Chapter 8
Alessandro did not believe Matteo.
Not immediately.
Then he remembered the last month.
Sofia asking him to move meetings out of the house.
Sofia wanting Livia to spend more weekends with her parents.
Sofia saying:
“I can't raise her around men who solve every disagreement by making the room afraid.”
Alessandro had answered:
“This is our life.”
He had believed that ended the conversation.
Maybe it had ended something else.
The recovered phone produced no instant answer.
Its data extraction took time.
But one thing appeared quickly.
An unsent draft message.
To Alessandro.
I need you to choose whether you want to be feared by everyone or trusted by us.
The message had never been sent.
Alessandro sat alone after reading it.
Bianca’s cruelty remained unforgivable.
Matteo’s betrayal remained real.
But Sofia’s words reopened a wound Alessandro had spent eighteen months calling grief instead of guilt.
Then another draft appeared.
This one to Matteo.
You told me you'd talk to him.
You keep telling me after the next deal.
I'm done waiting.
Alessandro’s eyes hardened.
He called Matteo into the study.
His cousin read the message.
His shoulders dropped.
“She asked you for help.”
“Yes.”
“With what?”
“To make you slow down.”
“Did you?”
Matteo looked away.
“No.”
“Why?”
Matteo’s breathing became heavier.
“Because every time the business stabilized, another problem appeared.”
“And you chose the business.”
“I chose all of you.”
Alessandro’s voice went quiet.
“No.”
He leaned forward.
“You chose what you could control.”
Matteo’s hand closed around the arm of the chair.
The truth was getting closer.
Then the security technician entered.
“There’s another message.”
Not a draft.
Sent.
To Bianca.
Three days before Sofia lost consciousness.
I know what Matteo is hiding.
Please come tomorrow. Don't tell Alessandro yet.
Bianca read the message from across the room.
Her face emptied.
Alessandro looked at her.
“What was Matteo hiding?”
Bianca’s lips parted.
Matteo stood abruptly.
May you like
“Don't.”
That one word answered more than anything else could have.
