Chapter 10 - THE BOY WHO WOULDN'T LET GO|
Matteo stared at his older brother for several seconds.
Then he burst into laughter.
“You really expect me to believe that?”
Luca didn't move.
“Let Oliver go.”
“Take me.”
Matteo shook his head.
“You spent your entire life choosing the family business over everyone else.”
“And now you're pretending to be some heroic father?”
“I wasn't a good father,” Luca answered.
“But I can still become one.”
The words echoed across the warehouse.
Above us, Oliver pressed his little hands against the office window.
“Daddy!”
I looked up.
“Oliver, sweetheart, we're here!”
His face crumpled.
“Claire, please!”
Vivienne rolled her eyes.
“Will someone make that child stop crying?”
I turned toward her.
“How can you stand there and talk about him like that?”
She gave a cruel smile.
“Because I never wanted a child.”
“I wanted the life his mother left behind.”
Luca's expression changed.
For one moment, I thought he might rush toward her.
Instead, he stood perfectly still.
“Isabella didn't leave that life behind,” he said.
“You stole it.”
Vivienne's smile vanished.
Matteo grabbed the folder from the floor and opened it.
He flipped through the pages.
Then his face darkened.
“These aren't the original ownership documents.”
Luca shrugged.
“They're copies of my proposal.”
Matteo looked furious.
“You think this is funny?”
“No.”
“I think you've already taken enough from my son.”
Matteo pulled his gun.
My heart jumped.
“Don't!” I screamed.
He pointed the weapon at Luca.
“Do you have any idea what it was like growing up in your shadow?”
Luca stared at him.
“Matteo—”
“Everything belonged to you!”
“Dad trusted you!”
“The business was yours!”
“Even Isabella treated you like you were the better man!”
His voice broke.
“You had everything, and you didn't even appreciate it!”
Luca shook his head.
“She was kind to you.”
“She treated you like family.”
Matteo laughed bitterly.
“She was going to destroy me.”
“She was going to expose what I'd built.”
“So you killed her?” Luca asked.
Matteo hesitated.
Then he lowered his voice.
“She should have minded her own business.”
I felt sick.
There it was.
Not grief.
Not regret.
Only resentment that Isabella had refused to remain silent.
Vivienne moved closer to Matteo.
“Stop talking.”
He ignored her.
“You know what the funniest part is, Luca?”
“You brought her into this family.”
“You taught her where to look.”
Luca stood motionless.
Then a sound emerged from upstairs.
A gentle woman's voice.
“Hello, my sweet little Oliver.”
Everyone froze.
Oliver was pressing Mr. Buttons against the glass.
Isabella's recording filled the warehouse through the bear's small speaker.
“I love you more than all the stars in the sky.”
The little boy began crying harder.
“Mommy, I'm trying to be brave!”
My heart shattered.
“YOU ARE BRAVE, SWEETHEART!” I called.
“YOU'RE THE BRAVEST BOY I KNOW!”
Luca looked upward.
“Oliver, listen to Claire!”
“Daddy's here!”
Matteo spun toward the office.
“Bruno, turn that thing off!”
But Bruno hesitated.
Something in Oliver's face seemed to trouble him.
The little boy was trembling, yet he refused to release the teddy bear.
Vivienne stormed toward the staircase.
“Give it to me!”
Oliver backed away from the window.
“NO!”
“It's Mommy!”
Vivienne reached the office door.
Before she could enter, Bruno stepped in front of her.
“Enough.”
She stared at him.
“Excuse me?”
“He's eight years old.”
“Move!”
Bruno shook his head.
Matteo shouted from below.
“Bruno, do what she says!”
The deputy security supervisor looked toward Luca.
For the first time, his face showed shame.
“I already helped you destroy one family,” he said quietly.
“I'm not helping you destroy this child.”
Vivienne slapped him.
Bruno caught her wrist and pushed her away from Oliver.
Then everything happened at once.
Matteo fired toward the upper office.
The shot shattered a pane of glass far from Oliver.
I screamed.
Luca rushed forward, while the sound of police commands erupted from the warehouse entrance.
Matteo staggered backward.
He seized Vivienne by the arm and tried to pull her toward a rear exit.
She fought him.
“YOU PROMISED ME WE'D LEAVE TOGETHER!”
“Move!” he shouted.
But Vivienne stumbled against a loading pallet.
Matteo released her and disappeared into the dark rear passage.
Several officers pursued him.
Other officers rushed toward the staircase.
Bruno stepped away from Oliver and raised both hands.
“I surrender!”
“THE BOY IS SAFE!”
I ran upstairs with Detective Shaw close behind me.
Oliver saw me through the broken glass.
“CLAIRE!”
I opened the office door.
He threw himself into my arms with such force that we nearly fell.
I held him against my chest.
“It's okay, sweetheart.”
“I've got you.”
He clung to my neck.
“I was so scared.”
“I know, baby.”
“I know.”
Then Luca appeared in the doorway.
He was breathing heavily, his face pale.
“Oliver?”
The little boy lifted his head.
For a moment, father and son simply stared at each other.
Then Oliver reached out both arms.
“DADDY!”
Luca dropped to his knees.
Oliver ran into him.
I watched Luca hold his little boy as though the entire world had narrowed to that one small heartbeat.
“I'm sorry,” Luca whispered into his son's hair.
“I'm so sorry I wasn't there.”
Oliver cried against his shoulder.
“You came this time.”
Luca closed his eyes.
“Yes, buddy.”
“I came.”
Downstairs, Detective Shaw's officers handcuffed Vivienne.
Bruno was taken into custody as well.
But when Shaw returned to the office, her expression was grim.
“Matteo escaped through the service passage.”
Luca tightened his arms around Oliver.
“Then find him.”
Shaw nodded.
“We will.”
She looked toward Mr. Buttons.
“And there's something else.”
I turned toward her.
“What?”
“The recording was examined while you were preparing for the exchange.”
“The forensic specialist found more audio stored inside the device.”
Luca looked up slowly.
“More?”
May you like
The detective nodded.
“And this time, your brother's voice is on it.”
