Chapter 9 - THE DEAD MAN AT THE DOCKS
Adrian Rossi was alive.
They found him in Maine.
Not hiding.
Living under another name.
Fishing charter business.
Small house near the coast.
Wife.
Two children.
Matteo expected betrayal.
What he found was fear.
Adrian refused to open the door until Arthur spoke.
Then everything changed.
The brothers stared at each other for almost a full minute.
Arthur looked as though he had seen a ghost.
“You were dead.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“That was the idea.”
Six years earlier, Adrian discovered Victor Shaw had been moving money with Luca.
He told Matteo’s uncle Salvatore.
Before Salvatore could act, someone tried to kill Adrian.
He survived.
Then disappeared.
“Why not contact us?”
Adrian looked at Arthur.
“Because somebody inside security gave them my route.”
Arthur flinched.
“You thought it was me.”
“I didn’t know.”
So Adrian vanished completely.
Only Thomas Bennett eventually found him.
Norah’s father.
They exchanged information.
Then Thomas died.
“Heart attack?” Matteo asked.
Adrian looked at him.
“No.”
The room went cold.
“What happened?”
“Poison.”
Arthur swore.
Matteo remained still.
“Proof?”
“Hospital sample. Thomas knew he was being targeted and arranged independent testing.”
Norah’s father had been murdered.
Victor and Luca had likely killed him because he understood the financial network.
“Why was Norah left alive?”
Adrian’s expression darkened.
“Because Thomas convinced them she knew nothing.”
Matteo felt sick.
“And later?”
“They started watching her anyway.”
Meridian Risk.
Then Salvatore unknowingly put Norah closer to Matteo.
That changed her value.
A clean person connected to Thomas Bennett.
Married to Matteo Rossi.
Perfect for paperwork.
Adrian opened a locked cabinet.
Inside were copies of Thomas’s files.
Old transfers.
Insurance arrangements.
Corporate ownership.
One document linked Victor directly to the hospital administrator Norah mentioned.
They had been preparing access to medical records.
Why?
Adrian had a theory.
“Custody.”
Matteo’s eyes narrowed.
“If Matteo and Norah separated,” Adrian said, “they could manufacture evidence that she was unstable or medically unfit.”
Arthur looked sick.
“The baby.”
“Control the heir. Control succession.”
Matteo felt rage rise.
He forced it down.
Anger without discipline was exactly what Luca expected.
“Could it work?”
Adrian shrugged.
“Not easily. But enough rumors, altered records, frightened staff, and expensive lawyers can create chaos.”
Matteo picked up his phone.
He called Norah.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
His heart began pounding.
Her attorney answered on the third call.
“Mr. Rossi.”
“Where is she?”
“I cannot tell you.”
“Call her.”
“She’s at a medical appointment.”
Matteo’s blood ran cold.
“What hospital?”
“I don’t—”
The lawyer stopped.
Matteo heard voices.
Then:
“She didn’t arrive.”
Everything inside Matteo emptied.
“What?”
“Her driver says she never came out of the hotel.”
Matteo stood.
Arthur was already moving.
May you like
Norah was gone again.
But this time, she had not chosen to disappear.
