Chapter 16 - The Betrayal Sitting at Mateo’s Table
When the lights returned, Vincent was gone.
Isabella was injured but alive.
And Dominic Valente had arrived.
He walked into the mansion alone.
“Where is Harper?”
That was the moment I understood Vincent had been telling the truth.
This had never been primarily about Mateo.
Someone wanted Dominic exposed.
Someone knew the fastest way to force Dominic out of hiding was me.
His daughter.
The daughter he had secretly watched for twenty-nine years.
Mateo confronted him.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Because the person targeting Harper has access to everything.”
“Who?”
Dominic looked at Luca.
Again.
Luca’s face tightened.
“Stop looking at me.”
Dominic said quietly:
“I’m not.”
He looked past him.
At Rosa.
My heart stopped.
No.
Rosa stood in the doorway.
The woman who made soup.
Who brought me clothes.
Who had raised Mateo after Elena died.
Her face collapsed.
Mateo whispered:
“Rosa?”
She began crying.
“I’m sorry.”
Nobody moved.
“For what?” Mateo asked.
She reached into her apron.
Luca lifted his weapon.
“Hands!”
Rosa dropped an old phone onto the floor.
“I didn’t betray you.”
Mateo looked shattered.
“Then explain.”
“My son did.”
Silence.
Nobody knew Rosa had a son.
“He was taken from me when he was fourteen.”
“Who?”
“Anthony Caruso.”
Mateo stared.
“Why?”
“Because I overheard Anthony discussing Elena.”
Rosa cried.
“He knew I could testify.”
“What happened to your son?”
“They raised him.”
My skin chilled.
“What was his name?”
Rosa whispered:
“Vincent.”
Everyone froze.
Vincent Caruso.
Rosa’s biological son.
Not Dominic’s.
Another lie.
Another manufactured family connection.
Dominic closed his eyes.
“Anthony told Vincent I was his father.”
“Yes,” Rosa said.
“Why?”
“To make him hate both families.”
Mateo looked sick.
Anthony Caruso had engineered not only a criminal war, but generations of resentment.
Rosa continued.
“I found Vincent years ago.”
“You’ve been speaking to him?”
“Yes.”
Mateo stepped backward.
“While living in my house?”
“I was trying to bring him back.”
“You gave him information.”
“Only harmless things.”
“Harper’s location?”
“No!”
“The hotel?”
“No!”
Rosa looked horrified.
“I swear.”
Then Luca checked her phone.
One outgoing message.
Sent the night of the hotel attack.
Mateo injured. Staying at Drake suite 716.
Rosa covered her mouth.
“I told Vincent because he said he wanted to visit.”
Mateo laughed once.
Broken.
“That was enough.”
Rosa began sobbing.
“I’m sorry.”
Mateo walked away.
I followed.
Outside, snow had begun falling.
He stood on the terrace.
“I trusted her.”
“I know.”
“She raised me.”
“I know.”
“Everyone leaves eventually.”
There it was.
Not the gangster.
Not the billionaire.
The boy whose mother died.
Whose uncle lied.
Whose surrogate mother unknowingly betrayed him.
I stepped beside him.
“I’m still here.”
He looked at me.
“For now.”
“That was rude.”
“It was honest.”
“So here’s honesty.”
I took his hand.
“You don’t get to decide when I leave because you’re scared I might.”
His jaw tightened.
“I’m not scared.”
“Terrified.”
He almost smiled.
Then I said:
“I love you.”
The smile disappeared.
He stared.
I hadn’t planned it.
Worst timing imaginable.
But there it was.
Mateo whispered:
“Harper.”
“You don’t have to say it back.”
“That isn’t the problem.”
“Then what?”
He touched my face.
“I’ve loved you since you argued with me about taking the train with seventeen dollars in your account.”
I laughed through tears.
“That was like three days after we met.”
“I have poor judgment.”
“Clearly.”
He kissed me.
This time without hesitation.
Then Luca opened the terrace door.
“Sorry.”
Mateo didn’t release me.
“What?”
“We found Vincent.”
“Where?”
“At Valente Transportation.”
“Why?”
Luca looked grim.
“He took over the building.”
“With who?”
“Federal tactical uniforms.”
Mateo frowned.
“Police?”
“No.”
Luca looked at us.
“They’re impostors.”
Then:
“And Vincent has Emily.”
My world stopped.
May you like
My sister.
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