“Pack Your Things,” the Mafia Boss Snarled—By Midnight, His Wife Had Vanished Without a Trace
Chapter 1
“Pack your things.”
The words struck Elena Moretti harder than the glass he had just slammed onto the table.
Matteo Belladonna stood across the dining room, his black suit still carrying the smell of rain and gunpowder from the night outside. His jaw was tight. His eyes were colder than she had ever seen them.
Elena stared at him.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
The mansion was silent around them.
For two years, Elena had learned how to read Matteo’s silences. She knew when a meeting had gone badly by the way he loosened his cufflinks. She knew when someone had betrayed him by the way his left hand curled slowly into a fist.
Tonight, both hands were trembling.
“Where am I supposed to go?” she asked.
“Anywhere.”
Her throat tightened.
“Why?”
Matteo looked away.
“Because if you’re here when they come, you’ll die.”
Elena froze.
“Who?”
He didn’t answer.
She stepped closer.
“You’re frightening me.”
“I know.”
“And you’re telling me to leave without explaining anything?”
“Yes.”
She stared at him.
“After everything?”
His expression cracked for half a second.
Then it vanished.
“Pack your things, Elena.”
She turned toward the stairs.
Not because she intended to obey him.
Because she needed to understand.
She reached their bedroom and pulled open the wardrobe.
Her hands moved automatically, gathering dresses, coats, documents.
Then she noticed something strange.
One drawer was already empty.
Elena frowned.
She opened another.
Her jewelry was gone.
So were her passport and the envelope containing her mother’s letters.
Someone had packed her belongings before Matteo ordered her to leave.
She heard footsteps behind her.
She turned.
Matteo stood in the doorway.
“Who packed these?”
He didn’t answer.
“Matteo.”
His eyes lowered.
“I did.”
“You knew this was coming.”
“Yes.”
“Then why pretend this is happening tonight?”
He stepped toward her.
“Because tonight is the only night you can still escape.”
Elena’s eyes filled with tears.
“Escape from whom?”
Matteo reached into his jacket and placed a small silver key on the dresser.
“If I don’t return by midnight, use this.”
“What does it open?”
He looked at her for a long moment.
“The truth.”
Then he walked away.
Elena waited.
The front doors slammed downstairs.
She ran to the window.
Matteo’s black car disappeared through the gates.
At 11:47 p.m., Elena was still waiting.
At 11:58, she heard footsteps outside.
At midnight, the mansion went dark.
And when the lights returned—
Elena Moretti was gone.
