Chapter 3 - THE MAN SHE WAS TAUGHT TO FEARMatteo Vescari's Impossible StoryAlina didn't trust him.
She didn't trust the message.
She didn't trust the fact that her mother's handwriting had appeared on her screen after men had broken into their home.
Most of all, she didn't trust the dragon.
But she trusted one thing.
Her mother had never lied without a reason.
So when Matteo sent a car the next morning, Alina got inside.
Not because she believed him.
Because she wanted her mother back.
The driver didn't speak.
The city disappeared behind tinted glass.
Twenty minutes later, they stopped beneath a parking garage.
Matteo was waiting.
No guards around him.
No dramatic entrance.
Just a dark suit and tired eyes.
Alina hated that she noticed the tiredness.
He led her upstairs.
The room was a private office.
Floor-to-ceiling windows.
A city spread beneath them.
On the desk sat a photograph.
Alina saw it before she meant to.
A younger man stood beside Matteo.
Same dark eyes.
Same sharp jaw.
No dragon tattoo.
The man was smiling.
Beside him stood a woman.
And in her arms...
A baby.
Alina stared.
"That's my father."
Matteo nodded.
"Gabriel."
"Where is my mother?"
"Alive."
"Where?"
"Right now, I don't know."
Alina spun toward him.
"You said—"
"I said the men who took her weren't mine."
"Then find them."
"I'm trying."
"You found me."
"Because you walked into my restaurant."
"Your restaurant?"
He looked at her.
"Half the restaurants in this city are mine."
That explained nothing.
Alina pointed at the photograph.
"Tell me everything."
Matteo was silent for several seconds.
Then he opened a drawer and removed a sealed envelope.
He placed it on the desk.
"Gabriel disappeared twenty years ago. My father told me he had betrayed the family."
"Did he?"
"No."
"How do you know?"
"Because the night Gabriel disappeared, he called me."
Alina's chest tightened.
"What did he say?"
Matteo looked down.
"He said, 'If they find Alina, they will kill her before she knows why.'"
Silence.
"My father knew my name?"
"Apparently."
Alina touched the envelope.
"What's in it?"
"Your birth certificate."
She ripped it open.
The first page showed one name.
Father: Gabriel Vescari.
Mother:
Elena Marino.
Her hands went numb.
"Why did my mother hide me?"
"Because Gabriel was trying to protect you."
"From who?"
"My father."
Matteo's expression hardened.
"Victor Vescari."
Alina looked up.
"Your own father?"
"Yes."
"What did he want from a baby?"
"A bloodline."
She didn't understand.
Matteo leaned back.
"In my family, blood means ownership."
Alina laughed bitterly.
"You're saying my grandfather wanted me because I was his granddaughter?"
"No."
He looked directly into her eyes.
"Because you were the only surviving heir to something he had stolen."
Before Alina could ask what, the door opened.
A woman hurried in.
"Mr. Vescari."
Matteo turned.
"What?"
"Leo is missing."
The room changed.
Matteo stood so quickly the chair struck the wall.
"What do you mean missing?"
"His nurse found the crib empty."
Alina's blood went cold.
A tiny white blanket lay on the floor in the security photograph.
No baby.
No struggle.
No broken window.
Matteo grabbed the phone.
"Lock every exit."
"We already did."
"Then lock the city."
He ended the call.
Alina stared at him.
"Where would they take him?"
Matteo looked at her.
"I don't know."
Then he saw something on the floor.
A tiny silver thread.
He picked it up.
His face changed.
The thread was dark blue.
And attached to it was a small brass charm.
A phoenix.
Matteo whispered:
"Carlo."
Alina frowned.
"Who is Carlo?"
Matteo didn't answer.
He was already walking toward the door.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
A man's voice came through the speaker.
"Bring the girl to the old Vescari house."
Matteo stopped.
"If you want your son alive."
A pause.
"And bring the dragon pendant."
The call ended.
Matteo looked at Alina.
"They don't just want Leo."
May you like
His eyes dropped to the pendant at her throat.
"They want you."
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