Chapter 7 - Matteo returned to Bellavita alone.The restaurant had been closed for hours.
Chairs overturned.
Broken glass still littered the floor.
Blood stained the marble near the entrance.
He walked through the dining room without a weapon.
At the center table, someone had placed three plates.
Braised veal.
Tomatoes.
Rosemary.
Garlic.
Bitter orange.
Matteo sat down.
A voice came from the kitchen.
“You always liked that dish.”
His father stepped out.
Alive.
Uninjured.
Matteo stared.
“You look exactly the same.”
“Money helps.”
“Where is Elena?”
“In the kitchen.”
Matteo stood.
His father raised a hand.
“Sit.”
Matteo sat.
His father poured wine.
“You have questions.”
“I have twenty-seven years of them.”
“Then ask.”
“Why me?”
His father looked surprised.
“Because you were the only son.”
“That doesn't answer anything.”
“It does.”
His father sipped his wine.
“You had no imagination.”
Matteo frowned.
“You followed rules. You trusted family. You believed loyalty was sacred.”
“And you used that.”
“Yes.”
“Why Marco?”
“He was weak.”
Marco's voice echoed from the doorway.
“I was young.”
He entered with Sofia and Isabella.
Matteo's father looked irritated.
“I asked for Matteo alone.”
Marco smiled.
“You never get what you ask for anymore.”
His father stood.
“Enough.”
Marco stepped closer.
“Tell them.”
The old man looked at Isabella.
“She is the missing heir.”
Matteo frowned.
“Not Elena?”
“No.”
“Then why did you say Elena's blood opens the vault?”
“Because it does.”
Sofia stepped forward.
“You're lying again.”
His father smiled.
“Am I?”
She slapped him.
For the first time, he looked angry.
“You don't get to speak.”
Sofia whispered.
“You killed our first child.”
Silence.
Matteo stared at Sofia.
“Our first child?”
Sofia looked at him.
“Elena was not your first.”
Matteo felt the room tilt.
“Then who?”
Sofia took a breath.
A child had been born before Elena.
A son.
Matteo's father had ordered him taken immediately.
The boy was declared dead.
But Sofia had discovered the truth years later.
The child had survived.
Matteo's father had raised him somewhere else.
As a weapon.
As an heir.
As the replacement for Matteo.
Matteo stared at his father.
“Where is my son?”
The old man smiled.
“You've already met him.”
Matteo's mind raced through every face.
Luca?
Marco?
One of his lieutenants?
Then Elena emerged from the kitchen.
Her hands were free.
She looked frightened.
“Dad.”
Matteo moved toward her.
His father smiled.
“She remembers him.”
Elena stopped.
“Who?”
Her eyes locked onto Matteo.
Then widened.
“Wait.”
She looked behind him.
At Luca.
Luca stood frozen.
His face had lost all color.
“Elena…”
Matteo turned.
“Luca?”
Luca slowly removed his coat.
Underneath was a black shirt.
On his wrist was a scar.
The same scar appearing in the old hospital photograph.
Matteo stepped backward.
“No.”
Luca looked at him.
“I didn't know until three weeks ago.”
His voice broke.
“My real name is Leonardo De Luca.”
Matteo stared.
His son.
Alive.
Standing ten feet away.
Luca dropped to his knees.
“I never wanted this.”
Matteo couldn't speak.
His father smiled.
“Now you understand.”
Leonardo looked at the old man.
“You used me.”
“I created you.”
“You kidnapped me.”
“I protected you.”
“You turned me against my own family.”
“I gave you purpose.”
Leonardo stood.
“No.”
He pulled a gun.
“You gave me hate.”
His father smiled.
“Then shoot me.”
Leonardo's finger tightened.
Matteo stepped between them.
“Don't.”
Leonardo looked at him.
“You still protect him?”
“No.”
Matteo turned toward his father.
“I protect my son from becoming you.”
For the first time, his father looked genuinely afraid.
Then the restaurant doors opened.
Police flooded inside.
Dozens of them.
At their head stood a woman in a dark suit.
She looked directly at Matteo.
“Matteo De Luca.”
He raised his hands.
“What is this?”
The woman smiled.
“Federal investigation.”
Then she held up a photograph.
It showed Sofia.
Marco.
Elena.
Isabella.
Leonardo.
And Matteo's father.
Under the photograph was a title:
PROJECT ORPHEUS.
The agent looked at Matteo.
“You are not being arrested.”
Matteo frowned.
“Then why are you here?”
The agent's expression hardened.
“To tell you that every person in this room…”
May you like
She looked at all of them.
“…has been monitored since birth.”
Related Stories
