CHAPTER 5 — THE MESSAGE BEHIND THE PHOTOGRAPH
Liana read the words twice.
Matteo took the frame from her hand.
His face went still.
“Where did you find this?”
“Facedown on the table.”
He examined the handwriting.
“Elena wrote it.”
“You’re sure?”
“I watched her write my name a thousand times.”
Nico made a sleepy sound between them.
Matteo placed the photograph inside his jacket.
“You will not tell anyone about this.”
“Especially Carlo?”
“Especially anyone.”
Liana stared at him.
“Did you ever investigate your wife’s accident?”
“Of course.”
“And?”
“The truck driver fell asleep. His vehicle crossed the divider. Elena’s car went over the bridge.”
“Who investigated?”
“My people.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Matteo’s eyes hardened.
“The police report matched our findings.”
“Were they your police?”
He took one step toward her.
Most people would have moved back.
Liana did not.
“Be careful.”
“Your wife left a warning. Being careful is what got it hidden for five months.”
Matteo glanced at Nico.
The baby had fallen asleep against Liana’s chest.
When Matteo spoke again, his voice was lower.
“Elena had become suspicious before she died. She believed money was disappearing from several companies.”
“What kind of companies?”
“Shipping. Construction. Medical distribution.”
Liana’s attention sharpened.
“Medical distribution?”
Matteo saw her reaction.
“What is it?”
“The night Samuel died, Saint Agnes ran out of infant oxygen supplies. They said a delivery had been delayed.”
Matteo’s face remained unreadable.
“What date?”
“February seventeenth.”
He remembered immediately.
Liana saw it.
“What happened that night?”
“There was trouble near the east docks.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“A convoy was redirected.”
“Medical supplies?”
“I don’t know.”
“Find out.”
Matteo looked at her with disbelief.
“You are ordering me again.”
“My son is dead. Your wife left a warning involving the man who controls your shipments. So yes, I am ordering you.”
The door opened.
Carlo entered without knocking.
He looked from Matteo to Liana.
“Am I interrupting?”
Matteo’s expression transformed with practiced ease.
“Nico couldn’t sleep.”
Carlo’s gaze rested on the empty place where the photograph had been.
“What were you discussing?”
“Wet nurses,” Liana answered.
Matteo looked at her.
Carlo gave a thin smile.
“How fascinating.”
He crossed the room and reached toward Nico.
The baby woke and began to cry.
Carlo withdrew his hand.
“He has his mother’s temperament.”
“No,” Matteo said. “He has mine.”
Carlo’s eyes met his nephew’s.
“Then God help us all.”
That evening, Matteo ordered Tomas to bring him the shipping records from February seventeenth.
The records were missing.
So was the security footage from the east docks.
At midnight, a maid found Elena’s room unlocked.
Someone had searched it.
May you like
Nothing appeared to be stolen.
But on the nursery door, a single dead white rose had been placed beneath the handle.
