Chapter 12 - Eight Years of Lies
Adrienne’s face in the photograph hurt more than Marco’s betrayal.
She was looking at her father.
Not Victor.
Her expression was disbelief.
Mateo understood that look.
It was the moment someone realized their memories had been built around a person who never existed.
“Marco won’t hurt her,” Mateo said.
Luca’s voice was cold.
“He already has.”
Mateo looked at him.
Luca had worked for the Romano family for seventeen years.
Marco had attended his wedding.
Held his son as a baby.
Helped bury Luca’s mother.
Betrayal rarely entered through locked doors.
It carried keys.
Elena asked, “Why would Marco help Victor?”
Mateo knew several possibilities.
Money.
Power.
Resentment.
Fear.
None felt sufficient.
“We find out after Adrienne is safe.”
Elena picked up the evidence pouch.
Mateo’s hand closed over hers.
“You aren’t going.”
“The message specifically says me.”
“That’s why you aren’t going.”
“And how exactly do you plan to get Adrienne back?”
“Trade something else.”
“Victor wants this.”
“He wants what the chip accesses.”
“Same difference.”
“No.”
Mateo leaned closer.
“He can replace the chip if he gets the information. He cannot replace you.”
The words silenced her.
Luca looked away.
Elena’s voice softened.
“You barely know me.”
“I knew your father.”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
Mateo knew.
The entire day crashed through his thoughts.
Elena laughing at the bakery.
Elena forcing him to stand in line.
Elena stealing his watch.
Elena noticing details his trained people missed.
Elena refusing to fear him even after discovering what he was.
Twelve hours.
Absurdly short.
Long enough to change the shape of a life.
“I know enough,” he said.
Her eyes flickered.
The clock read 11:32.
Twenty-eight minutes.
Luca placed a map on the table.
“We traced the photo metadata.”
Mateo looked over.
“Location?”
“Industrial property in Yonkers. Former warehouse owned through a shell corporation tied to Victor.”
“How far?”
“Twelve minutes if roads cooperate.”
Mateo started issuing orders.
Elena interrupted.
“If armed people surround it, Victor will know.”
“We don’t need to surround it.”
“What’s the plan?”
“You aren’t part of that part.”
Elena laughed once.
“You continue making this mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“Thinking excluding me makes me safer.”
“It often does.”
“Not tonight.”
She pointed to the chip.
“Victor believes I can unlock it.”
“Can you?”
“No.”
“Then you’re useless to him.”
“That’s not reassuring.”
“It should be.”
“It would be if useless people always survived criminal hostage exchanges.”
Mateo’s mouth tightened.
“She has a point,” Luca said.
Mateo looked at him.
Luca shrugged.
“I’m already on dangerous ground tonight.”
Elena paced.
“What does Victor actually expect?”
“He expects you frightened,” Mateo said.
“Good.”
“Why good?”
“Because frightened people obey.”
She looked at him.
“You taught me that.”
“I said fear buys obedience.”
“Exactly.”
“So?”
“So let him think he bought mine.”
Mateo realized where she was going.
“No.”
“I show up.”
“No.”
“With the necklace.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Mateo—”
“No.”
“You can have people nearby.”
“No.”
“You can track me.”
“No.”
“You’ve said that four times.”
“I can make it twenty.”
Elena stepped closer until only inches separated them.
“Adrienne chose me for this stupid bet because she wanted you to spend a day outside your own rules.”
Mateo’s expression changed.
“She is sitting in a warehouse because somebody used that kindness against her.”
“Elena.”
“I’m not letting her pay for choosing me.”
“This is not your responsibility.”
“It became my responsibility when Victor used my father’s secret.”
Mateo looked into her eyes.
He saw no recklessness.
Only resolve.
That frightened him more.
Because resolve could not be ordered away.
“What are you proposing?” he asked.
Luca’s eyebrows rose.
Elena answered.
“I walk in with the necklace.”
“No weapons.”
Mateo’s jaw clenched.
“I tell Victor I need proof Adrienne can leave before I explain how the key works.”
“You don’t know how it works.”
“He doesn’t know that.”
Luca nodded slowly.
“Buy time.”
“Yes.”
“For what?” Mateo asked.
Elena looked at the warehouse schematic.
“For the thing everyone keeps underestimating.”
“What?”
“People talk around women they think aren’t dangerous.”
Mateo stared.
She smiled without humor.
“Victor thinks my value came from something my father gave me.”
She tapped the table.
“Let’s see what he says when he discovers my father also taught me how to listen.”
The plan formed quickly.
Mateo hated every part of it.
But twenty minutes before midnight, Elena Carter entered the back seat of a plain black sedan wearing a tiny concealed transmitter.
Mateo held the door before closing it.
“Elena.”
She looked up.
“If anything feels wrong, you leave.”
“I know.”
“I mean it.”
“I know.”
He didn’t move.
Neither did she.
Finally Elena whispered, “You look scared.”
Mateo Romano had spent his adult life training himself never to appear afraid.
He could have denied it.
Instead he said, “I am.”
Her expression softened.
He closed the door.
And as the sedan disappeared through the estate gates, Mateo understood something far more dangerous than Victor Sanz.
May you like
He had something to lose.
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