Chapter 9 - The Enemy Inside the Gates
San Giovanni Hospital still stored older records on an archive server few employees used.
Elena knew because she had complained about it constantly.
Now that forgotten system became their only path forward.
Luca wanted his people to retrieve everything.
Elena refused.
"No."
He stared at her from the passenger seat.
They were parked beneath the hospital's underground entrance just after midnight.
"You seem addicted to that word."
"And you're addicted to solving problems illegally."
"If we request the records officially, someone may know we're looking."
"You cannot steal medical records."
"I didn't say steal."
"You were about to."
"I was about to say access."
"Without permission."
Luca considered.
"Fine. That sounds worse."
Elena rubbed her forehead.
"I can request archived records if there's a legitimate patient-care reason."
"Sofia died six years ago."
"Exactly."
"So?"
"So we need another way."
Luca looked at her.
"Which is?"
Elena smiled faintly.
"My supervisor owes me three shifts."
An hour later they had access to the archived phone logs—but not patient files.
Sofia's call had lasted four minutes and twelve seconds.
She had spoken to a nurse named Maria Conti.
Retired.
Elena found an old employee contact.
At one-thirty in the morning, she called.
A sleepy elderly voice answered.
"Pronto?"
Elena apologized.
Then mentioned Sofia Santoro.
Silence.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Elena Rossi. I'm a nurse at San Giovanni."
Another silence.
"Is Luca Santoro with you?"
Elena looked at him.
"Yes."
The line disconnected.
Luca stared.
"That went well."
Elena called again.
No answer.
Then a text arrived.
Come alone tomorrow.
An address followed.
Luca immediately said, "No."
Elena smiled.
"My favorite word sounds good when someone says it to you."
"You're not going alone."
"Then she won't talk."
"Could be a trap."
"So could everything."
"Exactly."
"You can't lock me in the villa."
His expression suggested he had considered it.
"Don't."
"I didn't say anything."
"You thought loudly."
The next morning Elena went.
Technically alone.
Luca's men remained several blocks away.
She suspected there were more she couldn't see.
Maria Conti lived in a small apartment overlooking a church square.
She was seventy-three.
Tiny.
Sharp-eyed.
And terrified.
"You look nothing like her," Maria said.
"Sofia?"
Maria nodded.
"Did you know her?"
"No."
"Then why are you involved?"
Elena thought of Matteo.
"Because her son trusts me."
Maria's expression softened.
"Matteo."
"You remember him."
"I was there when he was born."
Elena sat.
Maria clasped trembling hands.
"Sofia called me that night because she discovered someone had changed information in Matteo's birth records."
"What information?"
"The blood type."
Elena frowned.
"Why?"
"That was what frightened her."
Maria stood and retrieved an old folder.
"I made copies because she asked me to."
Inside were handwritten notes.
Lab results.
Dates.
Elena read slowly.
Matteo's blood type.
Sofia's.
Luca's.
Something didn't fit.
"No."
Maria nodded.
"Sofia realized first."
Elena stared at the paper.
"Luca can't be Matteo's biological father."
Maria whispered, "According to those tests, no."
The room seemed to tilt.
"But Luca raised him."
"He believed Matteo was his."
"Did Sofia?"
"At first."
Elena's stomach tightened.
"Then who is the father?"
Maria looked toward the window.
"That is what Sofia was trying to discover."
"How could she not know?"
"Because she believed something happened at the fertility clinic."
Elena froze.
"What?"
"Sofia and Luca had difficulty conceiving."
Maria spoke slowly.
"They used a private clinic."
A terrible possibility unfolded.
"Embryo mix-up?"
"Perhaps."
"Or intentional."
Maria nodded.
"Sofia believed it was intentional."
"Why?"
"Because when she began asking questions, records disappeared."
Elena closed her eyes.
"Who owned the clinic?"
Maria's face answered before her words did.
"A company controlled by the Santoro family."
"Stefano?"
"His father originally."
Elena stood.
This was bigger than adultery.
Bigger than a secret.
Someone might have manipulated Luca and Sofia's family before Matteo was even born.
"Why would anyone do that?"
Maria looked at her.
"Power."
That answer was too easy.
"There has to be more."
"There is."
Maria pulled another page from the folder.
A name.
Dr. Alberto Bellini.
Elena stared.
"Bellini."
"Marco Bellini's older brother."
The pieces began connecting.
The clinic.
Bellini.
Stefano.
Sofia.
Matteo.
Maria continued.
"Dr. Bellini disappeared shortly after Sofia died."
"Dead?"
"I don't know."
"What did Sofia think?"
"She thought someone wanted Luca raising a child who could later be used against him."
"Used how?"
"To destroy succession."
Elena stared.
In a criminal empire built partly around bloodlines and family legitimacy, discovering Matteo was not biologically Luca's could fracture loyalties.
"But Luca doesn't care about that."
"You know him now."
Maria gave a sad smile.
"Six years ago, many people around him did."
A knock sounded.
Elena froze.
Maria went pale.
"Are you expecting someone?"
"No."
Another knock.
Then a man's voice.
"Signora Conti?"
Maria whispered, "You brought them."
"No."
Elena took out her phone.
No signal.
A jammer.
She moved toward the back room.
The front door opened.
Maria gasped.
A man stepped inside.
Elena recognized him.
One of Luca's guards.
He had been at the villa every day.
"Signora Rossi," he said calmly.
Relief came first.
Then confusion.
"How did you find me?"
He closed the door.
"Don Luca worries."
Something felt wrong.
Elena looked at his hands.
No radio.
No earpiece.
"You weren't assigned to me."
"No."
"What's your name?"
The guard smiled.
"That isn't important."
Elena backed away.
Maria whispered, "Oh God."
The man pulled out his phone.
"Tell Stefano she found the records."
Elena's blood turned cold.
There it was.
The enemy inside the gates.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
One of Luca's own men.
Elena moved before he finished the call.
She slammed the folder against his face and shoved Maria toward the kitchen.
"Run!"
The guard grabbed Elena's arm.
She struck his wrist.
He cursed.
Then the apartment door exploded inward.
Luca entered with two men.
Everything stopped.
The traitorous guard released Elena.
Luca looked at him.
No shouting.
No rage.
Just disappointment.
"You."
The guard lowered his eyes.
Luca's men took him away.
Luca walked toward Elena.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
His hands hovered near her shoulders without touching.
"You came."
"Of course I came."
"I told you not to follow."
"I didn't."
She raised an eyebrow.
"You put a tracker in my bag?"
"No."
"My phone?"
"No."
"Then how?"
Luca looked almost embarrassed.
"The necklace."
Elena stared at the simple silver necklace Signora Russo had given her that morning.
"You put a tracker in jewelry?"
"For security."
She removed it.
"You're unbelievable."
She shoved it against his chest.
Luca caught it.
Then Elena surprised both of them.
She wrapped her arms around him.
Only for a second.
A reaction.
Adrenaline.
Fear.
Luca froze.
Then his arms closed carefully around her.
Elena could feel his heart pounding.
When she pulled away, neither spoke.
Maria cleared her throat.
"This is very touching."
Elena stepped back immediately.
Luca looked at Maria.
"You know about Matteo."
It wasn't a question.
She nodded.
Luca saw the folder.
Then he looked at Elena.
"What?"
Elena's chest tightened.
There was no gentle way.
"Luca, we need to talk."
Ten minutes later, he sat completely still while she explained.
The blood types.
The clinic.
Bellini's brother.
The possibility that Matteo was not biologically his.
When Elena finished, Luca said nothing.
Maria looked frightened.
Finally Elena whispered, "Say something."
Luca looked at her.
"Does Matteo know?"
"No."
"Then he doesn't."
Elena blinked.
"That's it?"
"What do you expect?"
"I don't know."
Luca stood.
"Matteo is my son."
There was no hesitation.
No confusion.
No question.
"My blood does not make him mine."
His gray eyes hardened.
"Six years do."
Elena felt her throat tighten.
And in that moment, whatever fear she'd carried about Luca changed.
Because the truth that could supposedly destroy his empire had just proven something none of his enemies understood.
Matteo wasn't Luca Santoro's weakness because of blood.
Matteo was his son because Luca had chosen him every day.
Which meant Stefano's entire plan rested on a misunderstanding.
But when Luca's phone rang moments later, they discovered Stefano had another plan.
A guard shouted through the speaker.
May you like
"Boss—Matteo is gone."
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