Chapter 4 - The Sister Who Died
Matteo did not move.
Nora looked at him.
“You have a sister?”
Gabriel answered first.
“Had.”
Matteo’s eyes remained fixed on the dark hallway.
“My sister died eleven years ago.”
Nora felt cold.
Another knock came from the front door.
Three slow knocks.
Gabriel drew his weapon.
Matteo gestured toward Nora.
“Stay behind me.”
She obeyed.
For once.
Emergency lighting flickered on.
They moved through the hallway.
Mrs. Alvarez stood several feet from the entrance.
Two security men were positioned near the walls.
The woman remained visible through the glass.
She looked around thirty.
Dark hair.
Black coat.
Both hands empty and raised.
Matteo stopped.
Nora watched his face.
Recognition appeared.
Then disbelief.
Then anger.
“Open the door,” he said.
Gabriel turned.
“Matteo—”
“Open it.”
The lock released.
The woman entered.
She looked at Matteo.
“Hello, little brother.”
Nobody breathed.
Matteo’s voice was barely audible.
“Lucia?”
The woman’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
He crossed the distance.
Nora expected an embrace.
Instead Matteo grabbed her shoulders.
“You died.”
“I know.”
“I saw the car.”
“I wasn’t inside.”
“I identified your necklace.”
“It was planted.”
His hands dropped.
For the first time Nora saw Matteo Bellandi look lost.
Lucia glanced at Nora.
“Is this her?”
Matteo’s expression instantly hardened.
“Why are you asking?”
“The housekeeper.”
Nora stepped forward.
“My name is Nora.”
Lucia nodded.
“Then yes.”
“What do you know about me?”
“Enough to know Christopher Hale is afraid of you.”
Nora almost laughed from disbelief.
“Christopher spent a year making me feel afraid of him.”
“Men like Christopher fear people they cannot completely control.”
Matteo cut in.
“Start talking.”
Lucia looked around.
“Not near windows.”
They returned to the library.
Security systems slowly rebooted.
Lucia refused food.
Refused water.
Then she looked at the silver key Matteo placed on the desk.
“Seventeen.”
“You know it?”
“Our father created it.”
Matteo’s jaw tightened.
“You were involved?”
“No.”
“Then how?”
“Because Dad told me the night he realized someone inside Bellandi Holdings was stealing from him.”
Gabriel leaned forward.
“Who?”
Lucia looked at Matteo.
“Uncle Salvatore.”
Matteo went still.
Salvatore Bellandi was Matteo’s father’s younger brother.
He had helped run the family businesses for decades.
He had also attended Lucia’s funeral.
“He’s in Milan,” Matteo said.
“No.”
Lucia shook her head.
“He wants you to believe he is.”
Matteo stared at her.
“Why fake your death?”
“Because I discovered what he was doing.”
She explained.
Eleven years ago, Lucia had worked in Bellandi Holdings’ auditing department under another surname.
She noticed shipping discrepancies.
Containers recorded twice.
Warehouse charges paid to companies that did not exist.
Money rerouted through logistics firms.
One of those firms eventually became Hale Logistics.
When Lucia confronted her father, he believed her.
They began collecting evidence.
Then somebody discovered the investigation.
Lucia’s car was sabotaged.
A friend borrowed it without permission.
She died in the explosion.
Salvatore reported Lucia as the victim.
Matteo’s father secretly helped Lucia disappear because they believed Salvatore would kill her if he discovered she had survived.
“Why didn’t Dad tell me?” Matteo asked.
“Because you were nineteen.”
“I was family.”
“You were his son.”
Lucia’s eyes softened.
“He wanted one child safe.”
Matteo turned away.
Nora watched anger compete with grief.
“Then Dad died six years later.”
Lucia nodded.
“And I couldn’t return. By then Salvatore controlled too much.”
“What changed?”
“Locker seventeen.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“What was there?”
“Enough proof to destroy him.”
Matteo frowned.
“I have the key.”
“One key.”
Lucia looked at Nora.
“There were two.”
Nora’s stomach tightened.
“The note at my apartment said I have the other one.”
“You may.”
“I absolutely do not.”
Lucia asked:
“Did Christopher ever give you jewelry?”
Nora stared.
“What?”
“A necklace. Bracelet. Keychain.”
Nora thought back.
Then remembered.
On their first anniversary Christopher had given her a silver heart pendant.
She had hated it.
Not because it was ugly.
Because the chain was too short.
Christopher insisted she wear it anyway.
When it did not sit correctly, he joked that necklaces were not designed for “every body type.”
Nora had placed it in a drawer after they broke up.
“My necklace.”
Matteo looked at her.
“Where is it?”
“My apartment.”
Gabriel spoke.
“The apartment that was searched.”
Nora shook her head.
“No. I moved the pendant.”
“Where?”
She remembered helping Emily prepare for a charity clothing drive.
Nora had dumped an old jewelry box into a donation carton.
Including Christopher’s necklace.
“Oh no.”
Matteo stepped closer.
“Nora.”
“I donated it.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“To where?”
“St. Anne’s charity shop.”
Gabriel was already dialing.
Nora looked at Lucia.
“Why would Christopher give me a key?”
“Maybe he didn’t know what it was when he gave it to you.”
“Then why search for it now?”
“Because somebody finally told him.”
Gabriel ended the call.
“The shop catalogues donated jewelry before resale. I’ll have them search.”
Nora sat down heavily.
The ridiculous fake-boyfriend dinner now felt like something from another life.
Matteo crouched in front of her.
“Are you okay?”
“No.”
“Fair.”
She looked at him.
“You knew your father had enemies.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know Christopher was involved before yesterday?”
“No.”
“Do you believe Lucia?”
Matteo glanced at his sister.
“I want to.”
Lucia’s face tightened.
“You think I came here after eleven years to lie?”
“I think eleven years gives people time to become strangers.”
The words hurt Lucia.
Nora saw it.
Lucia stood.
“I have proof.”
She removed a flash drive from inside her coat.
Gabriel immediately inspected it.
“What’s on it?”
“A video Dad recorded three days before he died.”
Matteo’s face lost color.
Lucia handed him the drive.
“He made me promise not to give it to you unless locker seventeen was compromised.”
Matteo inserted the drive.
A single file appeared.
He clicked it.
His father filled the screen.
Older.
Tired.
Alive.
Matteo gripped the desk.
The recording began.
“If you’re watching this, Matteo, then either I failed or Salvatore became impatient.”
Matteo looked away briefly.
Nora reached for his hand without thinking.
He looked down.
Then closed his fingers around hers.
His father continued.
“Lucia is alive. I made that choice. Hate me if you must.”
Lucia covered her mouth.
“The evidence is divided. One set is in locker seventeen. Another was placed with someone Salvatore would never suspect.”
The video flickered.
Then:
“Christopher Hale’s father once worked for us. When he died, his son inherited more than a company. He inherited something he does not understand.”
Nora frowned.
Matteo leaned closer.
His father continued.
“If the second key ever surfaces, do not assume the person carrying it knows what they have.”
Nora’s heartbeat quickened.
The video froze for two seconds.
Then Matteo’s father said:
“The safest person may be the woman everybody overlooks.”
Nora stopped breathing.
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Gabriel finally said:
“He knew.”
Matteo looked at Nora.
“Knew what?”
“That someone outside the family might end up with the key.”
Lucia shook her head.
“No. There’s more.”
She opened another hidden file.
A photograph appeared.
Nora’s mother.
Twenty years younger.
Standing beside Matteo’s father.
Nora rose abruptly.
“What?”
Matteo turned to her.
“You know her?”
“That is my mother.”
Lucia closed her eyes.
“Oh.”
Nora’s voice shook.
“Why is my mother in your father’s files?”
Lucia looked genuinely startled.
“I didn’t know that was your mother.”
“What was she doing with him?”
“I don’t know.”
Matteo enlarged the image.
Behind them stood a warehouse.
On Nora’s mother’s jacket was a badge.
Bellandi Shipping.
Nora stared.
“My mother worked for your family?”
Matteo looked at Gabriel.
“Find out.”
Nora paced.
“My mother told me she worked at a bookkeeping office before I was born.”
Gabriel began typing.
Lucia watched Nora carefully.
“Maybe she did.”
“At Bellandi Shipping?”
“Possibly.”
“Then why hide it?”
Nobody answered.
Nora grabbed her phone.
“I’m calling her.”
Matteo stepped forward.
“Wait.”
“No. Absolutely not. My apartment gets destroyed, my sister gets impersonated, my ex-boyfriend knows about a secret locker, and now my mother is standing in a photograph with your dead father. I have officially exceeded my daily allowance for waiting.”
She called.
Her mother answered on the fourth ring.
“Nora?”
“Mom.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Did you work for Bellandi Shipping?”
Silence.
Nora’s stomach sank.
“Mom?”
Another pause.
Then her mother whispered:
“Who told you?”
Nora closed her eyes.
“You did.”
“Nora, listen to me.”
“No. You listen. Why didn’t you ever tell us?”
“Because I promised someone.”
“Who?”
Her mother began crying.
“Your father.”
Nora frowned.
“Dad knows?”
“Not your father.”
Nora stopped.
Nobody in the library moved.
Her mother’s voice broke.
“Nora, there are things I should have told you years ago.”
Nora’s fingers went numb.
“What things?”
Her mother breathed shakily.
Then a loud crash sounded through the phone.
“Mom?”
Another crash.
Her mother gasped.
“Nora, don’t come here.”
“Mom!”
The call disconnected.
Nora ran toward the door.
Matteo caught up.
“Nora.”
“My mother is in danger.”
“I know.”
She turned on him.
“Then move.”
They were halfway into the hallway when Nora’s phone rang again.
Her mother’s number.
Nora answered immediately.
“Mom?”
A man spoke instead.
His voice was calm.
Older.
Italian accent.
“Good evening, Nora.”
Matteo froze beside her.
Lucia’s face turned white.
The man continued.
“I believe you have something that belongs to my family.”
Matteo whispered one name.
“Salvatore.”
The man laughed softly through the phone.
May you like
Then said:
“Bring me the key, Nora, or tomorrow your mother will finally tell you who your real father was.”
