CHAPTER 13 — THE LAST MEETING
Carlo chose Saint Agnes Hospital for the exchange.
The abandoned maternity wing had been closed after funding disappeared.
Liana understood the cruelty of the location.
Samuel had died two floors below.
Matteo wore a wire beneath his shirt. Federal agents surrounded the building from a distance, but Carlo had threatened to kill Nico if he saw police.
Liana insisted on going inside.
“No,” Matteo said.
“He calls for me.”
“That is why Carlo will use you.”
“He is already using me.”
Matteo gripped her shoulders.
“I cannot lose both of you.”
“You do not get to make every choice alone anymore.”
Their eyes held.
Matteo released her.
They entered together.
Carlo waited in the old nursery surrounded by four armed men.
Nico cried from a portable crib near the window.
Liana took a step toward him.
A guard raised his weapon.
Carlo smiled.
“How touching. The maid, the king, and the borrowed child.”
“He is not borrowed,” Liana said.
“No. He is leverage.”
Matteo held up the ledger.
“Let him go.”
“Place it on the floor.”
Matteo obeyed.
Carlo nodded toward one of his men.
The guard collected it.
Nico reached toward Liana.
“Mama!”
Her heart tore open.
Carlo laughed softly.
“Elena would have enjoyed that.”
Matteo’s control broke.
“You murdered her.”
“I saved what your weakness was destroying.”
“You diverted medicine from this hospital.”
“Business requires sacrifice.”
“A baby died.”
Carlo shrugged.
“One poor woman’s child.”
Liana moved before anyone expected it.
She crossed the room and struck Carlo across the face.
The sound echoed.
Every weapon rose.
Carlo touched his cheek in disbelief.
“His name was Samuel.”
He looked at her with hatred.
“You should have stayed at the gate.”
“And you should have feared the women you thought were powerless.”
Mrs. Bell’s copied documents had already been transmitted to every major newspaper in the state. Prosecutor Shaw had arranged simultaneous arrests across Valecroft.
Carlo’s phone began ringing.
Then the phones of his guards rang.
Confusion spread across their faces.
Matteo spoke loudly.
“It is over.”
Carlo drew a gun and aimed at Nico.
Matteo lunged.
The gun fired.
Liana threw herself over the crib.
A second gunshot followed.
Then silence.
Carlo fell against the wall.
Tomas stood in the doorway, pale from his injury, smoke rising from his weapon.
Matteo lay on the floor.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Liana screamed his name.
She placed Nico safely behind the crib and crawled to Matteo.
The bullet had entered below his ribs.
He looked at her with fading eyes.
“Is Nico safe?”
“Yes.”
“Are you?”
“Yes.”
“Then I finally did something right.”
“Do not speak like that.”
Federal agents stormed the room.
Carlo was arrested.
Dr. Hale pressed his hands against Matteo’s wound.
Liana held Matteo’s face.
“Stay with me.”
His eyes struggled to focus.
“You told me to become a good man.”
“You haven’t finished.”
A faint smile appeared.
“Still giving orders.”
“Yes.”
May you like
Liana pressed her forehead against his.
“And you are going to obey me.”
