MATEOClara was gone. Her phone, off. Her car, abandoned. Her scent still lingered in our bedroom like a cruel memory.I hadn’t heard from her in over twelve hours.And every second that passed was a second I could not get back.“Still no movement on street cams around where the car was found,” Dominic said, pacing beside me. “The vehicle was clean. No prints. Whoever took her knew what they were doing.”The moment I got the call, I mobilized Bruno and Dominic and we were currently at our safe house. Only a handful if people knew about this location but it was our main operation centre. It was also the location that had the most weapons, most especially our last weapon shipment.The only thing on my mind now was getting Clara back and making whoever made the mistake of taking her wish they were never born.Bruno entered, carrying a folder. “I’ve got something.”I turned to him, every muscle tense. “What is it?” I asked.He handed me a photo of a soldier. Stocky, buzzcut, a quiet face
MATEOThere are things you can't unsee.Like the glint of a rosary that should never have left your neck. The one that’s been missing for months, a family heirloom, a symbol, a legacy. A piece of myself I thought lost forever.And yet, there it was among Clara’s things.I hadn’t spoken a word. I couldn’t. My voice had dried up somewhere between disbelief and devastation after Clara explained things to me. I don’t even remember walking out of the room, only the weight of betrayal pressing against my chest, thick and unforgiving.The drive to the office was quiet as I went over everything that happened in my head over and over again. If I could turn back the hands of time, I wondered if I would have wanted to know but then I realized that there was no use worrying about something that's already happened.The good thing that's come out of this was finding out that Alessandro was my biological son but I had already thought of him as mine from the moment I first laid eyes on him. But the
CLARAI couldn’t sleep.The sheets felt like chains. The walls felt too close. And Mateo’s silence that unbearable, cutting silence echoed louder than any words ever could.I had rehearsed so many versions of that moment in my head, the moment when he’d find out about the rosary. But I never imagined it happening the way it did. I never expected the look on his face, not rage, not heartbreak, but something far worse... betrayal.After all we'd been through, hiding something like this from him was huge so I couldn’t even blame him for how he reacted.That rosary had been a secret I buried so deep within me, I almost convinced myself it didn’t matter anymore. I thought the past was just that, the past. But now, it was here, clawing at the present, tearing at the foundation we’d barely begun to build.I needed to breathe. To get out of the house. To see someone who could bring me back to myself, even for a little while, so I texted Lucaa asking her to meet for coffee.It was a bit early
Mateo There are moments in life that change things. Moments that shift the ground beneath your feet so subtly that you don’t even realize something has changed until it’s too late to go back. Tonight, I wasn’t expecting anything more than a quiet evening with Clara. She’d gone to take a bath, and I was left alone in the room, sprawled on the bed, scrolling through some intel Bruno had sent over. The flickering light from the bedside lamp cast soft shadows across the room, and for once, I allowed myself to relax. It was rare, this sense of peace. Even rarer was the warmth that filled my chest every time Clara looked at me like I was more than the broken man I’d become over the years. We’d come a long way. The walls I had built around myself were slowly being torn down by her love, her patience. And I let her. I let her in. As I leaned forward to plug my phone into the charger, my hand accidentally brushed a velvet pouch tucked beneath the bed. I froze. It hadn’t been there before,
ClaraI wasn’t expecting a quiet night. Not with everything happening around us, the ambushed shipment, the constant tension humming in the air like a warning, and the ever-present shadow of Renzetti waiting for a slip. Yes, Mateo has been telling me about his work. But when I got home that evening, everything felt… different.I had a spa day with Lucaa and Lily while Mateo's mom agreed to take Ale for the day and from her last text. I could confirm that he was peacefully asleep in her bedroom. Lily also decided to go back to her apartment.The usual low buzz of voices and security movement was absent. The house was silent, warm, dimly lit. Soft golden candlelight flickered against the walls, and the air smelled faintly of roasted garlic and something else, maybe thyme. My heels clicked against the marble as I stepped further into the living room, pausing in surprise.Mateo stood by the dining table, wearing a black button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and two glasses of red w
MATEOThe knock came just as I was pouring over the morning reports. I already knew who it was.“Come in,” I called out without looking up.Bruno entered, looking calm but purposeful, shutting the door behind him. His expression told me everything I needed to know before he even said a word.“We’ve got a problem,” he said.I gestured to the seat across from my desk. “Is it the northside shipment?” I asked.He nodded as he sat. “We got ambushed.”My jaw tightened. “Were there any casualties?”“None. Drivers are okay. Some minor injuries. Cargo’s mostly intact. We recovered eighty percent. The rest was either damaged or taken before we got there,” Bruno explained.I leaned back slowly. “Eighty percent isn’t bad. But that’s not what’s bothering you so you might as well spit it out because I'm kind of thinking the same thing too,” I told him.He gave a grim smile before he said, “You’re right. The route was changed less than two hours before the trucks rolled out. Only a handful of people
DOMINICI’ve faced death more times than I can count.I’ve taken punches, bullets, and more hits to the head than any sane man should have survived, but nothing has ever made my hands shake quite like walking up to Lucaa’s door.I stood there for a full minute, fists clenched at my sides like that might stop the internal war I was fighting. My heart was a damned traitor, beating too loud for my liking. Mateo’s words rang in my ears like a challenge I didn’t want to accept but knew I needed to.“People change all the time… unless you don’t really like her the way Clara seems to think you do.”Honestly, fuck him for ever insinuating that my feelings for Lucaa were superficial when they were anything but that. Now I wanted to prove him wrong more than anything, but I would be lying if I said this was solely for Mateo’s benefit.The truth was, I’d never stopped liking her. Hell, liking wasn’t even the word. I loved Lucaa. Still did. The kind of love that crept under your skin, embedded it
MATEO“You’ve been smiling a lot lately. Care to tell me what’s got you so happy because last I checked, Renzetti was still alive and well,” Dominic said.We had just finished a meeting, and instead of getting out of my office, he was prying into my personal life, which was on brand for him.“I don’t remember it being any of your business, and last I checked, the fact that Renzetti is still alive doesn’t mean I had to be miserable about it,” I replied.“No, it doesn’t but I’ve known you for years, and you’ve smiled more in the last few days than I’ve ever seen you do. Which tells me that something has changed, and I think I have an idea as to what it is,” Dominic added.“Yeah? Why don’t you tell me since you now seem to be aware of everything going on in my life?” I demanded.“Being your usual self isn’t going to make me switch the subject, Mateo. I’m your friend first, and I’m glad you finally took my advice and told Clara how you feel,” he said, and I stared at him in surprise.“How
CLARA“You better not be messing with me,” Lucaa warned.“I promise I’m not,” I responded.We were at our favorite bistro and had placed an order for some burgers and fries. Since we were waiting for our food, I told her about what had been going on between Mateo and me.“Swear that you’re telling the truth,” she demanded.“Come on, Lucaa. You’ve known me for most of my life. Do you think I would lie to you about something like this?”She thought about it for a moment before she said, “No, you won’t.”Then, her face transformed into a bright smile. "It's about time! Gosh, this is amazing news!" she exclaimed excitedly.“Wait, you’re not mad I didn’t tell you earlier?”She looked at me like I was crazy. “Should I be?”“I guess not.”“I’m definitely not mad. In fact, I appreciate you waiting to tell me in person, and this isn’t about me, remember? This is about you finally fighting for the happiness you deserve,” she said.“Thank you so much, Lucaa. I honestly wouldn’t have had the cour