Chapter 2 - The Garage Where His Father Waited

Matteo drove the old Mercedes himself.

Frank sat beside him.

I sat in the back.

My name is Nora Blake.

Twenty-seven.

Maid.

And somehow I was still holding the oil-stained envelope that started everything.

The road was familiar to Matteo.

He knew every turn.

Even after fourteen years.

The garage stood behind an abandoned gas station outside the city.

Same brick walls.

Same faded sign.

Same dented metal door.

Matteo stopped the car.

Did not get out.

Frank looked at him.

“He is inside.”

Matteo stared at the garage.

“Fourteen years.”

“Yes.”

“And he waits in the same place he taught me to change a tire.”

“Yes.”

“That is cruel.”

Frank nodded.

“Probably.”

Matteo opened the door.

Inside:

Old lifts.

Toolboxes.

Oil stains.

And one man standing beneath a hanging light.

Sixty-two.

Gray hair.

Dark jacket.

Same eyes as Matteo.

Antonio Romano.

Matteo’s father.

Alive.

Neither moved.

Then Antonio whispered:

“You kept the lion.”

Matteo looked at the tattoo on his forearm.

“You remember that?”

“You drew it on your arm with marker when you were twelve.”

Matteo’s face changed.

Then hardened again.

“You believed those emails.”

Antonio looked down.

“Yes.”

“For eleven years.”

“Yes.”

“You watched my life from newspapers and still believed I hated you.”

“Yes.”

Matteo laughed quietly.

“Good.”

Antonio frowned.

“Good?”

“Now you know what it feels like to believe a lie for years.”

Silence.

Frank stepped away.

I did too.

Antonio swallowed.

“I came back because Valentina told me the truth.”

Matteo looked at him.

“She told you eight months ago.”

“Yes.”

“And you still waited.”

Antonio looked toward a workbench.

“There was something I needed first.”

“What?”

“Proof.”

He opened a steel drawer.

Inside:

Emails.

Bank statements.

Photographs.

Engine records.

And one old police report.

Matteo stared.

“About the explosion?”

“Yes.”

Antonio handed it over.

The report said:

Vehicle confirmed as Antonio Romano’s Mercedes.

Matteo looked up.

“But it wasn’t.”

“No.”

“Who signed?”

Antonio pointed.

Detective Paul Romano.

Matteo went still.

“My uncle.”

“Yes.”

The man who took over the company.

The man sitting calmly at the gala.

Matteo stared at the signature.

“He identified the car.”

“Yes.”

“He knew it was fake.”

“Yes.”

Frank added:

“He also knew Antonio was alive.”

Matteo looked at his father.

“For how long?”

Antonio answered:

“From the beginning.”

Silence.

Matteo’s jaw tightened.

Antonio continued.

“Paul helped plan the explosion.”

Nora? keep POV via narrative.

Matteo did not move.

“Why?”

“To remove me from the company.”

“That simple?”

“No.”

Antonio looked toward the black Mercedes.

“He needed my shares.”

Matteo frowned.

“You could have signed them over.”

“I refused.”

“Then he tried to kill you.”

“Yes.”

“What went wrong?”

Antonio almost smiled.

“I found the duplicate car first.”

Frank nodded.

“Antonio asked Henry Cross to get one identical enough to fool cameras.”

Matteo looked at Frank.

“And the explosion?”

Antonio answered:

“I let Paul think I took the original.”

“You staged your death.”

“Yes.”

“To survive.”

“Yes.”

Matteo stared.

“And then?”

“I planned to disappear for weeks.”

“Not fourteen years.”

“No.”

“Then why?”

Antonio opened another folder.

A photograph.

Matteo at age twenty.

Standing beside his uncle.

Paul’s hand on his shoulder.

On the back:

HE CHOSE ME.

Matteo looked at Antonio.

“What is this?”

“Paul sent it.”

“When?”

“Two months after the explosion.”

Antonio opened another envelope.

Then another.

Fake letters.

Fake emails.

Photographs.

Messages.

All designed to make Antonio believe Matteo accepted Paul as father.

Matteo’s face hardened.

“He replaced you.”

Antonio nodded.

“And made sure I thought you wanted it.”

Matteo looked away.

Then back.

“Why didn’t Henry tell you sooner?”

Antonio’s expression changed.

“Because Henry had his own problem.”

“What?”

Antonio looked at Frank.

Frank said nothing.

Matteo noticed.

“What problem?”

Antonio answered:

“Paul owned part of Cross Motors.”

Matteo frowned.

“Valentina’s father’s company?”

“Yes.”

“Since when?”

“Fourteen years.”

Silence.

Matteo understood.

Paul had not only controlled Romano assets.

He had leverage over Henry too.

Antonio continued.

“Henry helped me fake the car because he wanted out.”

“And?”

“Paul discovered it.”

Matteo’s face changed.

“What did he do?”

Antonio looked at the floor.

“He took collateral.”

Matteo stared.

“What collateral?”

No one answered.

Then the garage door opened.

Valentina stood there.

Still in the red gown.

Henry behind her.

Valentina whispered:

“Me.”

Matteo turned.

“What?”

Henry looked broken.

“Paul threatened Valentina.”

Silence.

Antonio continued:

“She was twenty-one.”

Matteo stared at her.

“You knew Paul threatened you.”

“Yes.”

“And that is why you kept my father hidden.”

Valentina’s eyes filled.

“At first.”

Matteo stepped closer.

“At first?”

She swallowed.

“Later I found out something worse.”

“What?”

She looked at Antonio.

Then at Matteo.

“Your father did not disappear alone.”

Silence.

Antonio closed his eyes.

Matteo stared.

“What does that mean?”

Valentina whispered:

“There was someone else in the original Mercedes that night.”

Matteo looked at his father.

Antonio said nothing.

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Matteo’s voice dropped.

“Who?”