Chapter 8 - A Mother’s Last Lie
Matteo moved before I did.
He stepped between me and Teresa.
“Put the gun down.”
His mother’s hand didn’t shake.
That frightened me more than anything.
“Move, Matteo.”
“No.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Then don’t.”
Luca stared at Teresa.
“You’re Continuity?”
She looked toward him.
“You always were the clever one.”
Matteo’s face tightened.
“You ran Vale’s network?”
“No.”
“Your name is above every city.”
“My name protects every city.”
“That sounds like the same thing.”
Teresa’s mouth hardened.
“You don’t understand what we were fighting.”
“Then explain.”
She gave a tired laugh.
“Your father tried that once.”
Matteo froze.
“Salvatore knew?”
“Eventually.”
Everything changed again.
Eleanor stood beside Noah.
“Teresa.”
Teresa’s gun shifted toward her.
“You should have stayed hidden.”
Eleanor lifted her chin.
“So should you.”
There was history between them.
Deep history.
I stepped slightly to the side.
Matteo blocked me again.
“Stop moving,” he muttered.
“I can’t see.”
“That’s the point.”
Even then, he was Matteo.
Teresa looked at the laptop.
“The Continuity Protocol was built because governments lose control of criminal money after arrests. Judges seize assets. Officers redirect funds. Politicians make deals.”
Leo stared at her.
“So Vale created a private network to steal seized assets first?”
“To control them.”
“That’s stealing.”
“Sometimes law and morality are not identical.”
Matteo’s voice sharpened.
“That excuse sounds familiar.”
Pain crossed her face.
“You think I wanted this?”
“I don’t know what you wanted. I apparently don’t know you.”
Teresa lowered the weapon slightly.
“I wanted you alive.”
“By pretending to die?”
“Yes.”
“By letting me mourn you for six years?”
“Yes.”
His face twisted.
“That wasn’t protection.”
“It was the only protection I had left.”
Luca stepped forward.
“Did you kill my mother?”
Teresa closed her eyes.
“No.”
“Daniel did.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know?”
“Not until years later.”
“Then why hide?”
“Because Margaret had discovered my role.”
Luca laughed bitterly.
“So you didn’t kill her. You just gave Daniel a reason.”
“No.”
“You used everyone.”
Teresa looked at him.
“I kept you alive too.”
“Congratulations.”
Leo slowly moved toward his weapon.
Teresa saw him.
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
I watched her eyes.
She wasn’t focused on me.
Not really.
She kept looking toward the windows.
Waiting.
“Someone’s coming,” I said.
Everyone turned.
Teresa’s expression changed.
Only slightly.
Matteo noticed too.
“Who?”
No answer.
“Mom.”
Her eyes filled.
Then she whispered:
“Daniel.”
Matteo stared.
“You’re working with him?”
“No.”
“Then why are you afraid?”
“Because he finally knows I’m alive.”
Headlights appeared beyond the front gates.
Multiple vehicles.
Leo swore.
“Six cars.”
Matteo’s security team called through the radio.
Then gunfire erupted outside.
Teresa lowered her weapon.
“Now do you understand?”
Matteo grabbed my arm.
“Safe room.”
“No.”
“Sophie.”
“Eleanor and Noah.”
“They come too.”
The estate turned into organized chaos.
Metal shutters dropped over windows.
Security men moved through corridors.
Teresa remained in the study with Luca.
Matteo stopped.
“You’re coming.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“You do not get to return from the dead and then die for real ten minutes later.”
For the first time, Teresa smiled.
“My boy.”
“Don’t.”
Her smile broke.
“I missed you every day.”
Matteo’s eyes shone.
Then an explosion shook the west wing.
The lights went out.
Emergency lamps came on.
Leo shouted.
“They breached the garage.”
Matteo pulled Teresa with us.
The safe room was hidden behind the wine cellar.
We reached the lower floor.
Almost.
A man stepped from the stairwell.
Detective Paul Archer.
The man from the nightclub.
He aimed at me.
“No more missed shots.”
Matteo fired first.
Archer dropped.
My ears rang.
The same face.
The same gray jacket.
The man who had planted the valet ticket.
He was dead before he hit the floor.
Teresa stared at him.
“Daniel’s best police asset.”
Leo grabbed Archer’s phone.
“Unlocked.”
“How?”
“Face ID.”
“Efficient,” Noah muttered.
Leo opened the recent messages.
Then froze.
“What?”
He showed Matteo.
Daniel had been receiving instructions from another number.
The messages dated back months.
KEEP SOPHIE UNDER OBSERVATION.
DO NOT KILL HER UNTIL ARCHIVE ACCESS IS CONFIRMED.
TERESA MUST NEVER REACH MATTEO.
I stared at Teresa.
“Daniel wasn’t giving the orders.”
“No.”
“Who was?”
Leo traced the number.
His face changed.
“It’s registered through Conti Holdings.”
Matteo went cold.
“Whose account?”
Leo swallowed.
“Mine.”
Silence.
Someone had been operating through Matteo’s company.
A traitor inside his inner circle.
Teresa whispered:
“Now you see why I stayed dead.”
Gunfire moved closer.
Matteo looked toward Leo.
“Who had access?”
“Five people.”
“Names.”
Leo listed them.
His own name.
Matteo’s attorney.
Security chief Marcus Dean.
Chief financial officer Vincent Caruso.
And—
Leo stopped.
Matteo’s eyes narrowed.
“Say it.”
“Father Anthony Russo.”
I frowned.
“A priest?”
Matteo looked stunned.
“My godfather.”
Teresa closed her eyes.
“That’s impossible.”
Luca shook his head.
“No.”
Everyone looked at him.
“He knew Salvatore’s confession schedule.”
Matteo turned.
“What?”
“Salvatore met Anthony every Thursday.”
Teresa whispered, “For thirty years.”
A terrible realization moved through the room.
Anthony Russo knew every secret.
Every murder.
Every account.
Every betrayal.
Matteo’s phone rang.
Father Anthony.
No one spoke.
Matteo answered.
“Father.”
A warm elderly voice came through.
“Matteo, thank God. I heard there was trouble.”
Matteo’s expression became unreadable.
“Where are you?”
“St. Cecilia’s.”
“Stay there.”
“Of course.”
Matteo disconnected.
Teresa looked at him.
“You think it’s Anthony.”
“I think I’m done trusting anyone.”
Including his own mother.
The gunfire outside stopped.
Too suddenly.
Leo checked the cameras.
The attackers were retreating.
“Why leave?” Noah asked.
My phone buzzed.
One message.
A photograph.
Gabriel tied to a chair inside a church.
St. Cecilia’s.
Beside him stood Daniel.
And Father Anthony.
The priest smiled directly at the camera.
Text appeared beneath it:
BRING TERESA AND THE CONTINUITY KEY.
Then another message arrived.
A photograph from inside the Conti estate.
Taken seconds earlier.
Matteo and me standing together in the wine cellar hallway.
Someone was still inside the house.
Watching us.
Matteo slowly raised his eyes.
“Leo.”
“Yes?”
“Seal every exit.”
A soft metallic click came from behind us.
Noah turned.
The safe-room door slammed shut.
Locked from the outside.
May you like
Then gas began hissing through the ventilation system.
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