“Delete My Number,” She Said—Then Six Men Stepped Aside for the Crime Lord She’d Been Secretly Writing To
Chapter 3
Matteo’s father had been dead for fifteen years.
Clara knew that.
Everyone did.
She looked at him.
“Your father?”
Matteo nodded.
“My father left instructions before he died.”
“For this?”
“For the Bennett family.”
Clara felt dizzy.
Matteo explained that his father had once conducted business with her grandfather.
They had discovered that several merchants were stealing land from poor farmers through forged debt papers.
Her grandfather had wanted to expose them.
Matteo’s father had helped.
Then someone betrayed them.
Clara’s grandfather disappeared.
Matteo’s father died soon afterward.
The matter was buried.
But one ledger remained.
The same ledger Clara had found.
“You’re saying our families were connected?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did my father become involved?”
“Because your father wasn’t the original villain.”
Clara stared at him.
“Who was?”
Matteo placed another document before her.
A list of names.
At the top:
Edmund Vale.
Clara knew the name.
Vale was one of the wealthiest merchants in the region.
He owned warehouses, mills, ships, and vast stretches of farmland.
He had even been invited to dine with governors.
Matteo pointed to the bottom of the list.
“Your father has been working for him.”
Clara’s throat tightened.
“He had no choice?”
“Perhaps.”
“Perhaps?”
Matteo leaned back.
“I don’t excuse him.”
Silence settled between them.
Clara looked at the six men standing outside.
“Why are they here?”
“To protect you.”
“I don’t need six armed men.”
“You do now.”
She almost laughed.
“This is absurd.”
Matteo’s expression softened.
“You trusted a stranger through letters.”
“I didn’t know you were a crime lord.”
“If you had known?”
“I would never have written.”
He looked at her.
“Would you have stopped writing?”
Clara opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Matteo gave the faintest smile.
“That is what I thought.”
Before Clara could respond, a gunshot sounded outside.
The six men moved instantly.
Matteo pulled Clara behind him.
Another shot shattered the window.
Glass exploded across the floor.
One of the guards shouted:
“They found her!”
Matteo looked at Clara.
His voice became cold.
“Now you understand why I couldn’t let you leave.”
