Chapter 6 - ARTHUR'S REAL LOYALTY
The first shot hit the wall.
Matteo pulled Norah down.
They crawled behind the kitchen island.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Norah.”
“Do not start giving orders now.”
Even under gunfire, she was impossible.
Matteo almost laughed.
Then the back door opened.
Arthur stepped inside with two men.
Controlled.
Fast.
No unnecessary shots.
Within ninety seconds, the attackers were disarmed.
One wounded.
Two captured.
Norah stood slowly.
Matteo stared at Arthur.
“You helped her.”
“Yes.”
“Behind my back.”
“Yes.”
“Why are you still alive?”
Arthur shrugged.
“Mrs. Rossi asked you that too.”
Norah almost smiled.
Matteo did not.
Then Arthur gave him a folder.
“I’ve been waiting twelve years to hand you this.”
Inside were reports dated from Matteo’s teenage years.
Marco’s movements.
Fake prison documents.
Shell companies.
Every attempt to trace him.
“Who ordered this?”
“Your father.”
Matteo looked up.
Arthur had been twenty-two when Carlo died.
“You worked for him?”
“Yes.”
“He told you Marco survived?”
“He suspected it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Carlo’s instructions were clear.”
Arthur quoted them exactly.
Don’t tell Matteo until he becomes the kind of man who can hear the truth without starting a war.
Matteo laughed bitterly.
“So apparently that took twelve years.”
Arthur looked toward Norah.
“No.”
“It took her leaving.”
That hurt because it was true.
Arthur continued.
“Carlo knew you would inherit fear before wisdom. He asked me to stay near you until the balance changed.”
Matteo stared at the man who had guarded him for more than a decade.
“You were judging me?”
“Constantly.”
“And?”
Arthur’s face stayed neutral.
“You failed frequently.”
Norah laughed.
Matteo glared at both of them.
For a strange moment, the cottage almost felt normal.
Then one of the captured attackers spoke from the floor.
“Marco doesn’t care about the drive anymore.”
Matteo turned.
“What?”
The man smiled through blood.
“He knows where Evelyn Mercer is.”
Norah’s face drained.
“My mother?”
“He took her this morning.”
Arthur immediately checked his phone.
No answer.
Norah’s breathing changed.
“Where?”
The attacker looked at Matteo.
“Old Rossi shipyard.”
Matteo knew it.
Abandoned ten years earlier.
Then the man laughed.
“He doesn’t want money.”
“What does he want?”
“You.”
Of course.
Norah grabbed her coat.
Matteo stopped her.
“No.”
“My mother is there.”
“You’re pregnant.”
“She is my mother.”
“And you are carrying my child.”
The old words returned.
Possession.
Command.
He saw her face close.
Matteo stopped himself.
Then tried again.
“I’m asking you not to come because if something happens to you, I will not survive it.”
Norah stared.
Different sentence.
Different man.
Not fixed.
But different.
Arthur interrupted.
“There’s more.”
He had decoded a message recovered from one attacker.
Marco had requested a doctor.
A specific one.
Dr. Evans.
Norah’s obstetrician.
Her hand moved instantly to her stomach.
“Why?”
Arthur did not answer.
Matteo already knew the answer would be bad.
Then the captive smiled.
“Because Marco doesn’t want Rossi Holdings.”
May you like
He looked at Norah’s belly.
“He wants the baby.”
