Chapter 5 - Under His Protection
Matteo shattered the phone against the wall and said, “Nobody takes you anywhere.”
Elena stared at the blood in the photograph.
Antonio’s old watch lay beside it.
The glass face was cracked at exactly 11:47.
Dario had left them a countdown.
“My father is alive,” Elena said.
Matteo looked at her.
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“How?”
“Because Dario needs the ledger.”
“He could be bluffing.”
“If Antonio were dead, he’d show the body.”
Matteo watched her.
Elena hated how quickly her mind was adapting to this world.
Threats.
Leverage.
Proof of life.
But she was right.
Dario needed control.
A dead hostage provided none.
“Midnight,” she said. “We have eighteen hours.”
“We?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“You promised I decide what happens to me.”
“I promised before someone abducted your father.”
“That changes nothing.”
“It changes everything.”
“No. It makes the decision more important.”
Matteo rubbed one hand across his face.
“Elena.”
“My father disappeared for nine years because everyone decided what was best for me. I’m done.”
“You want to walk into Dario’s trap?”
“I want to make him believe I will.”
Matteo stopped.
Elena pointed toward the ledger.
“He thinks I have the original.”
“You do.”
“No. He thinks I’m the only one who knows where it is.”
Matteo understood.
“You want to leak a meeting location.”
“Yes.”
“And force him to come.”
“He won’t.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s afraid of you.”
Matteo’s mouth shifted.
“Most intelligent thing he’s done.”
“So we remove you.”
“No.”
“You hide.”
“No.”
“You’re incredibly annoying.”
“I’ve been told.”
“By women?”
“Mostly men shortly before regrettable career changes.”
Elena almost smiled.
Then she remembered Antonio.
“Matteo.”
He sighed.
“What?”
“Trust me.”
The words mattered.
They both knew it.
Matteo looked at her for a long moment.
Then nodded.
By afternoon, the plan was in motion.
Elena contacted the number Dario had used.
I HAVE THE ORIGINAL LEDGER.
A response came immediately.
WHERE?
She typed:
OLD VALENTE BALLROOM. 11 PM. ALONE.
Matteo read over her shoulder.
“He knows that ballroom is inside my mansion.”
“Exactly.”
“He’ll think it’s a trap.”
“He already thinks everything is a trap.”
“What makes him come?”
Elena typed one more line.
I FOUND SALVATORE’S RECORDING.
Matteo looked at her.
“There is no recording.”
“He doesn’t know that.”
Dario answered after three minutes.
PROVE IT.
Elena looked at Matteo.
“What did your father call him?”
Matteo thought.
“Little fox.”
She typed:
SALVATORE SAID THE LITTLE FOX WOULD EAT HIS OWN TAIL.
A lie.
But personal enough to sound true.
No response came.
Ten minutes passed.
Then:
11 PM.
Elena exhaled.
“He’s coming.”
“No,” Matteo said. “Someone is coming.”
That evening, Matteo called a meeting.
Not in secret.
In public.
At the Valente-owned hotel downtown.
Every major captain, financier, club owner, contractor, and intermediary connected to the organization was summoned.
Elena stood behind a closed office door while dozens of men filled the ballroom outside.
Matteo adjusted his black shirt cuffs.
“What are you doing?”
“Removing Dario’s leverage.”
“How?”
“He told the city you’re a thief with a ledger.”
“Yes.”
“So I tell them something else.”
Elena frowned.
Matteo opened the doors.
Conversation stopped.
Men turned.
Elena remained just inside the office.
Matteo walked to the center of the room.
No microphone.
He did not need one.
“You’ve heard rumors about Elena Moretti.”
Silence.
“She stole from me.”
Several men exchanged glances.
“She has records.”
More glances.
“She betrayed the Valente house.”
Matteo paused.
“Every rumor is false.”
Elena stared at him.
Matteo continued.
“Dario Bellini stole from me. Dario betrayed my father. Dario framed Elena because he believed she could expose him.”
Someone near the front said, “Then why does she have the ledger?”
“She doesn’t.”
Another man laughed.
“We supposed to believe that?”
Matteo turned toward him.
“You’re supposed to understand one thing.”
He looked toward Elena.
Their eyes met.
Then Matteo spoke loudly enough for the entire room.
“Elena Moretti is under my protection.”
No one moved.
Matteo’s tone became colder.
“Anyone who threatens her threatens me.”
A man near the back crossed his arms.
“You willing to start a war over a housemaid?”
Elena saw Matteo’s expression change.
Dangerous.
“Yes.”
One word.
No hesitation.
The room went silent.
The message traveled through Chicago before Matteo left the hotel.
By ten that night, calls stopped reaching Elena.
Two families issued statements declaring neutrality.
Another sent word that any contract against Elena would be refused.
Dario’s plan had failed.
But Elena was furious.
“You told the whole city.”
Matteo looked surprised.
“I protected you.”
“You announced ownership.”
“No.”
“That’s what it sounded like.”
“I said under my protection.”
“You made me sound like property.”
Matteo approached.
“Then tell me what I should have said.”
“The truth.”
“Which truth?”
“That I’m helping expose a man who murdered your father.”
“That makes you more dangerous to them.”
“At least it makes me a person.”
Matteo went quiet.
Elena softened slightly.
“I know why you did it.”
“Do you?”
“You were scared.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I don’t get scared.”
“You absolutely do.”
“Elena.”
“You just hide it under expensive shirts and threats.”
He looked down at her.
She looked up at him.
They were standing too close.
The ballroom around them was dark.
Only the fireplace burned.
Elena became aware of everything at once.
His breathing.
The scent of cedar and smoke.
The scar near his jaw.
The way his eyes moved to her mouth and immediately away.
She whispered, “You watched me dance.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Matteo answered honestly.
“Because you looked happy.”
The simplicity of it hurt.
Elena’s anger disappeared.
“When was the last time you were happy?”
Matteo did not answer.
“That long?”
He smiled faintly.
She reached toward his collar.
Stopped.
“May I?”
Matteo nodded.
Elena touched the chain around his neck.
Antonio’s brass key still hung there.
“My father gave you this when you were seventeen.”
“Yes.”
“And you kept it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because it was proof that someone once believed I could become better than my father.”
Elena looked at him.
“Did you?”
“I’m still deciding.”
Their faces were inches apart.
Matteo lifted one hand toward her cheek.
He stopped before touching her.
Elena closed the distance herself.
Their kiss was quiet.
No urgency.
No performance.
Just two exhausted people standing in a dark ballroom while an entire violent world waited outside.
When they separated, Matteo rested his forehead against hers.
“This is a terrible idea.”
Elena whispered, “Probably.”
“You should leave when this is over.”
“Probably.”
“I won’t ask you to stay.”
“Good.”
“I may want you to.”
Elena smiled.
“That sounds like your problem.”
Matteo laughed softly.
At eleven, the trap began.
Elena stood alone in the ballroom.
Or appeared alone.
The ledger rested on the table.
Matteo waited behind the surveillance glass.
Federal agents were positioned outside the property, arranged through his father’s former contact.
Elena’s pulse remained steady.
11:06.
Nothing.
11:14.
Nothing.
11:22.
The lights flickered.
Matteo’s voice came through the hidden earpiece.
“Stay still.”
A side door opened.
Elena turned.
A man entered.
Not Dario.
Carlo.
Matteo’s valet.
Elena’s stomach dropped.
Carlo smiled sadly.
“I’m sorry.”
He held a gun.
“Where’s Dario?”
“Not coming.”
“Where’s my father?”
“Alive.”
“Show me.”
Carlo lifted his phone.
Antonio appeared on-screen.
Tied to a chair.
Bruised.
Breathing.
“Elena,” Antonio said. “Don’t—”
The video ended.
Elena looked at Carlo.
“What do you want?”
“The ledger.”
She pushed it forward.
Carlo approached.
Elena heard Matteo whisper.
“Three more steps.”
Carlo took one.
Two.
Then stopped.
He smiled.
“You think Matteo is behind that glass?”
Elena’s blood chilled.
Carlo reached into his pocket.
Pressed a button.
An explosion shook the mansion.
The surveillance window went black.
Elena screamed Matteo’s name.
Carlo grabbed her.
She fought.
A cloth covered her mouth.
The room tilted.
The last thing Elena saw before darkness swallowed her was the ballroom door opening.
May you like
Dario Bellini stepped inside.
And behind him stood Rosa...
