Chapter 10 - The Voice from the Shadows
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Oliver gasped and pointed his little finger at the screen.
"Daddy!" he cried out, his voice ringing through the concrete vault. "Mommy, look! It's Daddy!"
I clamped both hands over my mouth, sobbing uncontrollably.
Matteo looked pale and exhausted in the video, sitting in what appeared to be a sterile, dimly lit room.
A thick white bandage was wrapped around his left shoulder.
"Luca," Matteo's voice came through the tablet's speakers, rough and cracked with fatigue.
"If you are watching this, it means Vanessa's greed finally brought my family back to you."
Luca stood rigid, his hand gripping the edge of the steel table so hard his knuckles turned white.
"Three years ago, Vanessa cornered me at our apartment," Matteo explained on the recording.
"She thought she was so clever, giving me an ultimatum to protect Claire and Oliver."
"She didn't know that I had already spent six months collecting evidence against her father's corruption."
"When I left Chicago that night, Bellini hitmen followed my car onto the interstate."
"They tried to run me off the bridge over the Illinois River to stage an accident."
Luca sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth.
"I survived the crash," Matteo continued, his eyes burning with intense resolve.
"A fisherman pulled me from the freezing water and took me to a private clinic across the border."
"I knew that if I returned home immediately, Salvatore Bellini would realize I survived and send a hit squad to finish off Claire and my baby."
"So I let the world believe Matteo Moretti was dead."
"I used an assumed identity and fled to Europe to undergo reconstructive surgeries on my shoulder and spine."
My knees gave out, and Luca caught me under my arms, guiding me safely into a chair.
"He's alive," I wept hysterically into Luca's shoulder. "My husband is alive!"
"Keep listening," Luca urged, his own eyes brimming with tears.
"Luca," Matteo said on the screen, leaning closer to the lens.
"I am currently hiding in a small coastal town in northern Italy, under the care of our mother's cousin, Father Antonio."
"I have been waiting for the right moment to strike back."
"The documents in this box are your sword."
"Destroy the Bellini family, clean our city of their filth, and make it safe for my wife and son."
"When Chicago is secure, come find me at the Chapel of Santa Maria in Portofino."
"Claire, my love..." Matteo's voice softened, and tears welled in his tired eyes on the screen.
"Every single breath I take in this foreign country is for you and our little boy."
"Forgive me for the pain I caused you."
"Oliver, my brave little man, listen to your Uncle Luca."
"Daddy is coming home soon."
The video screen went black.
The vault was so quiet you could hear the distant humming of the building's ventilation system.
Oliver turned around and looked up at Luca with shining eyes.
"Uncle Luca? Did you hear that?"
"Daddy said he's coming home!"
Luca crouched down, picked up his nephew, and held him tightly against his chest.
"Yes, buddy," Luca whispered, his voice trembling with emotion.
May you like
"Your daddy is coming home."
"And Uncle Luca is going to clear the way for him right now."
