Chapter 5 - The Betrayal Inside the Family
Enzo stepped toward the vehicle and said, “Let him go.”
Matteo raised one finger.
A man placed a gun against Enzo’s father.
On the older man’s wrist was a hospital bracelet.
A date had been written beneath his name.
Tomorrow.
Enzo stopped moving.
Matteo smiled.
“Now you’re listening.”
Rain poured around us.
I looked at Enzo’s father.
Vittorio Relli had always terrified me.
Tonight he looked old.
Not weak.
Just suddenly human.
“What do you want?” Enzo asked.
“The companies.”
“You already stole from them.”
Matteo’s smile disappeared.
“So Sofia did find the transfers.”
I felt Enzo shift closer to me.
Matteo noticed.
“Relax, nephew. If I wanted her dead, she wouldn’t have reached the hotel.”
“That isn’t reassuring,” I said.
Matteo looked at me.
To my surprise, he laughed.
“I understand why he likes you.”
Enzo’s voice became ice.
“Careful.”
There it was again.
That wordless thing between us.
Everyone seemed to see it before we were willing to.
Matteo opened a leather case.
Inside were contracts.
“Sign these.”
Enzo scanned the first page.
“You want controlling interest.”
“I want what should have been mine.”
Vittorio spoke from the vehicle.
“Nothing was ever yours.”
Matteo turned.
“You gave everything to him.”
“He earned it.”
“He was twenty-eight.”
“He was loyal.”
Matteo’s face changed.
Seventeen years of hatred appeared at once.
“You chose your son over your brother.”
“I chose the man who didn’t steal from me.”
Matteo slapped him.
Enzo moved.
Three guns rose.
I caught Enzo’s arm.
He looked at me.
“Not yet,” I whispered.
His breathing slowed.
Matteo noticed that too.
“You listen to her.”
Enzo said nothing.
“That’s dangerous.”
“Only for you.”
Matteo placed the contract on the hood of the SUV.
“Sign.”
Enzo took the pen.
I stared at him.
He looked down at the pages.
Then at me.
Something passed between us.
I understood.
Not everything.
Enough.
I stepped forward.
“Before he signs, I need to verify the schedules.”
Matteo stared at me.
“What?”
“I’m his secretary.”
“This isn’t an office.”
“No, but you’re asking him to transfer corporations worth hundreds of millions. The attachments matter.”
One of Matteo’s men laughed.
Matteo didn’t.
“You think I’m stupid?”
“No.”
I paused.
“I think you think Enzo is desperate.”
Matteo’s eyes narrowed.
“He is.”
“Then you don’t need to be afraid of me checking paperwork.”
Silence.
He handed me the contracts.
I flipped through them.
Page after page.
Until I found it.
Schedule C.
Bank transfers.
Account numbers.
Dates.
Amounts.
Evidence.
Matteo had documented his own theft because he needed to establish the assets he claimed.
I looked at Enzo.
He saw my expression.
“Everything correct?” he asked.
“Almost.”
I removed my phone.
Matteo’s man grabbed it.
“No pictures.”
“I need a calculator.”
“I said no.”
Enzo smiled.
“My secretary can calculate faster than you can.”
I almost rolled my eyes.
Then Luca moved.
Fast.
He struck the nearest gunman.
Enzo lunged for his father.
Chaos exploded.
I dropped behind the SUV.
A gunshot cracked.
Then another.
Matteo shouted.
Enzo dragged Vittorio behind the vehicle.
Luca disarmed one man.
The others scattered.
Police sirens rose somewhere beyond the ridge.
Matteo froze.
I looked at Luca.
He smiled.
“Hotel security finally found a signal.”
Matteo ran toward his vehicle.
Enzo started after him.
Vittorio grabbed his sleeve.
“Let him go.”
“He’ll disappear.”
“Not with those.”
He pointed at the contracts still in my hands.
Matteo stopped.
He realized it too.
Then he looked at me.
His expression changed from confidence to hatred.
“You.”
Enzo stepped between us.
“Yes,” he said. “Her.”
Matteo fled into the trees.
The police arrived minutes later.
His men surrendered.
Vittorio was taken to an ambulance.
Luca went with the officers.
And suddenly, after hours of running, Enzo and I stood beneath the shelter of an abandoned roadside station.
Alone.
Rain thundered on the metal roof.
“You saved my father,” he said.
“I checked paperwork.”
“You stalled Matteo.”
“I annoyed him.”
“You’re exceptionally good at that.”
I smiled.
Then I noticed blood on Enzo’s side.
My smile vanished.
“That isn’t from your forehead.”
He looked down.
His black shirt was darker near his ribs.
“Enzo.”
“I’m fine.”
“You have got to stop saying that.”
His knees buckled.
I caught him.
Or tried to.
He was far too heavy.
“Enzo!”
His hand closed around mine.
“Sofia.”
“Stay awake.”
His eyes struggled to focus.
“There’s something I should have told you before tonight.”
“Tell me later.”
“No.”
Sirens echoed nearby.
His fingers tightened.
“The reason I hired you…”
His voice faded.
I leaned closer.
“What about it?”
Enzo tried to answer.
May you like
Then his eyes closed.
And the hand holding mine went limp.
