Chapter 2 - The Network of Treason
By 2:00 AM, the study door opened silently, and Marco stepped inside. He carried a heavy leather briefcase and sat down across from Matteo without waiting for an invitation. Marco was a man who spoke only when the truth was fully assembled.
"It goes deeper than Nico," Marco said, unbuckling the leather straps of the binder. "Nico was twenty-two when Elena disappeared. He had access to your schedule, but he didn't have the technical expertise to clone your encrypted device or bypass the security logs at Caruso Holdings."
Matteo leaned forward, his face hardening into absolute stone. "Who built the bridge for him?"
Marco slid three printed pages across the mahogany desk. "Your uncle, Salvatore. He's been operating a secondary ledger out of a private firm in Zurich for nine years. He was using Nico's gambling debts to control him. Whenever Nico fell behind on his payments, Salvatore offered to erase a portion of the debt in exchange for small favors."
"Small favors," Matteo repeated, his jaw tightening.
"A leaked itinerary here. A altered security badge there," Marco explained. "When Salvatore realized you were spending every Saturday night with a woman outside the five families, he saw a vulnerability. He knew that if you married Elena, your attention would shift away from the syndicate's aggressive expansions. But if you were bitter, angry, and isolated, you would remain the ruthless weapon he needed to protect his financial interests."
Matteo picked up the paper detailing his uncle's Zurich transfers. The numbers were staggering—tens of millions of dollars siphoned from construction funds and dock real estate over nearly a decade.
"He didn't just take my life, Marco," Matteo said softly, his voice dropping into a register that made the room grow cold. "He let my daughter starve while he bought vineyards in Tuscany."
"Salvatore called an emergency meeting of the regional heads for tomorrow night," Marco added. "He believes you're distracted by the child. He intends to propose a motion to restructure the family's executive board, effectively stripping you of your absolute veto power."
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Matteo closed his eyes for three long seconds. When he opened them, the sorrow was gone, replaced by the lethal focus that had made him the head of the Caruso empire.
"Let him call the meeting," Matteo said. "Make sure every don attends."
