Chapter 4 - The Secret Passage
Matteo ordered the entire house locked down.
No one was allowed through the gates.
No employee could leave.
Every guard searched the grounds while Henry tried to calm the staff, who were pretending not to panic.
I found the boys in the game room, unusually quiet.
Rosie sat between Nico and Asher on the floor, drawing pictures with colored pencils. Leo paced near the window.
“Where is the tunnel?” I asked.
Three identical faces looked up at me.
“You’re going to tell Dad?” Leo demanded.
“Your dad already knows it exists.”
“He doesn’t know where it is.”
“Then maybe you should tell him.”
Asher shook his head. “Mom said it was our secret.”
The room went still.
I sat on the rug beside them.
“What did your mom say about it?”
Nico looked down at his hands.
“She said if she ever had to leave fast, she’d use the tunnel.”
“Why would she need to leave fast?”
The boys exchanged looks.
Leo whispered, “Because Dad was mad.”
My stomach tightened.
“Mad at her?”
“He was mad at everyone,” Asher said. “There were men in the house. They yelled. Mom cried.”
Nico’s voice was barely audible. “Then she said she loved us. She said she would come back.”
Rosie reached for Nico’s hand.
He looked startled but didn’t pull away.
“Did she use the tunnel that night?” I asked.
Leo nodded.
“Did you see where she went?”
“We followed her,” Asher said. “But she told us to go back.”
“Did you see anyone else?”
The boys grew silent again.
Then Nico said, “Uncle Victor.”
I stared at him.
“Matteo has a brother?”
“Not really,” Leo said. “Dad says he doesn’t.”
“He was Dad’s brother,” Asher explained. “But Dad hates him.”
Before I could ask more, Matteo entered.
The boys immediately became tense.
He looked at them, then at me.
“Dante found the passage entrance,” he said. “It is sealed behind the old wine cellar.”
“Your sons say Elena used it the night she disappeared.”
Matteo’s face darkened.
“I know.”
“You knew?”
“I knew the passage existed. I did not know she used it.”
“Then she may not be dead.”
His eyes flashed with anger.
“Do not say that in front of them.”
“Why? Because you’re afraid to hope, or because you’re afraid they’ll ask questions you can’t answer?”
The boys stared at us.
Matteo took one step closer.
“Clare.”
“No. You hired me to care for your children. They are grieving a mother they may not have lost. I need the truth.”
For several seconds, he looked like he might throw me out.
Then he said, “Victor Ricci was my younger brother.”
“Where is he?”
“Gone.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It is the only one you get.”
He turned toward the boys.
“Get your coats. You’re staying in the security wing tonight.”
Leo’s eyes widened. “Are we in danger?”
Matteo knelt in front of them.
For the first time, his voice softened.
“No one is going to hurt you.”
“Did Mom leave because of you?” Nico asked.
Matteo froze.
The question landed like a bullet.
I watched him struggle to answer.
Finally, he said, “Your mother left because there were things happening that she wanted to protect you from.”
“That means yes,” Asher said.
Matteo looked away.
Then the lights went out.
The mansion fell into darkness.
A second later, every alarm began to scream.
And from the basement, Dante’s voice came through Matteo’s radio.
“Boss.”
Static crackled.
Then one sentence.
May you like
“We found blood in the tunnel.”
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