Chapter 6 - MY MOTHER REMEMBERED EVERYTHING
I had imagined seeing my mother again every night since finding the photograph.
I never imagined the reunion would happen with Lorenzo controlling the door.
He wanted me at the mansion.
Alone.
Luca wanted to come.
“No.”
“You’re not walking into that house without me.”
“That’s exactly what I’m doing.”
“He kept me prisoner for eleven years.”
“And if he sees you, Mother becomes leverage.”
“She already is.”
I grabbed Luca’s shoulder.
“Then don’t give him two hostages.”
His jaw clenched.
“You sound like Father.”
That stopped me.
I lowered my hand.
“Maybe.”
The word tasted bitter.
Then I added, “Difference is, I’m telling you the truth.”
Luca stared at me.
Finally he nodded.
“One hour.”
“What?”
“If I don’t hear from you in one hour, I’m coming.”
I didn’t argue.
Beatrice stood near the window.
“Mr. Vale.”
“Matteo.”
She looked surprised.
“If we’re rebuilding this family from ruins, you can probably use my first name.”
Her eyes softened.
“Matteo… be careful.”
“I will.”
“And don’t underestimate him because you loved him.”
I stared at her.
She understood the real danger.
Hatred was easy.
Love distorted judgment.
The Vale mansion rose above Lake Michigan behind iron gates my grandfather had installed in 1968.
I entered through the front door.
No guards stopped me.
That bothered me more than an army would have.
Lorenzo wanted me comfortable.
He waited in the dining room.
My chair was empty.
He sat to its right.
His usual place.
A glass of wine stood before him.
“Matteo.”
He smiled.
“You look remarkably healthy.”
I remained standing.
“Where is she?”
“You don’t want to ask how I fooled everyone?”
“No.”
“That hurts.”
“Where is my mother?”
Lorenzo studied me.
“You know, when we were kids, you always ruined surprises.”
“We weren’t kids.”
His smile faded slightly.
“No. I suppose we weren’t.”
He gestured.
“Sit.”
I didn’t.
“Still dramatic.”
“Still lying.”
That landed.
He drank.
“I gave you everything.”
“You stole everything.”
“No.”
He leaned back.
“I made you.”
I thought of the file.
Controlled grief.
“You murdered people I loved.”
“I removed obstacles.”
“My brother was an obstacle?”
“To you? Absolutely.”
“You told him I ordered his imprisonment.”
Lorenzo’s eyes sharpened.
“So Luca really is alive.”
I cursed myself.
He had suspected.
Now I had confirmed.
He smiled again.
“Thank you.”
I crossed the distance between us.
“Where is my mother?”
“Upstairs.”
I stopped.
He laughed.
“You expected a warehouse?”
“Show me.”
He stood.
We climbed the main staircase.
Portraits of dead Vales watched us.
Except now I wondered how many had truly died when we said they had.
My mother sat in the morning room.
A nurse stood beside her.
When I entered, Isabella Vale looked up.
For one terrible second, there was no recognition.
Then her lips parted.
“Matteo?”
I became sixteen again.
Every wall inside me collapsed.
“Mom.”
She stood.
Slowly.
I crossed the room.
She touched my face with both hands.
“Oh, my baby.”
No one had called me that in twenty years.
I held her.
Everything disappeared.
The empire.
Lorenzo.
My father.
The lies.
I smelled lavender.
She had always worn lavender.
I cried into my mother’s shoulder like a boy.
I didn’t care who saw.
She pulled back.
“You got old.”
A laugh escaped me.
“So did you.”
“I had a head start.”
I laughed again through tears.
Then she looked behind me.
Her expression hardened.
Lorenzo stood in the doorway.
“You.”
He nodded politely.
“Aunt Isabella.”
She slapped him.
Hard.
The nurse gasped.
I almost smiled.
Lorenzo touched his cheek.
“That seems unnecessary.”
“You have your father’s eyes.”
“I’ve been told.”
“Carlo was a coward.”
His expression changed.
“And Dominic wasn’t?”
My mother looked at me.
“Your father is alive.”
“I know.”
Shock crossed her face.
“You’ve seen him?”
“This morning.”
Her knees weakened.
I caught her.
“He found you?”
“No.”
“Then how—”
“Patrick Gallagher.”
She closed her eyes.
“That good man.”
“You knew Patrick?”
“He helped me.”
I looked at Beatrice’s husband differently with every new revelation.
“Mom, what happened?”
She looked at Lorenzo.
“Can we speak alone?”
Lorenzo smiled.
“No.”
My mother’s eyes turned cold.
“You were an unpleasant child too.”
His smile vanished.
That was my mother.
Still there.
Isabella sat.
“Carlo discovered I had copied his files. Dominic refused to expose him because too many Vale businesses would collapse.”
Lorenzo sighed.
“We know this part.”
She ignored him.
“Carlo arranged my disappearance. At first Dominic knew. Then Carlo changed the plan.”
“He imprisoned you?”
“Not exactly.”
Her face tightened.
“He convinced everyone around me that I was mentally unstable.”
Luca’s story.
A patient without family.
“Medication,” she whispered. “Doctors. New names. Every time I convinced someone of who I was, I was moved.”
My fists clenched.
“For twenty years?”
“Not all of them. I escaped twice.”
“What happened?”
“The first time, police returned me.”
Lorenzo laughed softly.
My mother glared.
“The second time, Patrick found me.”
Hope entered her face.
“He believed me.”
“Why didn’t he get you out?”
“He was trying.”
She looked down.
“Then someone discovered us.”
“Lorenzo.”
She nodded.
“I was moved before Patrick could return.”
Lorenzo clapped slowly.
“A touching reunion.”
I turned.
“What do you want?”
“There he is.”
“Answer.”
He walked to the window.
“I want what was always supposed to be mine.”
“The chair?”
He smiled.
“No.”
That surprised me.
“I could have taken your position years ago.”
“You’re taking it now.”
“I’m borrowing it.”
“For what?”
“The Vale Trust.”
Nadia had been right.
“Why?”
He looked toward my mother.
“Because Isabella hid something before Carlo took her.”
My mother’s face revealed enough.
Lorenzo saw it.
“There.”
He smiled.
“That expression.”
“What did she hide?”
Lorenzo looked at me.
“The original Vale ledgers.”
I frowned.
“Our financial books?”
“Not finances.”
Isabella spoke quietly.
“Names.”
Lorenzo’s smile disappeared.
My mother continued.
“Judges. Police officers. Businessmen. Politicians. Anyone Carlo bribed or threatened.”
I stared.
“What would that do?”
“Destroy half the protection Lorenzo inherited.”
Lorenzo turned toward her.
“Where are they?”
She smiled.
“I spent twenty years forgetting my own name before I gave you that answer.”
He stepped toward her.
I stepped between them.
“Don’t.”
Something changed in his eyes.
For the first time, Lorenzo Vale looked at me without pretending affection.
“You think finding Luca and your mother suddenly makes you strong?”
“No.”
I moved closer.
“I think realizing what you are makes you weak.”
He smiled.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message from Luca.
39 minutes.
Lorenzo glanced at the screen.
“You brought him, didn’t you?”
“No.”
“Matteo, you were always terrible at lying.”
He walked to the door.
“Take your mother.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Go.”
“You kidnapped her to let her leave?”
“I needed confirmation.”
“Of what?”
“That Luca reached you.”
My stomach dropped.
He smiled.
“And that Dominic is alive.”
Cold moved through me.
I had told my mother.
Lorenzo had been listening.
He already suspected the Lake Geneva house.
Now he knew.
I grabbed my phone.
Lorenzo laughed.
“You really should answer him.”
I called Luca.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then Beatrice answered his phone.
She was crying.
“Matteo.”
“What happened?”
“He went outside.”
“Why?”
“He got a message from you.”
I looked at Lorenzo.
His smile told me everything.
“What message?”
“That you were in trouble.”
“Where is Luca?”
“I don’t know.”
I moved toward Lorenzo.
“What did you do?”
He shrugged.
“Nothing you haven’t done for me a hundred times.”
My chest tightened.
“What does that mean?”
“I showed him a threat.”
His smile became almost gentle.
“And he reacted.”
The same way I always had.
May you like
Lorenzo had spent twelve years controlling me with fear.
Now he had just used the same trick on my brother.
