Chapter Eleven: Matteo’s Truth
Matteo did not deny it.
That was his first useful act.
He lay in the estate recovery room, pale from Vesper-9 and alive because Skylar had refused to let him die. His wrist was bandaged. His eyes were hollow.
Dominic sat beside the bed.
Skylar stood near the window.
A guard waited at the door.
No one pretended this was mercy.
Matteo looked at Dominic first.
Then Skylar.
“You should have let me die.”
Skylar crossed her arms.
“I hear that often.”
His mouth twisted.
Dominic said nothing.
That silence frightened Matteo more than violence.
“How long?” Dominic asked.
Matteo closed his eyes.
“Six years.”
Skylar’s stomach tightened.
Before the apartment.
Before Carmela’s decline.
Before everything.
“Why?” Dominic asked.
“My sister.”
Dominic’s gaze sharpened.
“Isabella.”
Matteo nodded.
“Lorenzo took her in Montreal. Sent a finger with her ring. Said the next package would be her face.”
Skylar watched Dominic absorb it.
Sympathy tried to enter the room.
Guilt blocked it.
“You poisoned my mother,” Dominic said.
Matteo flinched.
“I slowed her.”
Skylar’s voice cut through.
“You poisoned her.”
He looked at her.
“Say it correctly.”
Matteo swallowed.
“I poisoned her.”
Good.
Words mattered.
“I opened staff files,” Matteo continued. “Medication access. Security clearances. The east tunnel. I helped Elaine’s temporary aide file pass because I wanted to know why Lorenzo suddenly cared about a maid.”
Skylar’s fingers tightened.
“You knew who I was.”
“Yes.”
“How early?”
“The first day.”
Dominic’s hand closed around the cane.
Matteo looked at him.
“I planted the narcotics records five years ago.”
The room went colder.
Skylar did not move.
She had imagined many faces behind that act.
Not this one.
Dominic stood.
Skylar stepped between them.
“No.”
“He destroyed you.”
“So did you.”
Dominic stopped.
The words did not shout.
They did worse.
They stayed.
Matteo wept silently.
“I am sorry.”
Skylar looked at him.
Sorry was too small.
Sorry was a bandage over rot.
“Where is Isabella?”
“I do not know.”
She turned to Dominic.
“Find her.”
“He does not deserve that.”
“No.”
Skylar’s voice was hard.
“She does.”
Dominic looked at her for a long moment.
Then nodded to the guard.
“Find Isabella.”
The guard left.
Matteo covered his face.
Skylar stepped closer.
“You will testify.”
His eyes opened.
“What?”
“To the medical board. To federal investigators. To every court required.”
“That kills me.”
“Maybe.”
Dominic watched her.
“You will not get a clean death,” Skylar said. “You will undo what you did while living with it.”
Matteo looked at Dominic.
Dominic’s eyes stayed on Skylar.
Then he nodded.
“So ordered.”
Matteo began to cry again.
Skylar left before pity could make her stupid.
Dominic followed her into the hall.
He did not touch her.
Good.
Under his father’s portrait, she stopped.
“Was there ever a room in this house without a lie?”
Dominic looked around.
“No.”
“Then make one.”
His face tightened.
“For Carmela?”
“For everyone.”
His eyes lowered.
“She may hate me.”
“She gets to choose.”
There it was again.
The word he had stolen.
The word he now had to serve.
