Chapter 9 - The Brother's Last Confession
Roman drove back to the mansion like a man chasing a ghost.
Sophia sat beside him, holding the photograph.
"Matteo wouldn't hurt Adrian."
Roman tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
"I know."
"Then why would Catherine accuse him?"
"Because someone wants us to turn against each other."
Sophia looked at him.
"And what if she's right?"
Roman didn't answer.
When they arrived, the mansion was in chaos.
Two guards stood outside Matteo's room.
The door was open.
The room was empty.
Adrian's bed was untouched.
Elena sat in the living room, crying.
"What happened?" Sophia asked.
Elena looked up.
"Matteo took him."
Roman stopped.
"What?"
"He said he needed to keep Adrian safe. Then he ordered the guards to stand down."
Roman pulled out his phone.
"Find him."
Within minutes, the security team located Matteo's car.
It was heading toward the old family estate in Connecticut.
Roman and Sophia followed.
The estate had been abandoned since Antonio's arrest. It was a large stone property surrounded by forest, with an underground garage and several sealed rooms.
Matteo stood in the entrance hall when they arrived.
He held a folder.
Adrian was nowhere in sight.
"Where's my nephew?" Roman demanded.
"Safe."
"Where?"
"Somewhere you can't reach him."
Roman raised his weapon.
"Give me one reason not to put you on the floor."
Matteo looked at him.
"Because I'm the only person who can tell you what happened to Daniel."
Sophia stepped forward.
"Did you betray my father?"
Matteo's face tightened.
"Yes."
Roman stared.
The admission was immediate.
No excuses.
No denial.
Matteo placed the folder on a table.
"I was twenty-three. Antonio had promised me control of the organization after he retired. I believed him. Then Daniel discovered the accounts, and Antonio told me the entire family would be destroyed if the information reached the authorities."
"So you gave him my father's location," Sophia said.
Matteo nodded.
"I thought Antonio would frighten him into surrendering the documents. I didn't know he intended to kill him."
"You knew he was dangerous."
"Yes."
Sophia slapped him.
The sound echoed through the empty estate.
Matteo didn't move.
"I deserved that."
Roman stepped closer.
"What happened to Daniel?"
Matteo opened the folder.
Inside were several photographs and a handwritten statement.
"Antonio took him to an underground property outside Hartford. He was kept there for three days. Then Isabella arranged his transfer."
"Transfer where?"
Matteo looked at Sophia.
"I don't know."
She shook her head.
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"Then why did Daniel tell my father—"
She stopped.
She had almost said the wrong name.
Daniel had been her father.
Matteo looked down.
"Because he was still alive when I last saw him."
Sophia felt the room spin.
"When?"
"Four days after the warehouse incident."
Roman grabbed Matteo by the collar.
"You knew he was alive?"
"I was trying to find him."
"For five years?"
Matteo's eyes filled.
"I was afraid."
Roman released him.
Sophia approached the folder.
At the bottom was a small envelope.
Her name was written across it.
Inside was a letter.
My Sophia,
If you are reading this, then I have failed to come home. I need you to understand something. The Duca family is not your enemy. But one person inside it has spent years making sure you believe that.
Find the woman who wears your mother's ring.
Sophia looked at Catherine's photograph.
Her mother wore a simple gold ring.
But there was another woman in the family who wore the same design.
Isabella.
Matteo suddenly looked toward the entrance.
"Someone's here."
Roman turned.
The lights went out.
A gunshot sounded.
When emergency lights came on, Matteo was on the floor.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Sophia rushed toward him.
"Matteo!"
He grabbed her wrist.
"Don't let Roman—"
His voice weakened.
"Don't let him open the vault."
Roman knelt beside his brother.
"What vault?"
Matteo looked toward Sophia.
Then he whispered:
"Your father is inside."
His hand fell.
A door slammed somewhere beneath the estate.
Roman stood.
Sophia stared at the dark hallway.
For five years, she had believed her father was dead.
Now she was standing above a room that might contain him.
May you like
And the only person who knew how to open it was the woman they had left behind.
Isabella Duca.
