Chapter 5 - The Betrayal Inside the House
Marco stared at Stefano as if a ghost had stepped into the room.
“You died.”
Stefano smiled.
“So did Matteo.”
No one moved.
Alessia stood beside Nona.
Enzo stood between them and the guns.
Luca’s weapon remained aimed at him.
That hurt Enzo more than he allowed his face to show.
“You too?”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“I have orders.”
“From him?”
“No.”
That answer confused everyone except Stefano.
Stefano laughed.
“Your loyal dog has finally learned who owns the leash.”
Enzo looked at Luca.
Then something subtle passed between them.
Alessia caught it.
A blink.
Nothing more.
Enzo raised his hands.
Stefano demanded the chip.
Nona refused.
He pointed a gun at Alessia.
Enzo’s expression changed instantly.
“Give it to him.”
“No,” Alessia said.
“Alessia.”
“No.”
Stefano smiled.
“Interesting. The famous Enzo Vieri has developed a weakness.”
“She isn’t my weakness.”
Enzo’s voice was quiet.
“She’s the reason you’re still breathing.”
Stefano’s smile vanished.
Then Luca fired.
Not at Enzo.
At the chandelier.
Glass crashed down.
The room erupted.
Vieri guards who had appeared compromised suddenly turned their weapons on Stefano’s men.
Marco tackled his brother.
Enzo dragged Alessia and Nona behind a stone column.
Within thirty seconds, the coup collapsed.
Luca pressed his gun against Stefano’s neck.
“Sorry about the performance, boss.”
Enzo adjusted his jacket.
“You enjoyed it too much.”
“A little.”
Alessia stared at him.
“You planned this?”
Enzo nodded.
“Stefano needed to believe he controlled Luca.”
“You could have told me.”
“You can’t fake terror that convincingly.”
She punched his shoulder.
“You used me as bait?”
“No.”
Another punch.
“Ow.”
“You deserved that.”
“Probably.”
Stefano laughed from the floor.
“You think this ends with me?”
Enzo crouched.
“No. I think it begins.”
The chip exposed Stefano’s network.
But one file was corrupted.
The most important one.
It contained the identity of the person who had inherited control after Carlo Vieri’s death.
Someone above Stefano.
Someone inside Enzo’s world.
They needed a password.
Matteo believed Carlo had hidden it somewhere personal.
Enzo returned to his father’s old estate with Alessia.
The place had been closed for years.
Dust covered the furniture.
Enzo seemed different there.
Less like the feared man from the elevator.
More like a son walking through a house full of unfinished conversations.
“My father wasn’t affectionate,” he said.
Alessia looked at him.
“He taught me that attachment created leverage.”
“And you believed him?”
“For a long time.”
“What changed?”
Enzo stopped.
“You told me power isn’t permission.”
She smiled faintly.
“That must have been traumatic.”
“Devastating.”
They searched Carlo’s study.
Behind a framed photograph, Alessia discovered a handwritten note.
What cannot be bought cannot be owned.
Below it was a date.
Enzo recognized it.
His mother’s birthday.
The date unlocked the corrupted file.
The name appeared.
Alessia read it first.
She wished she hadn’t.
Luca Ferretti.
Enzo went silent.
“That’s impossible.”
The evidence suggested Luca had authorized payments to Stefano for eight years.
Enzo refused to accept it without verification.
Alessia watched him struggle.
Luca was not merely an employee.
They had grown up together.
That night, Alessia found Enzo alone on the terrace.
“You don’t have to pretend with me.”
“I’m not pretending.”
“You are.”
He looked toward Milan.
“I know how to deal with enemies.”
“But not betrayal.”
“No.”
She stood beside him.
For once, neither argued.
Enzo looked at her hand resting on the railing.
Then at her.
“May I?”
The question surprised her.
He was asking permission simply to touch her.
Alessia slowly turned her palm upward.
Enzo placed his hand in hers.
Nothing more.
Yet it felt more intimate than everything that had happened in the elevator.
“You remembered,” she whispered.
“Everything you say to me seems to become inconveniently permanent.”
She laughed.
He stared at her.
“What?”
“You laughed.”
“I do that.”
“Not around me.”
“Maybe you should become less terrifying.”
“I’m working on it.”
She looked at him.
The distance between them narrowed.
Enzo touched her cheek, but stopped before making contact.
Alessia closed the final inch herself.
His thumb brushed her skin.
Then she kissed him.
Softly.
Briefly.
Enzo did not chase when she pulled back.
That mattered.
“What was that?” he asked.
“A terrible decision.”
“Can we make it again?”
She almost did.
The terrace door opened.
Marco stood there.
“Luca’s gone.”
Enzo turned.
“What?”
“His room is empty.”
Security footage showed Luca leaving twenty minutes earlier.
He had taken Stefano with him.
Alessia’s heart sank.
Maybe the file had been right.
Then Enzo’s phone buzzed.
A message from Luca.
DON’T TRUST MATTEO. ASK ALESSIA WHAT HER FATHER DID THE NIGHT CARLO DIED.
Enzo looked at Alessia.
She stared back.
Neither knew the answer.
May you like
But behind them, Matteo had appeared in the doorway.
And judging by his face, he did.
