Chapter 7 - The Enemy Who Knew Her Name
I woke up in a chair.
My wrists were tied.
My head throbbed.
The room smelled like dust and gasoline.
An abandoned theater.
I knew immediately.
Matteo had won.
For the moment.
A light clicked on.
He stood on stage.
The old man from the screen.
The serpent ring.
The smile.
"Amelia."
I stared at him.
"Where's Damian?"
"Alive."
I exhaled.
"Good."
Matteo laughed.
"You care about him."
I said nothing.
"You shouldn't."
"You're the reason my father died."
"No."
"Then tell me who did."
He walked closer.
"Your father died because he loved you."
I stared at him.
Matteo continued.
"He stole money."
"He hid records."
"He betrayed people."
"But he did all of it because he believed you could someday expose them."
"What records?"
"The ones your mother knew about."
I froze.
"My mother?"
"Yes."
I had spent my life believing my mother died when I was a baby.
A faceless photograph.
A name.
Nothing else.
Matteo smiled.
"She didn't die."
My breath stopped.
"What?"
"She left."
"Why?"
"Because she discovered what the Costas really were."
"Where is she?"
Matteo's smile disappeared.
"Dead now."
I swallowed.
"Who killed her?"
He didn't answer.
That told me enough.
"The same person who killed my father?"
"Possibly."
"Who?"
Matteo looked toward the curtains.
A figure emerged.
Isabella.
Her shoulder was bandaged.
Her face was pale.
She stood beside Matteo.
"You."
I whispered.
She shook her head.
"I wanted your father silenced."
My stomach turned.
"But I didn't kill him."
"Who did?"
She looked at Matteo.
Matteo stared back.
The silence answered.
Matteo had orchestrated it.
He had manipulated everyone.
Gabriel.
Isabella.
The Falcones.
Dr. Bell.
Even Damian.
"You needed me to decode the ledger."
"Yes."
"What happens after?"
"You walk away."
I laughed.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I have no reason to lie."
"You're Matteo Costa."
He smiled.
"True."
Then the doors opened.
Damian walked in.
Blood on his shirt.
Gun in his hand.
Two men held him at gunpoint.
My heart clenched.
"Damian."
He looked at me.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
He nodded.
"Good."
Matteo smiled.
"Still the hero."
Damian stared at him.
"Release her."
"No."
"Take me."
"I already have you."
Matteo turned toward me.
"The code."
I looked at Damian.
He shook his head.
Don't.
I understood.
He was telling me not to give it.
Matteo raised his gun.
"Five seconds."
Damian stepped forward.
"Don't."
"Four."
I closed my eyes.
"Three."
I spoke.
"Three birds."
Damian looked at me.
"Seven stars."
Matteo smiled.
"Nine steps."
A locked metal box opened.
Inside was the final ledger.
Matteo reached for it.
I smiled.
"Wrong."
He froze.
"The rhyme isn't the code."
His face changed.
"What?"
I laughed.
"My father taught me that rhyme when I was eight."
"Because it was part of the code."
"No."
I looked at Damian.
"He taught me because he wanted me to remember it."
Matteo stepped toward me.
"Then where is the code?"
I pointed at the ledger.
"Inside you."
His face went blank.
The ledger opened automatically.
A hidden recorder activated.
My father's voice filled the theater.
"Matteo, if you're listening, you failed."
Every face changed.
My father continued.
"The ledger you are holding is a decoy."
Matteo stared at it.
"The real evidence was never written down."
Silence.
"It was memorized by my daughter."
Matteo looked at me.
I smiled.
He had underestimated me.
Again.
My father continued.
"Amelia doesn't know what she knows."
"The truth is hidden in her memories."
"The safest vault is a human mind."
Damian looked at me with something close to awe.
My father had never trusted computers.
He trusted me.
Matteo raised his gun.
Then a shot came from the balcony.
Matteo dropped.
Chaos erupted.
Damian tackled me.
Police lights flashed through broken windows.
Sirens filled the theater.
Sofia's voice came through the doorway.
"Everyone down!"
Within minutes, Matteo's men were disarmed.
Gabriel was arrested.
Bell was taken into custody.
Isabella surrendered.
But Matteo was bleeding on the stage.
Still alive.
He looked at me.
"Your father was smarter than I thought."
I walked closer.
"And you were never as powerful as you believed."
He smiled.
"Perhaps."
Then his eyes shifted toward Damian.
"I hope you know what he is."
I looked at him.
"I do."
Damian took my hand.
Matteo saw it.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
Because the one thing he had never understood was loyalty.
Not fear.
Not money.
Loyalty.
Real loyalty.
The kind my father had given Damian.
The kind Damian now gave me.
The kind that could survive betrayal.
Matteo was taken away.
The theater emptied.
Rain fell outside.
I stood beside Damian.
"You lied to me."
"Yes."
"Your family nearly killed me."
"Yes."
"You are absolutely the worst person to fall in love with."
He froze.
I realized what I'd said.
Silence.
Then he whispered.
"You love me?"
I looked at him.
"I didn't say that."
"You did."
"I was under stress."
He smiled.
I hated the smile.
Mostly because it made my heart race.
He stepped closer.
"Say it again."
"No."
"Amelia."
"No."
He leaned closer.
"I've waited sixteen years for revenge."
He touched my cheek.
"And somehow, you became the one thing I want more."
I stared at him.
Then kissed him.
It wasn't gentle.
It wasn't careful.
It was two exhausted people choosing something beautiful after surviving something ugly.
When we pulled apart, his forehead rested against mine.
"Stay."
I whispered.
"I will."
But neither of us knew the danger was not finished.
Because three days later, the prosecutor called.
The case against Matteo had collapsed.
Evidence had disappeared.
Witnesses had vanished.
May you like
And one name had been added to the threat list.
Mine.
