Chapter 6 - The Patriarch
Vittorio Varric had been dead for three years.
Another dead man.
Another name that refused to stay buried.
They drove to an old chapel outside the city where Gabriel had been hiding records for years.
Grace slept in the van.
Liana sat beside Matteo.
He had not spoken since Gabriel said their father ordered Sofia’s death.
Finally Matteo broke the silence.
“My father loved Sofia.”
Gabriel looked at him from the front passenger seat.
“Our father loved control.”
“He treated her like a daughter.”
“He treated everyone like property.”
Matteo’s jaw tightened.
“He was dying.”
“And dying men do not become saints.”
Gabriel turned.
“They become more afraid of losing what they built.”
The chapel was empty.
Gabriel led them into a basement beneath the sacristy.
Metal cabinets filled one wall.
A computer sat on a desk.
Photographs and documents covered another.
Matteo stopped.
“How long?”
“Six years.”
“You hid all this?”
“I was alive because everyone thought I was dead.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“That gave me one advantage.”
Matteo gave a humorless laugh.
“Father faked your death.”
“No.”
Gabriel’s face darkened.
“He tried to kill me.”
Silence.
Gabriel continued.
“I discovered our family trucks were transporting pharmaceutical shipments that didn’t exist on legal manifests.”
Matteo looked at him.
“When?”
“Eleven years ago.”
“That’s why you left?”
“That’s why I tried.”
Gabriel sat.
“I went to Father.”
“You should have come to me.”
“You were twenty.”
Gabriel’s voice softened.
“And you worshiped him.”
Matteo said nothing.
“He told me the shipments were none of my business.”
Gabriel continued.
“I told him I would go to the police.”
“What happened?”
“The brakes on my car failed the next night.”
Matteo’s face changed.
“I went into the river.”
“You survived.”
“Barely.”
“Why didn’t you come home?”
Gabriel looked at him.
“Because Father sent men to the hospital.”
Matteo stared.
“They told the nurses I was wanted for murder.”
Gabriel continued.
“So I left.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
Matteo slammed one hand onto the desk.
“Stop telling yourself that.”
Gabriel flinched.
“You abandoned me with him.”
The anger in Matteo’s voice was raw now.
“I buried an empty coffin.”
Gabriel looked down.
“I know.”
“You knew what he was.”
“Yes.”
“And you left me.”
“Yes.”
The single word ended the argument.
Gabriel did not defend himself.
That made it worse.
Liana watched both brothers.
Two men shaped differently by the same father.
One fled.
One stayed.
Both paid.
Gabriel opened a file.
“Vittorio invested in Velorin through shell companies.”
Naomi’s earlier explanation returned to Liana.
A drug meant to stop pain that could create worse pain.
“Why babies?”
She asked.
Gabriel looked at her.
“Because infant nervous systems respond differently.”
“Why test it secretly?”
“Because the legal trial had catastrophic side effects.”
Liana’s stomach twisted.
“How many children?”
“At least thirty-one.”
She stared.
“Deaths?”
Gabriel hesitated.
“Eight confirmed.”
Ava.
Liana closed her eyes.
Matteo walked away.
“What did Sofia discover?”
Gabriel pulled out another folder.
“After Nico was born, Sofia saw an invoice from Bellmore.”
“For what?”
“A blood panel.”
“That isn’t unusual.”
“It was ordered before Nico was born.”
Matteo frowned.
Gabriel continued.
“Someone used prenatal testing to determine whether he carried the enzyme marker.”
“Did he?”
“Yes.”
Liana’s skin prickled.
“Like Ava.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Sofia realized Nico had been selected before birth.”
Matteo stared at him.
“My son.”
“Yes.”
“My father selected my son for an illegal drug trial?”
Gabriel’s expression darkened.
“Your father wanted a perfect successor.”
“What does that mean?”
“Vittorio believed Velorin could eventually eliminate pain responses.”
Matteo laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“He wanted a child who couldn’t feel pain?”
“He wanted to prove the drug worked.”
Gabriel answered.
“And he thought testing it on his own grandson would prove his confidence.”
Liana felt nauseated.
“Monster.”
Matteo did not correct her.
Gabriel opened another file.
“Sofia stopped Nico’s first treatment after a nurse accidentally mentioned the micro-needle patch.”
“Then why is he being dosed now?”
“Because someone restarted the study.”
“Damian.”
“Probably.”
Matteo looked at him.
“Probably?”
“Damian inherited control of the research accounts.”
Gabriel said.
“But there are other signatures.”
“Vale.”
“Yes.”
“Who else?”
Gabriel slid a document across the table.
Matteo read it.
His face changed.
Liana moved closer.
The signature at the bottom belonged to Detective Nolan.
The same officer who had told Matteo that Elias Moretti killed Sofia.
“He wasn’t just covering it up.”
Liana whispered.
“He was part of it.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Nolan arranged police access.”
“Access to what?”
“Death reports.”
“Autopsies.”
“Traffic records.”
Liana’s voice became quiet.
“He could make dead babies disappear on paper.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Yes.”
Liana sat down.
Ava’s death certificate suddenly felt like another weapon.
Not a document.
A lie.
Matteo turned to Gabriel.
“You said Father ordered Sofia’s crash.”
Gabriel’s eyes lowered.
“According to Damian’s communications.”
“You have them?”
“Some.”
“Show me.”
Gabriel opened a folder.
Emails.
Encrypted messages.
Financial transfers.
One message had been printed.
VITTORIO: SHE WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING.
DAMIAN: Matteo will never forgive this.
VITTORIO: Matteo will survive grief.
VITTORIO: The family will not survive exposure.
Matteo stared at the page.
His face became empty.
Liana watched his fingers tighten.
There are moments when anger becomes too large for shouting.
It goes silent.
That was where Matteo was.
Gabriel showed him another message.
VITTORIO: MAKE CERTAIN THE MORETTI VEHICLE IS SEEN.
Sofia had predicted everything.
They gave Matteo someone to blame.
And he did exactly what they expected.
He destroyed Elias Moretti.
Liana looked at him.
“What did you do to Moretti?”
Matteo’s eyes remained on the paper.
“I had him taken.”
“Where?”
“A warehouse.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
Liana waited.
Matteo swallowed.
“He died during interrogation.”
Gabriel looked away.
Liana felt cold.
An innocent man.
Maybe not innocent of everything.
But innocent of Sofia’s murder.
Matteo folded the message carefully.
“I killed the wrong man.”
No one corrected him.
A phone began ringing.
Gabriel checked the screen.
His face changed.
“What?”
Matteo asked.
Gabriel answered.
A distorted voice came through the speaker.
“Father Gabriel.”
Gabriel’s expression hardened.
“Damian.”
Matteo moved closer.
The voice laughed.
“So the dead priest finally invited the grieving king to church.”
Matteo grabbed the phone.
“Where is Grace’s evidence?”
Damian paused.
“Cousin.”
“Where are you?”
“Always straight to violence.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m surprised Sofia’s recording didn’t teach you anything.”
Matteo’s face tightened.
Damian continued.
“Thinking is harder than revenge, remember?”
Liana watched Matteo force himself to stay calm.
“What do you want?”
“Something Gabriel stole.”
“What?”
“The original Bellmore ledger.”
Gabriel shook his head.
Damian laughed.
“I know he has it.”
Matteo looked at Gabriel.
He looked away.
“What’s in the ledger?”
Liana asked.
Damian heard her.
“Ah.”
His tone changed.
“The maid.”
Liana’s skin went cold.
“You killed my daughter.”
“Did I?”
“You knew who she was.”
“I knew a number.”
Damian replied.
“A-17.”
Liana’s vision went red.
Matteo grabbed her wrist before she could speak.
Not hard.
A warning.
Don’t let him control you.
Sofia’s lesson.
Liana breathed.
Damian continued.
“I’m sorry about Ava.”
“No, you’re not.”
“No.”
He admitted.
“I’m not.”
Matteo’s grip tightened.
“What do you want?”
“The ledger.”
“What happens if you don’t get it?”
A pause.
Then Damian said.
“Ask Beatrice.”
Matteo froze.
“What?”
Damian hung up.
Rafe immediately dialed the estate.
No answer.
He tried again.
Nothing.
Matteo called Naomi.
Straight to voicemail.
Liana’s heart slammed.
“Nico.”
They ran.
The drive back took nineteen minutes.
It felt like hours.
The main gate stood open.
One security guard lay unconscious beside the guardhouse.
Matteo jumped from the vehicle before it stopped.
“Nico!”
They raced into the mansion.
The foyer was dark.
Broken glass covered the floor.
Rafe found another guard breathing near the stairs.
Liana ran upstairs.
“Nico!”
The nursery door was open.
The crib was empty.
Liana stopped.
“No.”
Matteo entered behind her.
His face went white.
On the mattress lay Nico’s blue blanket.
And a phone.
It began ringing.
Matteo answered.
Damian’s voice said only four words.
“Bring me the ledger.”
Then the line went dead.
Liana stared at the empty crib.
The baby who had screamed for weeks was gone.
May you like
And whoever had taken him knew exactly how much his father would burn to get him back.
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