Chapter 8 - THE MESSAGE MATTEO LEFT FOR ME
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I stared at the envelope bearing my name.
For a moment, I couldn't understand why Matteo would have left something for me.
I was his brother's housemaid.
I wasn't family.
I wasn't wealthy.
I had no business shares, no expensive jewelry, and no place at the table where the Morettis made their decisions.
But Matteo had remembered me.
Sofia held out the envelope.
“He wanted you to have it.”
I looked toward Detective Reyes.
“Shouldn't this be evidence?”
She examined it without opening it.
“We'll document it and preserve what may be relevant to the investigation.”
Then she allowed me to read it while she observed.
My hands shook as I broke the seal.
Inside was a single page.
Matteo's handwriting leaned slightly to the right.
“Dear Claire, if this reaches you, something has gone terribly wrong.”
My chest tightened.
“I know you see more than people realize.”
“You notice the cars that arrive after midnight, the papers nobody wants filed, and the people who enter rooms they don't belong in.”
I swallowed.
“Dario thinks you are invisible because you wear a uniform.”
“He is mistaken.”
Tears blurred the words.
“Please don't put yourself in danger for this family.”
“But if anyone tries to silence you, remember that what you witnessed matters.”
I pressed a hand against my mouth.
At the bottom was one final sentence.
“Thank you for always treating Sofia like someone worth listening to.”
I began crying.
For five years, I'd worked in a mansion where rich guests sometimes left their dirty plates in my hands without looking at my face.
I'd learned to speak softly.
To stand near the walls.
To disappear when the family argued.
But Matteo had noticed.
He'd understood that I wasn't invisible.
Sofia wrapped her arms around me.
“He loved you like a little sister,” she whispered.
I shook with tears.
“I wish I'd known he was in danger.”
“So do I.”
Detective Reyes waited until we could speak again.
Then she secured Matteo's notebooks and recorder.
“We need to get these examined.”
She looked at Sofia.
“And we need you somewhere safe.”
By the time we returned to the Moretti estate, officers had located several suspicious transactions recorded in Matteo's notebook.
Money had moved from the freight business to companies with no verifiable shipping activity.
Some of those companies were connected to Vanessa.
Others were controlled by Dario through intermediaries.
Graham's name appeared beside several unusual security payments.
The records didn't tell us everything.
But they showed that Matteo's investigation had been far more advanced than anyone realized.
Luca listened quietly as Reyes summarized the evidence.
Then he looked at the letter in my hands.
“Matteo wrote to you?”
I nodded.
He read it slowly.
When he finished, his eyes were wet.
“He was a better man than I am.”
I didn't know how to answer.
Finally, I said, “Then do something that would make him proud.”
Luca looked at me for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
“I intend to.”
That evening, Sofia needed several personal belongings from her house.
Detective Reyes arranged an escorted collection, and I accompanied her with Gabriel Torres, one of the few security officers Luca still trusted.
Two uniformed officers were assigned to the visit.
We weren't supposed to stay long.
Sofia collected clothes, photographs, and a small framed picture of Matteo beside Lake Michigan.
I helped fold her sweaters.
Everything seemed quiet.
Until the lights went out.
A loud crash came from downstairs.
Then someone shouted.
“POLICE!”
I froze.
Gabriel rushed toward the staircase.
“Claire, stay with Sofia!”
A second crash shook the house.
Someone was forcing the rear entrance.
Sofia gripped my arm.
“What's happening?”
Before I could answer, a man wearing a black mask appeared in the hallway.
He carried a handgun.
“Don't scream.”
I stepped in front of Sofia.
“Please.”
He pointed the weapon at me.
“Move.”
I recognized his eyes.
And I recognized the voice when he spoke again.
“Your loyalty is getting tiresome, Claire.”
Graham Beck.
I stared at him.
“You helped murder Matteo.”
His expression hardened.
“Your employer's brother should have minded his own business.”
Sofia made a small, broken sound behind me.
Graham grabbed her arm.
“Come with me.”
I lunged toward him.
He shoved me against the wall.
Pain exploded through my shoulder.
Sofia screamed my name.
Gabriel appeared at the end of the hallway, but another armed man blocked his path.
A struggle followed.
I heard a gunshot downstairs.
Then Graham dragged Sofia toward the rear staircase.
She fought him.
She kicked.
She clawed at his hand.
But he forced her through the doorway.
“Sofia!” I screamed.
Her voice echoed from outside.
“CLAIRE!”
By the time I staggered downstairs, a dark van was pulling away.
Gabriel was bleeding from a cut above his eyebrow.
One police officer had been injured during the attack.
The other was calling for backup.
I ran toward the driveway.
The van disappeared beyond the gate.
My phone vibrated.
An unknown number was calling.
I answered with shaking hands.
Dario's voice came through the speaker.
“Hello, Claire.”
My blood turned cold.
“Where is Sofia?”
“She's safe for now.”
“If you hurt her—”
“Listen carefully.”
His voice became almost cheerful.
“Vanessa made a mess of those signatures.”
I felt sick.
“Tell Luca I need the real thing.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Sofia has to sign the transfer herself.”
I glanced toward the estate.
Police sirens were approaching.
Dario continued.
“And you're going to bring me Matteo's notebook and recorder.”
“Why me?”
He laughed softly.
“Because you care more about Sofia than the rest of them care about anything.”
I closed my eyes.
“Let her go.”
“One hour, Claire.”
“Dario, please.”
But he was already giving me an address.
“Come alone, and don't involve the police.”
His voice lowered.
“Otherwise, the next time you see Sofia Moretti, she'll be lying beside her husband.”
The call ended.
And for the first time in my life, I understood exactly how a person could be frightened enough to do something reckless.
But I also remembered Matteo's letter.
Please don't put yourself in danger for this family.
May you like
I turned toward the arriving police cars.
And I ran straight to Detective Reyes.
