Chapter 6 - The Man Beside the Boss
Nobody moved.
Luca slowly closed the door.
Isadora stepped beside her mother.
Gio stared at the man who had protected him for fifteen years.
“You heard her.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me she’s wrong.”
Luca removed his jacket.
Placed it on a chair.
Then raised both empty hands.
“She’s wrong.”
Elena shook her head.
“Marco said Luca.”
“I know what Marco believes.”
“Why would he believe it?”
Luca looked at Gio.
“Because six years ago your father ordered me to make Marco disappear.”
Isadora lunged.
Gio caught her.
“You touched my brother?”
“I saved him.”
“From whom?”
“Carlo.”
Elena stared.
Luca continued.
“Vittorio learned Carlo had discovered Marco was collecting evidence. Your father asked me to move Marco to a safe location.”
“And?”
“Someone leaked the location.”
“Who?”
“I never found out.”
Gio narrowed his eyes.
“Why did Marco blame you?”
“Because I was the only person who knew where he was going.”
Silence.
“That looks bad,” Isadora said.
“I’m aware.”
Gio crossed his arms.
“Where did you take him?”
“A farmhouse outside Ravello.”
“Who owned it?”
Luca hesitated.
Gio noticed.
“Who?”
“Matteo’s father.”
The room froze.
Isadora whispered:
“Matteo?”
Luca nodded.
“His father worked for Vittorio.”
Gio grabbed his phone.
Matteo didn’t answer.
Again.
Nothing.
They drove back to the villa.
Matteo’s room was empty.
His passport was gone.
So was one of Gio’s cars.
On his desk sat an envelope.
Inside was a photograph of Marco standing beside Matteo.
Both men were smiling.
The photograph was dated three days earlier.
Isadora stared.
“Matteo knows where he is.”
Gio turned to Luca.
“You knew?”
“No.”
“Do not lie to me.”
“I’m not.”
Isadora picked up the photograph.
On the back, Marco had written:
TRUST THE MAN EVERYONE SUSPECTS.
She looked at Luca.
Then at Gio.
“Maybe this message is about him.”
Gio shook his head.
“Or maybe Marco knew we’d find this and wants us confused.”
Luca looked exhausted.
“There’s more.”
He opened a hidden drawer beneath Matteo’s desk.
Inside was a passport.
Marco Marino.
A train ticket.
And a receipt from a small mountain village near the Swiss border.
Dated tomorrow.
Isadora looked at Gio.
“He’s moving.”
“Yes.”
“Then we go tonight.”
Gio met her eyes.
This time he didn’t argue.
Because somewhere between the shattered wineglass and the empty grave, Isadora Marino’s missing brother had become his problem too.
And perhaps something more dangerous.
May you like
His responsibility.
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