Chapter 9 - THE MAN MATTEO CALLED FAMILY
-9-
The emergency lights turned red.
Matteo immediately moved Liana and Nico into the hidden security room behind his bookcase.
“Stay here.”
Liana grabbed his sleeve.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“You are not going out there.”
“My son is involved.”
“Exactly.”
“You don’t get to protect me by hiding the truth again.”
Matteo stared at her.
Her grip tightened.
“I spent twenty-two days believing my child was dead because powerful people decided I didn’t deserve the truth.”
The words struck him.
Liana released his sleeve.
“Don’t become another one of them.”
Matteo’s expression changed.
Then he nodded.
“Stay behind me.”
They left Nico with Dr. Hale and Isabella inside the secured room.
Liana hated it.
Every part of her wanted Nico in her arms.
But if Marcello Varric had entered the mansion, Nico was safer behind reinforced steel.
Matteo, Dominic and Liana moved through the red-lit corridor.
The guards outside were unconscious.
Not dead.
Drugged.
That detail bothered Matteo.
“This isn’t an attack.”
Dominic understood.
“He wants to talk.”
They reached the foyer.
Marcello Varric stood beneath the chandelier.
Seventy-one years old.
Perfect gray suit.
Silver cane.
Calm eyes.
He looked exactly as Liana remembered from newspaper photographs.
Distinguished.
Charitable.
A billionaire philanthropist.
Chairman of three hospitals.
Founder of the Varric Children’s Foundation.
Liana nearly laughed at the cruelty of it.
A man accused of stealing children had built his public reputation by helping them.
Marcello smiled faintly.
“Matteo.”
Matteo did not return it.
“Uncle.”
“You found Elena’s files.”
“Yes.”
Marcello sighed.
“I always told her she was too curious.”
Matteo’s eyes became lethal.
“Did you kill her?”
Marcello did not answer immediately.
“That is a complicated question.”
“No.”
Matteo stepped closer.
“It has one answer.”
Marcello looked toward Liana.
“And you must be Nico’s mother.”
Liana felt her skin crawl.
“Don’t say his name.”
Marcello smiled.
“There’s the spirit Elena liked.”
Matteo moved in front of Liana.
“Answer me.”
Marcello’s expression faded.
“I did not order Elena’s death.”
Matteo stared.
“Who did?”
“She did.”
Liana frowned.
Matteo’s voice dropped.
“What?”
Marcello leaned on his cane.
“Your wife knew she was being followed. She attempted to escape. She drove too fast in the rain.”
Matteo crossed the space between them and grabbed his uncle by the collar.
Dominic immediately stepped closer.
Marcello remained calm.
“I warned her not to run.”
Matteo slammed him against the marble column.
“So you chased her.”
“I sent men to recover the ledger.”
“You killed her.”
“I did not touch her car.”
“You caused her death.”
Marcello’s eyes hardened.
“Yes.”
Matteo’s fist pulled back.
Liana spoke.
“Don’t.”
He froze.
She looked at him.
“If you kill him now, we lose everything he knows.”
Matteo breathed heavily.
Then released Marcello.
His uncle adjusted his collar.
“You chose well.”
Matteo’s head snapped toward him.
“What?”
Marcello looked at Liana.
“Elena would approve.”
Matteo stepped forward again.
“Speak carefully.”
Marcello smiled.
“Still sentimental.”
Dominic said, “Why Nico?”
Marcello looked bored.
“Nico wasn’t special.”
Liana’s face changed.
Marcello continued.
“That is the tragedy of your obsession. There have been hundreds.”
“Hundreds of stolen babies?”
“Transferred children.”
“Stolen.”
Liana’s voice was sharp.
Marcello finally looked directly at her.
“You think morality operates cleanly at that level?”
“Yes.”
Her answer was immediate.
“It does when you take a newborn from its mother.”
Marcello’s smile vanished.
Liana continued.
“You can build hospitals. Donate millions. Wear expensive suits. Call it placement or transfer or legacy.”
Her eyes burned.
“But you stole babies.”
For the first time, Marcello looked irritated.
Matteo noticed.
Marcello turned back to him.
“Your father understood necessity.”
“My father was a monster.”
The words surprised everyone.
Perhaps most of all Matteo.
Marcello stared.
Matteo continued.
“And if I spent my life protecting what he built, then I protected a monster’s house.”
Marcello’s face darkened.
“You inherited power because of him.”
“Then maybe I inherited something worth destroying.”
Silence.
Marcello tapped his cane once.
Men appeared along the second-floor balcony.
Armed.
Dominic raised his weapon.
Matteo did not.
Marcello smiled.
“You still think this is your house.”
Matteo glanced around.
“You drugged my guards.”
“I replaced several years ago.”
The betrayal cut deeper.
Matteo looked toward Dominic.
Dominic whispered, “I didn’t know.”
Marcello said, “Of course you didn’t.”
His eyes returned to Matteo.
“I came for Elena’s copy.”
“You’re not getting it.”
“I already have the original.”
“Then why care?”
“Because Elena added names.”
Matteo understood.
Names of current members.
Marcello continued.
“She tracked judges, surgeons, attorneys and politicians who inherited their positions in the network.”
Liana said, “You’re afraid of exposure.”
“No.”
Marcello’s gaze became cold.
“I’m afraid of chaos.”
He began walking slowly.
“Do you know what happens if those files become public?”
“People go to prison.”
“Children discover their parents are not their parents. Families collapse. Judges resign. Hospitals close. Government agencies tear themselves apart.”
Liana answered, “And mothers learn what happened to their children.”
Marcello looked at her.
“Some truths destroy more than lies.”
Liana’s voice trembled.
“That should have been our choice.”
Marcello fell silent.
A sound came from behind them.
A baby crying.
Nico.
Liana spun around.
Her face drained.
The hidden room.
Matteo’s eyes widened.
Marcello smiled.
“You should have chosen a better safe room.”
Liana ran.
Matteo followed.
The steel door stood open.
Dr. Hale lay unconscious.
Isabella was gone.
Nico was gone.
Liana screamed his name.
Matteo turned on Marcello.
“What did you do?”
Marcello looked almost amused.
“I did nothing.”
Then Matteo saw something on the floor.
Isabella’s bracelet.
Beside it, a folded note.
He picked it up.
Three words.
I'M SORRY, SON.
Matteo stared.
Liana’s entire body shook.
“No.”
Dominic whispered, “Isabella took him.”
Matteo looked toward Marcello.
His uncle’s smile faded.
For the first time that night, Marcello seemed genuinely surprised.
Then Matteo understood.
His mother had not taken Nico for Marcello.
She had taken him from Marcello.
Isabella was running.
And she knew something important enough to betray both sides.
Matteo looked at Dominic.
“Track her car.”
Dominic checked his phone.
“No signal.”
Matteo cursed.
Marcello quietly said, “If Isabella has the child, you have a bigger problem than me.”
Matteo turned.
“Why?”
May you like
Marcello’s eyes narrowed.
“Because your mother was the first Shepherd after your father died.”
