Chapter 4 - The Vault Beneath the City
The vault was underneath a building that officially contained nothing.
No company sign.
No guards outside.
No indication that some of the city's oldest families had stored secrets beneath its floors for generations.
Adrian brought six men.
I brought the key.
Neither of us brought Matteo.
Leaving him with my mother was the hardest thing I had done since giving birth.
Adrian noticed.
“He's safer there.”
“I know.”
“You've checked the camera four times.”
“Five.”
His mouth moved slightly.
“You're counting?”
“I count everything.”
“That's disturbing.”
“So is running a criminal empire.”
“Allegedly.”
I looked at him.
He almost smiled.
For one absurd second, we were ourselves again.
Then the vault door opened.
Inside my father's box were three things.
A photograph.
A ledger.
And a letter addressed to me.
MELISSA.
My knees weakened.
I hadn't seen my father's handwriting since childhood.
Adrian gave me space.
I opened the letter.
My darling Melissa,
If you are reading this, then I failed to give you the peaceful life I promised your mother.
I stopped.
Adrian's hand touched my elbow.
I continued.
My father wrote that he had discovered a conspiracy between Victor Salvi and someone inside the Moretti organization.
He hadn't known the traitor's full identity.
Only initials.
C.M.
My eyes lifted.
“Carlo Moretti.”
Adrian's expression turned cold.
The ledger documented payments from Romano accounts to shell companies.
Victor had been stealing for years.
But one set of transfers went somewhere else.
To a company controlled by Carlo.
Adrian stared at the numbers.
“My uncle.”
There was no emotion in his voice.
That frightened me.
The photograph showed my father standing beside a younger Carlo.
Victor was behind them.
On the reverse, my father had written:
If anything happens to me, begin with these two.
Adrian closed his eyes.
“I trusted him.”
I understood.
Betrayal hurt most when it wore a familiar face.
“He raised you?”
“After my father died.”
“I'm sorry.”
“Don't be.”
“Adrian.”
“Don't.”
His voice cracked.
I touched his hand.
He didn't pull away.
We stayed like that until Marco entered.
“We found Carlo.”
“Where?”
“Gone.”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“When?”
“Approximately six hours ago.”
“He knew.”
“Yes.”
Marco hesitated.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“The surrogacy agency director talked.”
I felt my pulse quicken.
“She was paid to put Melissa's file at the top of the candidate list.”
“By whom?”
Marco looked at Adrian.
“Carlo.”
My stomach turned.
So it had been planned.
But why?
“Did he know who I was?”
“Yes.”
I gripped the vault table.
Adrian looked murderous.
Marco continued.
“Carlo discovered Elena Romano was receiving cancer treatment under an assumed name. He traced Melissa.”
“Why arrange the pregnancy?”
“That part isn't clear.”
I understood before they did.
“He wanted a child.”
Adrian looked at me.
“What?”
“An heir carrying both bloodlines.”
Marco went pale.
I continued.
“If something happened to you, Matteo would inherit Moretti power.”
“And Romano legitimacy,” Adrian said.
“Exactly.”
Victor had stolen my father's empire.
But old families remembered blood.
A living Romano heir could threaten him.
Unless Victor controlled that heir.
Adrian's eyes darkened.
“They planned to kill us.”
“After Matteo was born.”
The room went silent.
The attack had not been intended to kill everyone.
It had been intended to remove the parents.
Take the child.
Raise him under Carlo and Victor.
One baby.
Two empires.
I thought I might be sick.
Adrian reached for me.
I stepped into his arms without thinking.
He held me from the wheelchair, one arm around my waist.
“I won't let them touch him.”
“Neither will I.”
We returned to the safe house.
Matteo was sleeping.
I lifted him and pressed my face against his soft hair.
Adrian watched.
Later, after everyone slept, I found him outside on the terrace.
“You should be resting,” he said.
“So should you.”
“I don't sleep much.”
“Neither do new mothers.”
I sat beside him.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Then Adrian said, “When I was fourteen, I thought your father was the bravest man alive.”
I looked at him.
“He came back for me when everyone else was running away.”
“That sounds like him.”
“I spent years looking for your mother.”
“Why?”
“To repay him.”
“You already did.”
“How?”
“You saved her.”
His eyes moved toward me.
“Her treatment. You gave her a chance.”
“That isn't enough.”
“It is to me.”
His hand rested between us.
I placed mine over it.
“You know what scares me?” I asked.
“Salvi?”
“No.”
“Carlo?”
“No.”
“What?”
“The contract ends in three days.”
Adrian became very still.
I wished immediately that I hadn't said it.
But there was no taking it back.
“I thought you wanted to leave.”
“So did I.”
“And now?”
I looked through the window toward Matteo.
“Now I don't know what leaving means.”
Adrian's fingers closed around mine.
“You don't have to leave.”
My heart pounded.
“Because I'm Matteo's mother?”
“Yes.”
Only yes.
The disappointment was ridiculous.
I withdrew my hand.
“Good night, Adrian.”
“Melissa.”
I stopped.
He looked frustrated.
This man could order dozens of armed men into battle but apparently couldn't say one sentence.
Finally, he did.
“Not only because you're his mother.”
I turned.
Adrian looked at me as though the truth physically hurt.
“I don't want you to leave because when you're not in the room, I look for you.”
I couldn't move.
He continued.
“I don't want you to leave because my house felt like a mausoleum before you started arguing with me in it.”
I laughed despite myself.
“And I don't want you to leave because somewhere between warming bottles and you insulting my personality, I fell in love with you.”
There it was.
No poetry.
No grand speech.
Just Adrian.
I stepped toward him.
“You have terrible timing.”
“I know.”
“There are men trying to kill us.”
“I know.”
“My mother still thinks you're dangerous.”
“She has excellent instincts.”
I smiled.
Then I kissed him.
His hand moved behind my neck.
For a few seconds, there was no mafia war.
No contract.
No five million dollars.
No Romano massacre.
Only us.
Then Adrian's phone rang.
Marco.
Adrian answered.
His expression changed.
“What happened?”
I watched his face turn cold.
“Where?”
He ended the call.
“What?”
Adrian looked at me.
“Carlo has your mother.”
Every warm feeling inside me vanished.
“How?”
“He intercepted the medical transport.”
“What does he want?”
May you like
Adrian's expression told me before he spoke.
“Matteo.”
