Chapter 11

The Lion in the Dark

Matteo.

I stood there in shock.

“What was going to happen now?” I asked myself.

There was no where to run off to. No way for me to lie or make up one story or the other.

His voice was calm at first, I could tell it was only a matter of time before the he taught me a lesson.

The air was tense and cold, the candlelight I held began to flicker.

My heart pounded.

Matteo and I stood in silence for a while.

Our eyes locked on each other.

For someone who had just been caught here she shouldn't be, I was quiet. Maybe it was the right time for me to start pleading for mercy.

I flinched when the bright light from his flashlight hit my face again.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

His voice low and calm yet terrifying as he stepped forward.

"I... I was..." I stammered terribly.

I looked away embarrassed by the intensity of his gaze

"I couldn't sleep."

That was a lame excuse, I knew. But it was better than none and I hoped Matteo would buy it.

But instead, he scoffed.

He failed to fall for my excuse. I was certainly in for it.

He circled around me.

I watched him as he used his eyes to study me.

It was as if he was trying to read my mind and know what to do next.

The tension between us felt physical. I felt cornered and he knew it. I trembled in fear but I didn't want Matteo to notice this.

His eyes traveled down from my head down until it stopped on the file in my hands.

Yes, the one that was labeled Juliet.

He quickly grabbed it from me and proceeded to open it.

When he too a glance at what was inside the file, he paused, looked back up at focused his signt on me.

His eyes had darkened.

"You went through my private records."

I didn't know what to say.

Maybe I should try to defend myself. So I thought and hence, I proceeded to do just that.

"You've been lying to me and I deserve to know the truth now," I said.

I thought he was going to be mad at me, maybe call the guards in too but to my surprise, he wasn't.

He rather had this look of disappointment plastered on his face.

"One word of advice, Isabella. Don't everything you see in this house," he said.

I scoffed.

I knew exactly what he was trying to do.

"Is that your best defense tactic?" I asked.

"You're trying to manipulate me because you've been caught, right?"

"If only you knew the kind of danger you just walked into, Isabella," he said, his voice darkened.

I shivered at the coldness in his voice.

Suddenly, the chandelier above flickered slightly, almost as if the power was about to return.

Matteo leaned towards me and my heart raced.

"Curiosity can destroy you, Isabella," he said, his tone quiet but heavy.

In that moment, our eyes locked. My eyes held fear and confusion but his held control and conflict.

Suddenly, a gust of wind swept through the room, scattering the papers all over the floor. Instinctively, I got on my knees and began to pick them up.

Just then, my candlelight caught a faded photograph on the floor. There was a little boy in the photograph. My gaze lingered on the little boy's familiar face.

For a moment, I thought he looked like Matteo. And then it clicked

It was indeed Matteo as a child. Little Matteo in the photograph was standing beside a woman who looked like... me.

Shockingly.

I turned the photograph over and saw the words scribbled behind it,

"Nora Romano, 1987."

It had the same 'N' as on the brass key.

I turned to look at Matteo for some explanation but he froze when he saw what was in my hands.

"Where did you get that from?" He asked, his voice shaky yet firm.

"Who is she?" I asked, my voice trembling.

His expression changed, as if the usual mask had slipped off his face. For a moment, I could have sworn he looked... sad.

"Drop it now," he whispered.

"You have to tell me who she is first," I answered.

Just then, his expression went cold again and his jaws tightened.

"Trust me, you don't want to know," he said.

My candlelight flickered between us and my reflection on the glass of a framed photo behind him, shivered.

"But I think I already do," I said, my voice barely a whisper.

His gaze lingered on me for a few seconds before he looked away towards the window.

"That's Nora Romano. She was my mother," he said, his voice calmer now.

My breath caught as I listened to him.

"She disappeared when I was twelve. No trace. No letter. Everyone assumed she was dead."

My mind raced. Then I realized something - the resemblance, the key, the locked wing.

I still had questions.

"I have to ask: how does this concern me?" I asked.

Matteo turned to me with darkened eyes and stern expression.

"It does. Because you remind me of her."

I snapped.

"But that's not a reason for you to stalk me."

I continued.

"You had me watched, my pictures taken - like a criminal."

He stepped forward, his eyes darkened and my heart raced in fear as I wondered what his next action would be.

"When someone shows up looking exactly like the ghost of the woman who abandoned you, you don't just ignore it," he said, his voice deep and scary.

A shiver ran down my spine.

"Y... You think I'm her?" I stammered.

His eyes searched mine as I wondered what he was searching for.

"No," he answered.

"But I think you are connected to her somehow and I will find out how."

The air was thick and I could sense all kinds of emotions - anger, confusion, fear - all tangled up between us.

He slowly pulled away.

"You shouldn't have come here. You've just opened something I can't close again," he said quietly.

Suddenly, we were interrupted by voices that echoed from down the hall, indicating that the guards were approaching.

Matteo's head snapped towards me and his expression changed when he saw I was holding another file.

He seemed to recognize the file.

"Give me the file," he said quickly.

But I clutched onto the Carla De Luca file tighter.

"You knew," I whispered.

"She sold me to you, didn't she?"

Matteo didn't say a word yet his silence confirmed everything.