Chapter 4 - The Mother Behind the Second Garage Door

Nobody moved.

Matteo looked at Antonio.

“My mother is alive.”

Antonio did not answer fast enough.

Matteo stepped forward.

“Is she?”

Antonio whispered:

“Yes.”

Matteo stared.

“Where?”

Silence.

Frank closed his eyes.

Valentina looked at Henry.

Matteo saw all of it.

“You all know.”

Antonio stood.

“She has been protected.”

“For how long?”

“Fourteen years.”

Matteo’s face emptied.

“Fourteen?”

Antonio nodded.

“She returned the night of the explosion.”

Matteo looked confused.

“You said she disappeared five years before.”

“She did.”

“Then came back.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“To warn me.”

“About Paul.”

“And Victor Hale.”

Matteo looked toward the black Mercedes.

“So she was in the car.”

“Yes.”

“And after the explosion?”

Antonio answered:

“We separated.”

“Why?”

“Safer.”

Matteo stared.

“Where is she now?”

Antonio looked toward the back wall.

There was another garage door.

Old.

Locked.

Matteo frowned.

Frank walked over.

Inserted a key.

The door opened.

Behind it:

A narrow apartment.

Kitchen.

Bed.

Books.

And a woman standing beside the window.

Late fifties.

Dark hair streaked with gray.

Same eyes as Matteo.

Sofia Romano.

Matteo stopped.

She did too.

Then whispered:

“Matteo.”

He did not move.

No one did.

She stepped forward.

He stepped back.

That hurt her.

He saw it.

But did not apologize.

“You were here.”

She nodded.

“In this garage.”

“Yes.”

“While I was at the gala.”

“Yes.”

“You heard me arrive.”

“Yes.”

“And you waited behind a door.”

Tears filled her eyes.

“I was afraid.”

Matteo laughed quietly.

“Everyone was afraid.”

Sofia nodded.

“Yes.”

He looked at Antonio.

“You both decided fourteen years of silence was protection.”

Antonio said nothing.

Sofia stepped closer.

“I tried to contact you.”

Matteo’s face hardened.

“When?”

“Every year.”

Antonio looked at her.

“What?”

Sofia stared at him.

“You did not know?”

“No.”

Matteo watched.

Another secret inside another secret.

Sofia went to a drawer.

Pulled out letters.

Returned mail.

All addressed to Matteo.

All marked:

UNDELIVERABLE.

Matteo looked at the estate address.

Correct.

Someone inside the company had intercepted them.

He looked at Antonio.

Antonio whispered:

“Paul.”

Sofia nodded.

“Or someone working for him.”

Matteo opened one.

Age twenty-one.

She had written:

I AM ALIVE.

YOUR FATHER IS ALIVE.

DO NOT TRUST PAUL.

Matteo sat.

He read another.

Age twenty-five.

Another.

Twenty-nine.

Every year.

Every version of his life.

Answered by silence.

He looked at Sofia.

“Why not come yourself?”

“Because Paul had people around you.”

“Always?”

“Yes.”

She looked at Frank.

“He confirmed it.”

Frank nodded.

Matteo stared.

“Even after I took over the company?”

“Yes.”

“So I never controlled it.”

Antonio answered:

“Not fully.”

Matteo looked at the toolbox.

Then at Clara.

Then at Sofia.

“Who does?”

Sofia said:

“Paul controls the old network.”

Antonio added:

“Victor Hale controls the money.”

Henry said:

“And the sale combines both.”

Matteo understood.

The pending deal was not business.

It was consolidation.

He looked at Valentina.

“You wanted the sale delayed.”

“Yes.”

“But your father wanted it closed.”

Henry looked ashamed.

“At first.”

Matteo laughed.

“There it is again.”

Henry continued:

“Paul threatened Cross Motors.”

“You chose your company.”

“Yes.”

“Over telling me.”

“Yes.”

Valentina whispered:

“I fought him.”

Matteo looked at her.

“But you still told Nora to throw away the key.”

Silence.

She closed her eyes.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I thought Frank bringing you here before we had the transfer copy would get Antonio killed.”

Matteo stared.

“So you hid the truth to buy time.”

“Yes.”

“How much time were you planning to buy?”

She had no answer.

Sofia walked toward Matteo.

Then stopped.

“I do.”

He looked at her.

“Until tomorrow.”

“What happens tomorrow?”

She pulled a photograph from a folder.

Paul.

Victor Hale.

A private bank.

Sofia whispered:

“They move the original transfer and the company ledgers tomorrow morning.”

“Where?”

“Vault 218.”

Matteo stared.

“Which bank?”

Henry answered:

“Hale Private Trust.”

Matteo’s expression changed.

Victor’s bank.

Sofia continued.

“If those documents move offshore, Paul can erase the chain.”

Matteo stood.

“Then we go tonight.”

Antonio shook his head.

“No.”

Matteo looked at him.

“No?”

“It is guarded.”

“That has never stopped this family before.”

Sofia looked at her son.

Then handed him the old Mercedes key.

“The vault key is hidden inside the car.”

Matteo frowned.

“What?”

Antonio almost smiled.

“Your mother chose the hiding place.”

Matteo looked at the Mercedes.

“Where?”

Sofia answered:

“Inside the spare tire well.”

Matteo stared at her.

“The place you taught me to check first when changing a tire.”

Antonio smiled faintly.

“Yes.”

For the first time, Matteo almost smiled too.

Then a loud crash came from outside.

Frank turned.

Headlights.

May you like

[COMPLETED] “GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY DRESS! YOU’RE NOTHING BUT AN OLD SEAM...

[COMPLETED] At the Mafia Boss's Engagement Party, I Served His Hungry So...

[COMPLETED] The Mafia Boss’s Fiancée Tried to Dismiss His Father’s Loyal...

Three black SUVs.

Paul had found the garage.