Chapter 8 - Mateo’s Most Trusted Man Betrayed Him
Anthony Rizzo had changed Mateo’s diapers.
That was what Mateo remembered while standing in an underground tunnel beneath Chicago.
Not the business meetings.
Not Anthony teaching him to shoot.
Not the years of loyalty.
Diapers.
His mother used to joke that Anthony had been family before Mateo could speak.
Now Anthony wanted him dead.
Betrayal was strange that way.
The closer the person, the more ridiculous the memories that hurt.
They emerged two streets away.
Samuel picked them up.
Millie collapsed against Kora the moment they reached safety.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“Leo kept asking about the bakery. Your parents. The recipes.”
“You told him?”
Millie started crying harder.
“No. But they knew things.”
Kora held her.
“You survived. That’s all I care about.”
Millie looked toward Mateo.
“He kept talking to another man.”
“Anthony?” Mateo asked.
“I don’t know his name.”
She described him.
Gray hair.
Scar on left hand.
Gold signet ring.
Anthony.
Mateo turned toward the window.
“What did they say?”
Millie hesitated.
“Something about tomorrow.”
“What?”
“Anthony said once the vault opened, the old families would end.”
Mateo looked at Kora.
“He isn’t working for Dominico.”
Gino frowned.
“He took Dominico money.”
“Doesn’t mean loyalty.”
Mateo knew Anthony.
If money alone motivated him, he would never have waited eight years.
“He wants something else.”
Elena was waiting when they reached the safe house.
Kora gave Millie food and clothing, then joined the others.
Elena placed a map on the table.
“The vault is here.”
Below the old exchange building.
Different section from the tunnel they used.
“Tomorrow we activate the key.”
Samuel objected immediately.
“Dominico will be waiting.”
“We know,” Mateo said.
“That’s not a plan.”
“It’s the beginning of one.”
Kora looked at Mateo.
“You think Anthony will come.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because whatever is inside matters to him more than I do.”
Mateo’s voice remained flat.
That frightened Gino.
He had seen Mateo angry.
He had rarely seen him hurt.
Kora sat beside him.
“What did Anthony lose?”
Mateo considered it.
“A son.”
Everyone looked over.
“Daniel. Twenty years ago.”
“How?”
“Overdose.”
Elena suddenly went still.
“What?”
Mateo noticed.
“You know something.”
Elena stood.
“What year?”
“2006.”
“What month?”
“September.”
Elena covered her mouth.
Samuel whispered her name.
Mateo stood despite the pain.
“What?”
Elena walked to her files.
She removed an old folder.
PROJECT LANTERN — SUBJECT 14.
Inside was a photograph.
A teenage boy.
Daniel Rizzo.
Kora read the report.
“He didn’t overdose.”
Elena shook her head.
“He escaped one of Dominic’s warehouses.”
Mateo felt sick.
Daniel had been helping a girlfriend run away.
Dominico’s people caught both of them.
The girl disappeared.
Daniel was beaten, drugged, and dumped near an underpass.
Police classified his death as overdose.
Anthony never learned the truth.
“Unless he did,” Kora said.
Mateo stared at the photograph.
“If Anthony discovered my father knew about the warehouse…”
“He might blame Bellini as much as Dominico,” Gino said.
Elena nodded.
“Your father knew after Daniel died. That death was one reason he created Project Lantern.”
“But Anthony may believe he knew before.”
There it was.
The motive.
Anthony had served both families for years while privately hating them.
He did not want Dominico to win.
He wanted both empires destroyed.
Kora looked at Mateo.
“Then why help Leo?”
“Because Leo creates chaos.”
Mateo understood now.
“Anthony doesn’t need Leo alive afterward.”
Gino swore.
“We need to warn him?”
Mateo gave him a look.
“Not exactly.”
Kora thought about Leo.
He had tried to manipulate her.
Possibly kill her.
Yet allowing Anthony to murder him would simply continue the cycle.
“We stop both.”
Mateo watched her.
“Why save Leo?”
“I’m not saving Leo.”
Her gaze hardened.
“I’m refusing to become him.”
That silenced the room.
The next morning, the city woke to another scandal.
Anonymous documents leaked online showing illegal payments from Bellini companies.
News channels reported possible organized-crime ties.
Mateo watched from the safe house.
Anthony was dismantling his reputation before killing him.
Then Kora’s name appeared.
BREAKING: CHAPEL BRIDE LINKED TO BELLINI ORGANIZATION.
Photos showed Kora entering restaurants with Mateo years earlier.
Fake.
Digitally altered.
But convincing.
Public comments exploded.
Gold digger.
Criminal bride.
Mafia mistress.
Bomb maker.
Kora stared at the screen.
Millions of strangers had decided who she was in less than twelve hours.
Mateo switched off the television.
“Don’t read it.”
“I’m not upset.”
“You’re holding the remote hard enough to break it.”
She loosened her grip.
“I spent years making pastries for people who are now calling me a terrorist.”
“They don’t know you.”
“That never stops people.”
Mateo understood that better than most.
Then Gino entered.
“Anthony called a public press conference.”
Mateo looked up.
“What?”
“He’s standing outside Bellini headquarters.”
They turned on the television.
Anthony appeared before dozens of reporters.
His face looked exhausted.
Grieving.
Perfect.
He approached the microphone.
“Mateo Bellini was like a son to me.”
Mateo murmured:
“Here we go.”
Anthony continued.
“I can no longer remain silent about the criminal network that destroyed both our families.”
Kora frowned.
Anthony was not taking leadership.
He was exposing them.
Or pretending to.
Then Anthony looked directly into the camera.
“To Kora Voss, if you are watching…”
Everyone froze.
“I know why your mother chose you.”
Elena stepped closer.
Anthony continued.
“And I know what is inside the vault.”
He reached into his coat.
Held up a photograph.
It showed Elena and Mateo’s father standing beside Daniel Rizzo.
Alive.
Taken two days before Daniel died.
Anthony stared into the camera.
“You have until midnight.”
May you like
His voice broke.
“Then Chicago learns what your parents really did.”
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