Chapter 3 - Eleven Missing Minutes
Alessia De Luca was waiting on the dock when the family disembarked.
She had left the yacht the previous evening for what she described as an unavoidable business dinner in Manhattan.
Until Anna mentioned seeing her inside Matteo’s office before that departure, nobody had considered Alessia relevant.
Now Matteo said very little during the drive from the marina.
That worried Anna more than anger would have.
They sat in the back of a black SUV while downtown traffic moved around them.
“Say something,” Anna finally said.
“I’m thinking.”
“You’ve been thinking for twenty minutes.”
“I’m thorough.”
“You’re terrifying when you’re thorough.”
“Useful quality.”
Anna watched him.
“Do you believe Alessia did it?”
“No.”
“That was fast.”
“I believe she knows something.”
The De Luca family residence occupied several floors of a discreet building overlooking Central Park.
Within an hour, most of the family had gathered there.
Anna changed into a navy dress Teresa loaned her and returned to the library.
The De Luca engagement ring lay on a velvet cloth on Matteo’s desk.
This time everyone looked at it differently.
Not as a symbol of romance.
As evidence.
Alessia stood near the fireplace.
She was thirty-two, elegant, sharp-eyed, and clearly offended.
“I did not steal the ring.”
Matteo remained seated.
“I didn’t say you did.”
“You called me here while reporters are camped outside.”
“That happens regularly.”
“Not because everyone believes you secretly married your consultant.”
“Engaged,” Sofia corrected.
Alessia looked at her.
“Thank you, Sofia.”
“You’re welcome.”
Anna hid a smile.
Matteo leaned forward.
“Yesterday at four, Anna saw you in my office.”
Alessia looked at Anna.
Then understanding crossed her face.
“Oh.”
“That doesn’t sound promising,” Anna said.
Alessia sighed.
“I was there.”
“Why?” Matteo asked.
“Nonna asked me to get the ring.”
Everyone turned toward the grandmother.
Nonna Elena lifted her chin.
“Yes.”
Matteo stared.
“You asked Alessia to open my safe?”
“I asked her to bring me the ring.”
“That is not better.”
“I wanted to have it cleaned.”
“For what?”
Nonna Elena gave him an impatient look.
“For whichever century you finally decided to use it.”
Sofia laughed aloud.
Matteo did not.
“How did Alessia access the safe?”
“She didn’t,” Nonna said.
Alessia crossed her arms.
“It was open when I entered.”
Anna straightened.
Exactly as she remembered.
Alessia continued.
“The box was sitting on the desk.”
“Was the ring inside?” Matteo asked.
“Yes.”
“You’re certain?”
“I opened it.”
“Why?”
Alessia shrugged.
“Curiosity.”
Matteo’s stare hardened.
“I put it back and left when you called saying you were coming upstairs.”
Anna looked at Matteo.
“What time did you return?”
“Four fifteen.”
“Was the box still there?”
“Yes.”
“And you put it in the safe?”
“Yes.”
“Did you check the ring?”
A pause.
“No.”
Anna leaned closer.
“Then the ring could already have been replaced.”
Matteo’s eyes narrowed.
Alessia frowned.
“Replaced with what?”
“A replica.”
The room went silent.
Matteo picked up the heirloom.
Anna explained.
“If someone swapped the real ring for a copy before Matteo locked the box away, then whoever later accessed the safe might only have been returning the original.”
Matteo nodded slowly.
“And removing the replica.”
Sofia looked confused.
“Why make it complicated?”
“To create evidence pointing toward whoever opened the safe overnight,” Anna said.
Nonna Elena’s eyes sharpened.
“A frame.”
“Possibly.”
Matteo looked toward Alessia.
“Who knew you were going to my office?”
Alessia considered.
“Caleb.”
Anna’s pulse jumped.
“Why?”
“He asked why I was leaving the family luncheon. I said Nonna wanted me to pick something up first.”
“Did you tell him what?”
“I don’t remember.”
Matteo stood.
“We need the afternoon security footage.”
A security specialist brought recordings onto the library television.
At 3:52 p.m., Alessia entered Matteo’s yacht office.
At 4:01, she left.
At 4:04, Caleb Shaw walked past the corridor.
He paused.
Looked toward the office.
Then continued.
Anna stared.
“That’s interesting.”
Matteo said nothing.
The recording advanced.
At 4:07, another person entered the frame.
Daniel Mercer, Matteo’s security director.
He walked into the office.
Three minutes later, he emerged.
Sofia whispered, “Well, that’s not good.”
Matteo’s face remained unreadable.
“Call Daniel.”
Daniel arrived twenty minutes later.
He did not look nervous.
If anything, he seemed irritated.
Matteo showed him the footage.
Daniel nodded.
“I was checking the safe.”
“Why?”
“You left it open.”
Matteo frowned.
“Alessia said it was open before she entered.”
Daniel looked at her.
“It was.”
“Then who opened it?”
“I assumed you.”
“I didn’t.”
Daniel’s expression shifted.
For the first time, genuine concern appeared.
“When I went inside, the velvet box was on the desk. I put it into the safe and locked it.”
Matteo looked at Anna.
That contradicted what he remembered.
“You locked it?” Anna asked.
“Yes.”
“What time?”
“Four ten.”
Matteo said quietly, “I believed I did it later.”
Daniel shrugged.
“You checked it after dinner.”
The pieces shifted again.
Anna stepped toward the screen.
“Show footage from before Alessia arrived.”
The recording rewound.
At 3:31, a steward delivered coffee.
At 3:36, an assistant crossed the hallway.
At 3:41, Caleb entered Matteo’s office.
He stayed for six minutes.
When he emerged, he carried nothing.
Anna looked at Matteo.
“Was he supposed to be there?”
“No.”
They watched silently.
Caleb had entered before Alessia.
Before Daniel.
Before anyone realized the safe had been left open.
Anna’s phone vibrated.
She glanced down.
Unknown number.
A message.
You’re looking in the wrong direction.
Her heartbeat accelerated.
Another arrived.
Ask Matteo why he hired you.
Anna stared at the screen.
Matteo noticed immediately.
“What?”
She showed him.
Something unreadable crossed his face.
Anna saw it.
And suddenly the second message frightened her more than the first.
“Why did you hire me?”
Matteo looked toward his family.
“Not here.”
Her stomach tightened.
“Matteo.”
He walked toward the hallway.
Anna followed him into a private sitting room.
The door closed.
“Explain.”
Matteo took a breath.
“I didn’t hire you.”
Anna stared.
“What?”
“My board selected your firm.”
“You approved the contract.”
“Yes.”
“But?”
Matteo walked to the window.
“Three months ago, somebody inside De Luca Maritime began leaking information to Portwell Capital.”
Anna’s anger cooled.
“What information?”
“Internal forecasts. Negotiation positions. Expansion plans.”
“You thought I might be connected?”
“No.”
“But you investigated me.”
“I investigate everyone who enters my business.”
Anna’s jaw tightened.
“You could have mentioned that.”
“You would have declined the assignment.”
“Correct.”
“That was why I did not mention it.”
She glared.
“You are unbelievably arrogant.”
“I’ve been told.”
“By me. Repeatedly.”
“Yes.”
Anna turned away.
The city stretched beneath the windows.
“What did you find?”
“Nothing concerning.”
“How reassuring.”
“I found something else.”
She looked back.
Matteo hesitated.
“You had advised another client against accepting financing from Portwell two years ago.”
Anna nodded.
“The terms were terrible.”
“Your report cost Portwell almost eighty million dollars.”
“I did my job.”
“And six weeks after you joined our project, someone began creating a narrative that you and I were romantically involved.”
Anna’s anger vanished.
“What?”
“Anonymous tips. Questions from reporters. Nothing substantial enough to publish.”
“Until today.”
“Yes.”
Anna slowly sat down.
“So the photograph, the ring… this isn’t about romance.”
“It’s about credibility.”
She understood immediately.
“If I’m seen as your secret fiancée, every recommendation I made can be dismissed as personal.”
Matteo nodded.
“And if your board thinks I’m manipulating you, they stop trusting my analysis.”
“Yes.”
“Then Portwell gets another chance.”
“Yes.”
Anna stared at him.
“So whoever did this wants that deal approved.”
“That is my assumption.”
A cold knot settled in her stomach.
Caleb had been the strongest supporter of Portwell’s proposal.
She whispered, “Caleb.”
“Possibly.”
“Why are you still protecting him?”
“I’m not.”
“It sounds like you are.”
Matteo walked closer.
“I want certainty.”
Anna looked up.
“And until then?”
“We continue behaving exactly as we have.”
“As fake fiancés.”
“If necessary.”
She shook her head.
“Absolutely not.”
“Anna—”
“No. Someone is trying to destroy my professional reputation. I am not going to help them by pretending the headline is true.”
Matteo studied her.
Then he nodded.
“All right.”
She blinked.
“That easy?”
“I said I wanted to understand the situation. I didn’t say I intended to control you.”
Anna almost laughed.
“You control everything.”
“Not you.”
Something changed in the room.
Neither moved.
Matteo’s voice became quieter.
“Apparently I learned that lesson quickly.”
Anna felt heat rise to her face.
She looked away.
His phone rang.
Daniel.
Matteo answered.
“What did you find?”
He listened.
Then his expression sharpened.
“Send it.”
He ended the call.
“What?” Anna asked.
Matteo opened the message.
“Camera shutdown was manual.”
“From where?”
“The control room.”
“Who entered?”
“The camera inside the control room was disabled too.”
Anna groaned.
“Convenient.”
“But the electronic door recorded entry cards.”
“Whose?”
Matteo turned the phone.
At 3:11 a.m., one card entered the control room.
CALEB SHAW.
Anna stared at it.
“There’s your certainty.”
“No.”
“What else do you need?”
“Caleb says his access card disappeared yesterday afternoon.”
She laughed bitterly.
“Of course it did.”
Matteo looked at the time log.
Then frowned.
“What?”
He enlarged another line.
At 3:25 a.m., Caleb’s card had been used again.
This time at the lower-deck service corridor.
At 3:26, another card accessed Matteo’s private hallway.
Anna leaned closer.
Different name.
Her heart stopped.
ANNA CARTER.
She stared.
“That’s impossible.”
Matteo looked at her.
Anna reached into her purse.
Her yacht key card was still inside.
“I never left the room.”
“I know.”
She held it up.
“Then how was my card used?”
Matteo took it.
He examined the number.
Something was wrong.
“This isn’t your original card.”
Anna stared.
“What?”
“The guest cards have a gold stripe.”
Hers had silver.
Someone had replaced it.
A knock sounded.
Daniel opened the door.
His expression was grave.
“We found the gold card.”
“Where?” Matteo asked.
Daniel hesitated.
“Inside Caleb Shaw’s briefcase.”
Anna exhaled.
Case closed.
Except Matteo looked unconvinced.
Daniel continued.
“And there’s something else.”
He handed Matteo a small envelope.
Inside was a printed photograph.
Anna recognized it immediately.
The picture showed her entering Matteo’s yacht suite at two twelve that morning.
Written across the bottom were four words:
MAKE HER LOOK GUILTY.
Matteo turned the photograph over.
His eyes narrowed.
“What?” Anna asked.
He handed it to her.
On the back was a corporate watermark.
One Anna knew.
Portwell Capital.
And suddenly they understood that whoever had started the scandal had made one mistake.
May you like
They had left a trail.
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