Chapter 6 - THE CONFESSION THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING|
I didn't sleep that night.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Matteo standing in our kitchen.
He was wearing his favorite gray sweater.
His hair was still damp from the shower.
He was smiling at me over a cup of coffee, pretending he hadn't eaten the last piece of lemon cake.
In the dream, I always tried to warn him.
Don't get in the car.
Don't take the briefcase.
Don't leave me.
But the dream always ended the same way.
He kissed my forehead.
Told me he'd be home before dinner.
And walked out the door.
When I opened my eyes, Leonardo was sitting beside the window.
He hadn't gone home.
His jacket was draped over a chair, and his sleeves were rolled to his elbows.
The tattoos across his forearms looked darker in the hospital's dim light.
"You're awake," he said.
I nodded.
"Did Pike talk?"
Leonardo looked tired.
"He's still being interviewed."
"Do you think he's telling the truth?"
"I think he's frightened."
"Of Richard?"
"Of whoever knows what he did."
I looked toward the window.
"Matteo was frightened too."
Leonardo said nothing.
Then I asked the question that had been hurting me all night.
"Do you think Matteo knew he was going to die?"
Leonardo slowly shook his head.
"I think he knew he was in danger."
My eyes filled.
"Why didn't he tell me?"
"Because he probably believed he could fix everything."
A sad smile crossed Leonardo's face.
"He always believed he could."
I remembered the envelope.
Matteo had made me promise to deliver it if something happened.
He'd known enough to prepare.
But not enough to save himself.
At eight that morning, Anthony arrived with Detective Hayes.
The detective looked exhausted.
"Pike has begun cooperating."
Leonardo stood.
"What's he saying?"
Hayes placed a folder on the table.
"He admits that Richard Romano hired him to watch Matteo."
I closed my eyes.
"He followed my husband?"
"Yes."
"Did he follow me?"
Hayes hesitated.
"Yes."
My stomach turned.
I remembered nights when I thought I heard footsteps behind me.
A dark car parked across from the restaurant.
A man standing near the train station with his face hidden behind a newspaper.
I'd told myself I was imagining things.
I hadn't been.
"Pike says he was originally hired to recover documents," Hayes continued.
"Then the instructions changed."
Leonardo's face hardened.
"Who changed them?"
"A person Pike knew as the financial coordinator."
Anthony frowned.
"Name?"
"Margaret Hale."
I stared at him.
"The foundation director?"
Hayes nodded.
"According to Pike, Hale controlled the payments and coordinated communication between the clinic and the Romano accounts."
Leonardo crossed his arms.
"Did she order Matteo killed?"
"Pike says she told him Matteo had to be stopped before he reached you."
A terrible silence filled the room.
Hayes continued.
"Pike claims that meant intercepting him and taking the documents."
"Claims?" Leonardo repeated.
"That's his version."
The detective opened another page.
"However, records show that Pike contacted the driver of the truck involved in Matteo's crash shortly before the collision."
I stopped breathing.
"Who was driving the truck?"
"A man named Dennis Cole."
Leonardo stared.
"Where is he?"
"Currently serving a sentence on an unrelated fraud conviction."
Anthony looked confused.
"I thought the accident investigation found the driver had lost control."
"It did."
Hayes nodded.
"But new evidence suggests the original report may have omitted important communications."
I stared at my wedding ring.
For eight months, I'd believed that a terrible accident had taken Matteo from me.
Now a stranger was telling me it might not have been an accident at all.
"Did Cole mean to kill him?" I whispered.
Hayes looked at me sympathetically.
"We don't know yet."
Leonardo turned away.
His shoulders rose and fell with one slow breath.
I could see the anger building.
"Leonardo," I said.
He didn't answer.
"Please."
He turned.
I held out my hand.
He came back to the bed.
"Whatever happened, I need you here."
His expression softened.
"I'm here."
"Not in jail."
He closed his eyes briefly.
"Emma—"
"Not chasing someone through Chicago."
My voice shook.
"Not disappearing the way Matteo did."
Leonardo sat down.
I looked directly at him.
"My baby has already lost her father."
Tears slid down my cheeks.
"Please don't make her lose her uncle too."
For several seconds, he couldn't speak.
Then he took my hand.
"I promise."
Detective Hayes continued.
"Pike also gave us the location of a second storage site."
"What was inside?" Anthony asked.
"Copies of financial ledgers, foundation invoices, and records involving the clinic."
Hayes looked at Leonardo.
"Some documents may implicate individuals associated with your businesses."
Leonardo nodded slowly.
"Then investigate them."
Anthony turned toward him.
"Leonardo, you should understand the consequences."
"I do."
"These records could expose misconduct unrelated to the clinic."
Leonardo looked at me.
Then back at the detective.
"If people used my companies to hurt families, I want it uncovered."
Hayes studied him.
"Even if the investigation leads to people close to you?"
Leonardo's expression didn't change.
"Especially then."
I realized something in that moment.
Leonardo wasn't simply trying to protect Matteo's child.
He was making a choice about the kind of man he would become.
A choice his brother had probably wanted him to make for years.
That afternoon, Bianca requested permission to speak with investigators again.
She had already been removed from the mansion and was staying with her attorney.
Hayes told us she'd offered to surrender her phone and provide access to several foundation accounts.
"Why now?" Leonardo asked.
The detective shrugged.
"Maybe she wants to cooperate."
"Or maybe she's trying to protect herself," Anthony said.
"Both can be true," Hayes answered.
I looked at Leonardo.
"Will you speak to her?"
He shook his head.
"Not privately."
"Do you still love her?"
The question surprised him.
For a moment, he looked genuinely confused.
Then he glanced down at his engagement ring, which he had taken off and placed on the bedside table.
"I thought I did."
"What's the difference?"
He considered that.
"I trusted the woman she pretended to be."
My heart ached.
"Matteo would have liked that answer."
Leonardo gave a sad smile.
"He would have told me I was an idiot for taking so long."
We both laughed softly.
Then Anthony's phone rang.
He stepped into the hallway.
When he returned, his expression was troubled.
"There's been a development."
Leonardo stood.
"What?"
"Richard Romano's financial accounts are being examined, and investigators have identified an international transfer made the morning Matteo died."
"To whom?"
Anthony looked at his notes.
"A company registered in Delaware, controlled through several intermediaries."
I frowned.
"Why does that matter?"
"Because the payment description contains a reference number matching the trucking company involved in Matteo's crash."
My blood ran cold.
Leonardo stared at Anthony.
"How much?"
"Two hundred fifty thousand dollars."
A silence followed.
Then Leonardo whispered, "They paid someone."
Hayes raised a hand.
"We're still establishing what the transfer was for."
But none of us could ignore the timing.
My husband had died.
A large payment had been made.
And the people involved had spent months hiding the truth.
"Can you prove who approved it?" Leonardo asked.
Anthony hesitated.
"Not yet."
Then his phone vibrated again.
He read the message and went still.
"What?" I whispered.
He looked at me.
Then at Leonardo.
"The bank has recovered a copy of the authorization."
Leonardo's voice was barely audible.
"Who signed it?"
Anthony took a breath.
"The electronic approval belongs to Bianca Romano."
I covered my mouth.
Leonardo didn't move.
For a moment, he looked less like Chicago's most feared crime boss and more like a man discovering that someone he loved had been standing beside him with a knife hidden behind her back.
Finally, he whispered, "Bianca?"
Hayes spoke carefully.
"We haven't established whether she knowingly authorized payment for a crime."
But Leonardo was already staring at the engagement ring on the bedside table.
The ring he'd intended to give Bianca.
The ring she had worn while humiliating Matteo's widow.
And the ring that suddenly seemed to belong to a stranger.
Then my phone buzzed.
An unfamiliar number had sent me a message.
There were no greetings.
No explanations.
Just one sentence.
Ask Leonardo why Matteo left the family business before he died.
Beneath it was a photograph.
It showed Matteo standing outside the Moretti headquarters.
Beside him was Leonardo.
May you like
And judging by their expressions, they weren't having a friendly conversation.
They were arguing.
