Chapter 10 - The Night Matteo Disappeared Again
The drive back to the villa lasted seventeen minutes.
It felt like seventeen hours.
Luca said almost nothing.
He didn't need to.
Every muscle in his body looked locked.
Elena sat beside him.
"How?"
He stared ahead.
"The tutor took him to the east garden."
"Was the tutor involved?"
"We don't know."
"They said Matteo is gone. What does that mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like."
Elena's chest tightened.
"Who was guarding him?"
Luca closed his eyes.
"A man named Riccardo."
"And?"
"Missing."
The answer made everything worse.
When they reached the villa, Luca was out before the vehicle fully stopped.
Elena followed.
The east garden gate stood open.
A guard's radio lay in the mud.
Matteo's small backpack was beside a bench.
Luca picked it up.
Something inside him cracked.
Not visibly.
Elena felt it.
A man approached carrying a tablet.
"Security cameras went down for nine minutes."
"All of them?"
"East section only."
"Internal access."
"Yes."
Luca turned.
"Lock everyone inside."
Elena stared.
"The entire staff?"
"Everyone."
"Somebody may have taken Matteo off the property."
"We're checking."
"Then why keep people here?"
"Because whoever helped may still be inside."
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
Elena knew enough now to understand what that meant.
She grabbed his arm.
"Luca."
He looked at her.
"Find Matteo first."
"I intend to."
"Not revenge."
His eyes darkened.
"Don't tell me what I intend."
"I know what fear looks like."
"You know nothing about this."
"I know you love your son."
That stopped him.
"Then act like his father before you act like Don Santoro."
Luca stared.
Then nodded once.
The search expanded across Palermo.
Roads.
Ports.
Airports.
Private houses.
Properties associated with Bellini.
Nothing.
An hour passed.
Then two.
At midnight Elena sat in Matteo's bedroom.
She needed to think.
His blanket smelled faintly of soap.
A wooden dinosaur rested near the pillow.
She imagined him frightened somewhere.
"No."
She stood.
Fear was useless.
Think.
Matteo had run once before.
Why?
His mother.
Stefano knew that.
Bellini knew it.
Would they repeat the manipulation?
Elena opened Matteo's desk.
Drawings.
School papers.
A folded map.
She stopped.
A map of Palermo.
One place circled.
The cemetery.
But beside it was another mark.
A small blue star near the coast.
Elena carried the map downstairs.
"Luca."
He turned.
"What is this?"
His face changed when he saw the star.
"Villa Azzurra."
"What?"
"Sofia's childhood home."
"Does anyone use it?"
"No."
"Would Matteo know about it?"
Luca stared.
"Sofia used to show him photographs."
Elena's pulse increased.
"Go."
Vehicles left immediately.
Villa Azzurra stood almost an hour east of Palermo.
Luca's convoy reached it in forty minutes.
The property was dark.
Abandoned.
Overlooking the sea.
Elena saw one light upstairs.
"He's here."
Luca held out an arm.
"You stay behind."
"Absolutely not."
"Elena."
"Don't waste time."
He stared at her.
Then nodded.
They approached.
The front door was unlocked.
Inside smelled of dust and salt.
"Matteo?" Elena called.
No answer.
Luca moved through the rooms.
Then they heard crying upstairs.
Elena ran.
"Matteo!"
The boy appeared at the top of the staircase.
"Elena!"
He ran down.
Luca reached him first.
He dropped to his knees and pulled Matteo into his arms.
The sound Luca made was barely human.
Relief.
Pain.
Love.
Everything.
Elena knelt beside them.
"Are you hurt?"
Matteo shook his head.
"Where is everyone?"
The boy pointed upstairs.
"Uncle Stefano."
Luca became still.
"He's here?"
Matteo nodded.
"He told me Mama wanted me to see something."
Footsteps sounded above.
Stefano appeared.
He held no weapon.
His hands were visible.
"Luca."
Luca stood slowly.
"Come downstairs."
Stefano shook his head.
"You found the hospital records."
"Come downstairs."
"You know Matteo isn't yours."
Luca looked at his son.
Then back.
"He is mine."
Stefano laughed.
"You don't understand what that means."
"I understand perfectly."
"You built everything around a false heir."
"Matteo is six."
"Exactly. One day he inherits."
"Not anymore."
Stefano stopped.
Luca's voice became calm.
"There will be nothing like this for him to inherit."
Everyone stared.
Even Elena.
"I'm ending it."
Stefano's face changed.
"What?"
"The old structure. The territories. The protection deals. Everything that keeps people like you believing blood matters more than family."
"You can't."
"I can."
"You'll destroy what our fathers built."
"Good."
Stefano came down one step.
"Do you think you get to become respectable because a nurse looked at you differently?"
Elena felt the insult.
Luca didn't react.
Stefano continued.
"Sofia tried to change you too."
Luca's face went blank.
"Did you kill her?"
Silence.
Matteo clung to Elena.
Stefano looked toward him.
Then back at Luca.
"No."
"Did Bellini?"
"No."
"Who?"
Stefano swallowed.
"Nobody."
Luca moved closer.
"Then why did you follow her?"
"Because I wanted the ledger."
"What happened?"
"She was driving too fast."
His voice weakened.
"I followed. I tried to stop her."
"Why?"
"She knew about the clinic."
Luca's jaw tightened.
"Who changed the embryo?"
Stefano shook his head.
"My father."
Silence.
"Why?"
"He wanted leverage over you one day."
Luca stared.
"Our fathers hated each other more than we understood."
"And Sofia found out."
"Yes."
"You followed her for the evidence."
"Yes."
"And she crashed."
Stefano looked away.
"I didn't touch her car."
"Did you help her?"
No answer.
Luca whispered, "Did you help my wife?"
Stefano's eyes filled.
"I went down to the road."
"But?"
"She was already—"
He stopped.
Elena saw Luca's hands shaking.
Stefano continued.
"I panicked."
"You left."
"Yes."
The truth hung there.
Not murder.
Cowardice.
Perhaps worse in Luca's heart.
Then headlights appeared outside.
Many.
Stefano looked toward the windows.
"Bellini."
Luca turned.
"You called him?"
"I called nobody."
A vehicle stopped.
Then another.
Elena's pulse raced.
Luca looked at his men.
"Get Matteo out."
Stefano came down quickly.
"There's a tunnel from the cellar."
"How do you know?"
"Sofia showed me when we were children."
Luca stared at his cousin.
"Why help us?"
Stefano looked at Matteo.
"Because this wasn't supposed to happen."
Outside, doors slammed.
Voices approached.
Stefano looked at Luca.
"Bellini stopped working for me months ago."
"What does he want?"
"Everything."
A window shattered downstairs.
Luca pulled Matteo behind him.
Elena grabbed the boy.
And as footsteps entered the villa below, Stefano whispered the words that finally revealed the truth.
"Bellini never wanted your empire, Luca."
He looked toward Matteo.
May you like
"He wanted your family erased."
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