“Delete My Number,” She Said—Then Six Men Stepped Aside for the Crime Lord She’d Been Secretly Writing To
Chapter 6
The rescue required planning.
Matteo gathered his men in the library.
Six men stood around the table.
Clara watched as maps were unfolded.
River routes.
Warehouse plans.
Guard positions.
Matteo pointed to the coastal building.
“We enter here.”
One guard shook his head.
“Too exposed.”
Matteo looked at Clara.
“What do you see?”
She studied the map.
Everyone turned toward her.
She traced the river.
“Vale receives grain shipments every third Thursday.”
Matteo nodded.
“And?”
“The warehouse gates will be crowded.”
She pointed.
“If you enter with the grain wagons, his men won’t question you.”
The guards exchanged glances.
Matteo smiled.
“Good.”
Clara suddenly realized why he had always enjoyed her letters.
He didn’t simply want obedience.
He wanted intelligence.
The next evening, the operation began.
Wagons rolled toward the warehouse.
Men unloaded sacks.
Matteo’s guards moved among them.
Clara remained hidden beneath a canvas cover.
When the gate opened, they entered.
Inside, they found Eleanor chained in a room.
Clara rushed toward her.
“Mother!”
Eleanor looked up.
For several seconds, she didn’t speak.
Then she cried.
“My little girl.”
Clara embraced her.
Matteo’s men cut the chains.
Suddenly, bells rang.
Vale knew.
Guards poured into the warehouse.
Matteo stepped forward.
“Take Clara and her mother out.”
Clara refused.
“No.”
“Go.”
“I can help.”
Matteo looked at her.
Then handed her a pistol.
“Stay behind me.”
Vale appeared on the balcony.
He laughed.
“So this is the woman who has been writing to you.”
Clara froze.
“You knew?”
Vale smiled.
“I read every letter.”
Matteo’s face changed.
Vale held up a bundle.
“All of them.”
He looked at Clara.
“You told the crime lord everything.”
Then he threw the letters down.
They scattered across the floor.
Matteo looked at them.
His private words.
Her private fears.
All exposed.
Vale smiled.
“And now I know exactly what she means to you.”
