“Delete My Number,” She Said—Then Six Men Stepped Aside for the Crime Lord She’d Been Secretly Writing To
Chapter 7
The escape was violent.
Matteo fought through the guards while Clara and Eleanor ran toward the river.
They reached a waiting boat.
Then Clara heard a shot.
She turned.
Matteo was standing alone on the warehouse steps.
Vale held a pistol.
“Come back,” Vale called.
Matteo looked toward Clara.
“Go!”
She refused.
“Matteo!”
Another shot.
He fell to one knee.
Clara screamed.
But Matteo rose again.
He had been hit in the shoulder.
He fired once.
Vale disappeared behind the warehouse wall.
Matteo reached the boat.
They pushed away from shore.
Only after they were safely downstream did Clara examine his wound.
“You could have died.”
“I didn’t.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
He looked at her.
“You asked me to protect you.”
“I didn’t ask you to die.”
His expression softened.
“I know.”
Eleanor watched them silently.
Later, when Matteo slept, she spoke to Clara.
“You love him.”
Clara looked away.
“I barely know him.”
“You knew him through his letters.”
“He lied about who he was.”
“He didn’t lie about who he was inside.”
Clara stared at the sleeping man.
Eleanor smiled sadly.
“That is rare.”
Clara touched the bundle of letters.
“Why did Vale read them?”
“Because he wanted to know what could control you.”
Clara frowned.
“And did he?”
“No.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“He made one mistake.”
“What?”
“He assumed love makes people weak.”
