Chapter 2 - Echoes of the Past
"Matteo."
The name escaped Alessandro’s lips not as a shout, but as a cold, razor-thin promise.
The air in the kitchen turned instantly suffocating. The two remaining guards, unaware of the sudden shift in tension, stood near the hallway waiting for orders. Matteo’s hand subtly hovered over the grip of his customized semi-automatic pistol. The silver hair framing his weathered face glistened under the bright kitchen lights.
"Boss," Matteo said, his voice smooth, professional, and entirely devoid of fear. "The child is confused. She’s three years old. She’s speaking nonsense."
"Is she?" Alessandro turned his whole body to face his head of security—his closest friend of sixteen years, the man who had stood beside him at his father’s grave, the man who had helped him hunt down every enemy the Duca family had ever known. "She knew about the bitter water. My father didn't die of a heart attack, did he, Matteo? He was poisoned."
"Giovanni died of a massive coronary event, Alessandro. You saw the medical report yourself," Matteo replied calmly, taking half a step toward the exit. "We drafted that report together."
"Because I trusted you!" Alessandro roared, the rage finally breaking through his impenetrable facade. The sheer power of his voice made the guards flinch and caused Sophia to cry out, pulling Emma into the laundry room and locking the light wooden door behind them.
"I gave you my life, Matteo! I let you guard my back for two decades!" Alessandro stepped forward, his eyes blazing. "Julian Alvarez didn't betray my father. He caught you... didn't he?"
Matteo’s calm expression slowly dissolved. The disciplined, loyal head of security vanished, replaced by a cold, calculating stranger. A bitter smile crept onto his lips.
"Julian was too noble for his own good," Matteo said softly, his voice dropping into a register Alessandro had never heard before. "Just like your father. Giovanni was weak, Alessandro. He wanted to legitimize the family. He wanted to pull out of the narcotics trade, hand over our shipping lanes to the government, and turn us into respectable businessmen. Do you have any idea how much money that would have cost us? Millions. Billions."
Alessandro felt a wave of nausea. "So you killed him."
"I saved the empire!" Matteo barked back, his eyes narrowing. "I killed Giovanni so that you could inherit a throne, not a collapsing charity! And Julian... Julian saw me put the cyanide into your father's decanter. I hunted Julian down for weeks after that night. I thought I eliminated him in Naples three years ago. I had no idea he left behind a bastard child."
Before Alessandro could draw his gun, Matteo was already moving.
With terrifying speed, Matteo drew his pistol and fired two rapid shots. But he didn't shoot Alessandro—he shot the two guards standing in the hallway. The men collapsed instantly. Taking advantage of the sudden chaos and shock, Matteo threw a heavy flashbang grenade onto the kitchen tile and lunged through the doorway into the corridor.
BANG!
A blinding white flash and a deafening explosion ripped through the room. Alessandro threw his arm over his eyes, tumbling backward against the island. His ears rang violently, his vision reduced to a swirl of white spots and black smoke.
"Sophia!" Alessandro yelled through the ringing in his ears, blindly lunging toward the laundry room door. He threw it open and found Sophia cowering in the corner, holding Emma tightly as the toddler sobbed against her shoulder. "Stay here! Don't move!"
Alessandro pulled his own weapon—a black Sig Sauer—and stormed out into the grand hallway.
The estate was in full alarm. Sirens blared across the compound, red emergency lights flashing against the white marble statues. Guards were running in every direction, confused and shouting.
"Lock down the gates!" Alessandro shouted into his radio comms, his voice cutting through the panic. "Matteo Reachi is a traitor! Fire on sight! I repeat, execute Matteo Reachi on sight!"
But as Alessandro reached the grand front courtyard, he saw the heavy iron gates already swinging open. A black armored SUV tore through the exit, crashing through the security barrier and disappearing down the winding mountain road, leaving a trail of burning rubber and shattered glass behind.
Alessandro stood in the driveway, the rain beginning to pour down from the dark morning sky, soaking his suit. His chest heaved as he watched the tail lights vanish into the fog.
The man he had trusted with his life had poisoned his father.
May you like
The man he had relied on for sixteen years was now his deadliest enemy.
And the only witness left alive was a three-year-old girl hiding in his laundry room.
Related Stories
