Chapter 6
I read Matteo’s note alone in my study.
Then again.
Then a third time.
Become better than us.
My dead brother always knew where to cut.
Rafael stood by the door.
“Boss, the key belongs to a private bank downtown.”
“How do you know?”
“Matteo used the same branch before he died.”
I looked up.
“You knew?”
“I knew he kept something there. Not what.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Rafael’s face tightened.
“Because after Matteo died, you ordered us to stop saying his name.”
That was true.
I had turned grief into law.
No one spoke of Matteo.
No one spoke of my wife.
No one spoke of the baby we lost.
Silence became obedience.
Obedience became rot.
I put the key into my pocket.
“We go tonight.”
“The bank is closed.”
“Banks open for men they fear.”
Rafael did not argue.
Before leaving, I went to the guest room where Lena and Mia had been placed.
Mia sat on the bed, coloring.
Lena stood when I entered.
“She should sleep.”
“She asked for me.”
Mia held up a drawing.
Three stick figures.
Her.
Her mother.
Me.
Above us was a huge red heart.
“Tomorrow is my show,” she said.
“I remember.”
“Are you still my daddy for one day?”
Lena closed her eyes.
I looked at the drawing.
Then at the child my brother never got to raise.
“Yes.”
Mia smiled.
“Good. You need a tie.”
“I own many.”
“Not scary black.”
I looked down at my suit.
Fair.
“I’ll find one.”
Lena followed me into the hall.
“You don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I do.”
“No. You feel guilty. That is different.”
I turned.
She was brave when angry.
I liked that.
“I am guilty,” I said. “And I am responsible. Tonight, they are walking in the same direction.”
Her expression softened.
“Matteo loved you.”
“He hid his child from me.”
“He feared what your world would do to her.”
“And he was right.”
Neither of us spoke after that.
At the bank, the manager opened the vault with trembling hands.
The box was small.
Inside was a drive, a stack of documents, and a photo of Matteo holding newborn Mia.
On the back, he had written:
May you like
My daughter is not the secret.
The secret is why they wanted her unborn.
