“Pack Your Things,” the Mafia Boss Snarled—By Midnight, His Wife Had Vanished Without a Trace
Chapter 4
Matteo had spent the next four hours tearing through his own organization.
Someone had betrayed him.
The evidence pointed toward his inner circle.
That meant no one was safe.
Not even Lucio.
“Bring everyone into the dining room,” Matteo ordered.
Twenty men stood beneath the chandelier.
No one spoke.
Matteo placed Elena’s ring on the table.
“Someone took my wife.”
Silence.
“Whoever did it has access to my security systems, my vehicles, and my private records.”
A man named Carlo stepped forward.
“Boss, none of us would—”
Matteo raised a hand.
Carlo stopped.
“Everyone will be searched.”
Weapons were removed.
Phones collected.
Documents inspected.
Then Matteo noticed something.
Lucio’s phone was missing.
“Where is yours?”
Lucio frowned.
“My coat.”
“Bring it.”
A guard searched the coat.
Nothing.
Matteo stared at Lucio.
“Your phone.”
“I left it in the car.”
“Why?”
Lucio looked confused.
“I always do.”
Matteo said nothing.
He walked toward the window.
The rain had stopped.
“Check the eastern road again.”
A guard hurried away.
Minutes later, he returned.
“We found tire tracks.”
“Whose?”
“Two vehicles.”
Matteo’s eyes narrowed.
“One belongs to us.”
“Which?”
“The old black sedan.”
Matteo recognized it.
It had been assigned to Gabriel Vieri before his disappearance.
“Gabriel.”
Lucio looked shocked.
“But Gabriel is dead.”
“No.”
Matteo turned.
“He’s very much alive.”
A memory surfaced.
Three years earlier, Gabriel had asked Matteo about Elena’s mother.
Matteo had refused to answer.
At the time, he had thought it was curiosity.
Now he understood.
Gabriel had been searching for the same secret.
Matteo returned to his study.
He opened a hidden compartment behind a bookshelf.
Inside was a photograph.
Elena’s mother.
Her real name was Isabella Rossi.
And beside her stood Robert Belladonna—Matteo’s father.
Matteo had discovered the photograph two years earlier.
He had never shown Elena.
Because Isabella had once been involved with his father.
And because her disappearance was connected to the bloodiest betrayal in Belladonna history.
The ledger.
A book containing names of officials, smugglers, bankers, and politicians who had secretly controlled the city’s criminal trade.
Matteo’s father had planned to expose them.
Before he could, he was murdered.
Isabella vanished.
The ledger disappeared.
Matteo inherited the organization and spent years searching for it.
Then Elena entered his life.
He fell in love with her before learning who her mother was.
By the time he discovered the truth, it was too late.
He couldn’t tell Elena.
Not without putting her directly in danger.
Now Gabriel had her.
Matteo stared at the photograph.
“I should have told you.”
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A woman’s voice whispered:
“Matteo.”
He froze.
“Isabella?”
The line went dead.
