
“She left before you came.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere safe.”
“You helped her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she was brave enough to look at the truth.”
Matteo stared.
“You betrayed me.”
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
“I protected the woman you betrayed.”
The words landed hard.
Matteo looked away.
Adrian continued.
“You think Norah left because of Harper.”
“She left because Harper was proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That you would never stop.”
Matteo remained silent.
Adrian reached into a drawer.
He pulled out a file.
“Your wife found the money.”
“Which money?”
“The money Father hid.”
Matteo's eyes narrowed.
“What did he hide?”
“Evidence.”
Adrian placed the file on the table.
“Names.”
“Payments.”
“Judges.”
“Police officials.”
“Shipping companies.”
“Politicians.”
“Everyone who helped build the empire.”
Matteo stared.
“If this gets released, half the city collapses.”
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
“Your empire collapses.”
That difference mattered.
Because for the first time, Matteo understood what Norah had been doing.
She wasn't stealing his money.
She was separating herself from the machine.
Protecting their child.
Preserving evidence.
Building legal assets.
And perhaps waiting for the moment when she no longer needed him.
Matteo returned home.
He found Harper waiting.
“You're back.”
“Yes.”
“Where is Norah?”
“Gone.”
Harper smiled.
“She always comes back.”
Matteo looked at her.
“No.”
Harper frowned.
“What?”
“She won't.”
Something inside her shifted.
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
Matteo picked up his coat.
“Leave.”
She stared.
“You brought me to Santorini.”
“Yes.”
“You told me this was finally our chance.”
“I was wrong.”
“You said you loved me.”
“I was confused.”
Harper laughed sharply.
“Confused?”
Matteo looked at her.
“You were a mistake I kept making.”
She slapped him.
He didn't react.
Instead, he walked away.
He found Norah three days later.
She was sitting in a lawyer's office.
When she saw him, her face remained calm.
Matteo closed the door behind him.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“You didn't ask the right questions.”
“I asked where you were.”
“That wasn't the question.”
“What question should I have asked?”
She looked at him.
“Do you still love me?”
He stopped.
The answer came immediately.
“Yes.”
She nodded.
“Then why?”
His voice lowered.
“I don't know.”
“That is the problem.”
She touched her stomach.
“I spent three years waiting for you to become the man you promised you'd be.”
“And I kept thinking you would forgive me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I loved you.”
His expression cracked.
“And now?”
“I still love you.”
Matteo looked stunned.
“Then come home.”
“No.”
“Norah.”
“Love is not enough anymore.”
He stepped closer.
“Tell me what I have to do.”
She almost cried.
“That's the first honest thing you've said in years.”
“Tell me.”
“You can't undo what happened.”
“I can change.”
“You can try.”
She looked toward the window.
“That's all I need from you.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you don't get me back because you finally realized you can lose me.”
Matteo whispered:
“Do I have a chance?”
She looked at him.
“One day, maybe.”
He left without threatening anyone.
Without shouting.
Without using power.
That frightened his men more than anger would have.
That night, Matteo did something he had not done since becoming boss.
He went to church.
Not to pray for his empire.
Not to ask forgiveness.
He simply sat.
For an hour.
When he returned home, he found an envelope.
Inside was a copy of a financial transaction.
Adrian had moved money from one of Matteo's accounts.
But the destination was not an enemy.
It was a children's hospital.
Matteo stared.
Another transaction went to a women's shelter.
Another to a legal aid organization.
Norah had been redirecting money without stealing it.
She had been transforming it.
A message appeared on his phone.
You always said power was protecting people.
I wanted to see whether you believed that.
Matteo looked at the words for a long time.
Then he deleted the message.
May you like
Not because it hurt.
Because he intended to answer it with actions.
