CHAPTER 8 — THE ENEMY INSIDE THE WALLS
The sniper escaped.
That meant someone had disabled the north cameras and unlocked a maintenance gate.
The betrayal came from inside.
Matteo moved Liana and Nico into an underground safe room beneath the library.
It contained food, water, medical supplies, and several weapons secured behind glass.
Liana stared at the rifles.
“What kind of family needs a room like this?”
“The kind I was born into.”
“You could have left.”
“So could you.”
“I had nowhere to go.”
Matteo met her eyes.
“Neither did I.”
For two days, the mansion remained sealed.
Tomas investigated every employee. Mrs. Bell brought meals herself. Dr. Hale slept in a chair outside the safe room.
Carlo did not come.
That alone made Matteo suspicious.
On the third evening, Nico developed a fever.
Dr. Hale examined him and found inflammation around the needle mark.
“Someone injected him,” the doctor said. “Possibly with a slow-acting bacterial agent.”
Liana nearly stopped breathing.
“Can you treat it?”
“Yes, but I need medication from the city.”
“The roads aren’t safe,” Tomas said.
Matteo took his coat.
“I’ll go.”
“No,” Liana said. “That is what they want.”
“My son needs the medicine.”
“And if you die bringing it back?”
Matteo looked at Nico.
Liana stepped in front of him.
“Send three cars in different directions. Make them believe you’re in one. Have Tomas bring the medication through the old service tunnel.”
Tomas stared at her.
“How do you know about the tunnel?”
“Mrs. Bell mentioned it while complaining about rats.”
Matteo almost smiled.
“You have been here less than two weeks and already know more about my house than most of my men.”
“Because your men are busy looking for enemies with guns. Women who clean houses notice open doors.”
The plan worked.
Tomas returned with the antibiotics shortly before midnight.
For twelve hours, Nico’s fever continued to rise.
Liana held him against her skin while Matteo sat beside the bed.
“Tell me about Samuel,” Matteo said.
She almost refused.
Then Nico whimpered.
“Samuel had dark hair,” she whispered. “He hated baths. He smiled whenever sunlight touched the ceiling.”
“What was his favorite sound?”
“My voice.”
Liana swallowed.
“I used to sing the same song every night.”
“Sing it now.”
She looked at him.
“For Nico.”
Liana began softly.
Her voice shook during the first lines, then steadied.
Nico’s breathing slowly eased.
Matteo listened with his head bowed.
By morning, the fever broke.
Dr. Hale smiled for the first time.
“He’s going to recover.”
Liana pressed her lips to Nico’s forehead.
Matteo closed his eyes.
A phone rang outside the room.
Tomas answered.
His expression changed.
“What is it?” Matteo asked.
Tomas lowered the phone.
“Carlo has called a meeting of the families.”
Matteo stood.
“He’s declaring me unfit.”
“He says grief has weakened you. He says the woman in your house has turned you against your own blood.”
Liana looked at Nico.
“What happens if the families agree?”
Matteo’s face became cold.
“Carlo takes my empire.”
“And Nico?”
May you like
Matteo did not answer.
He did not need to.
