Chapter 8
Matteo looked exactly like a dead man shouldn't.
Healthy.
Strong.
Expensive suit.
My father's eyes.
That annoyed me most.
Noah stood beside him.
Pale.
Still recovering.
But upright.
“You drugged a hospital guard.”
Matteo smiled.
“You noticed.”
“You kidnapped my son.”
“I introduced myself.”
Noah looked at him.
“You tied my hands.”
Matteo laughed.
“He's yours.”
“Obviously.”
“No.”
His smile disappeared.
“He has your mouth.”
There it was.
The old resentment.
He always hated the parts of me he couldn't dismiss.
I looked at Noah.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Matteo raised the gun slightly.
“Don't.”
I stopped.
He looked almost disappointed.
“You've gotten cautious.”
“I have a son.”
“Yes.”
His eyes moved toward Noah.
“That seems to be your excuse for everything.”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“My reason.”
That hit him.
Good.
He paced slowly.
“You know Father chose you because Mother begged him.”
“I know Father chose me because you couldn't control yourself.”
His face hardened.
Eleven years vanished.
We were boys again.
Him twice my anger.
Me half his need to prove it.
“You think you deserved it?”
“No.”
That surprised him.
“I think I survived it.”
Silence.
He looked at Noah.
“Do you know what your father did when I died?”
Noah said nothing.
“He took everything.”
I answered.
“You disappeared.”
Matteo ignored me.
“My men.”
“Chose.”
“My territory.”
“Needed leadership.”
“My name.”
“You abandoned it.”
His hand tightened around the gun.
Noah noticed.
So did I.
Good.
“He told you lies.”
Noah finally spoke.
“Dad barely talks about you.”
That hurt Matteo more than anything I could have said.
His face changed.
“You see?”
Noah looked at him.
“No.”
Then:
“I think he forgot you.”
I almost laughed.
Not now.
Matteo jerked Noah closer.
Bad.
Very bad.
I took one step.
The gun came up.
“Stay.”
I stopped.
Noah looked at me.
Calm.
Too calm.
My son had been trained around dangerous men his whole life.
He knew not to move suddenly.
He also knew how to watch hands.
Matteo continued.
“Friday, Victor Sanz dies.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You lost the crates.”
He smiled.
“Those crates were one version.”
Of course.
Third plan.
Always.
“What version now?”
“Victor dies somewhere else.”
“And Varela still gets blamed.”
“Yes.”
“You start a war.”
“No.”
His smile weakened.
“You don't get to choose.”
“I already did.”
Matteo frowned.
“I know you're alive.”
Silence.
“Helena's exposed.”
His jaw tightened.
“Dominic talked.”
More.
“Emma lived.”
His eyes changed.
“And Lily?”
“Safe.”
That one angered him.
Interesting.
“You were going to kill an eight-year-old.”
“She saw me.”
“Exactly.”
I stepped closer.
“You've become the kind of man who fears children.”
His face twisted.
Then Noah moved.
Fast.
He dropped.
Matteo's arm lost him.
I moved at the same instant.
Gunshot.
Stone exploded beside my head.
I hit Matteo before he fired again.
We went down.
The gun slid away.
Elias kicked it farther.
Noah crawled toward me.
I pushed him behind my body.
Matteo laughed from the floor.
Blood on his lip.
“Still protecting him.”
“Yes.”
“You'll ruin him.”
“No.”
I stood.
“You're confusing love with weakness again.”
Matteo looked up at me.
“You think this ends here?”
I looked toward Elias.
He nodded.
Tunnel secured.
Hospital secure.
Estate secure.
Helena.
Dominic.
All contained.
I looked back at my brother.
“For you?”
I adjusted my cuff.
“Yes.”
Then Noah spoke behind me.
“Dad.”
I turned.
He pointed toward Matteo's coat.
A red light blinked beneath the fabric.
Small.
Electronic.
I tore it free.
Remote trigger.
Matteo smiled.
My stomach dropped.
“What did you arm?”
He laughed.
May you like
And said:
“Ask Helena what she's been sitting beside all night.”
