Chapter 9 - Mateo’s Secret
Mateo did not speak until they were inside the car.
Adelaide stared through the opposite window.
“Tell me.”
“Not here.”
“Then stop the car.”
“Adelaide.”
“Stop the car.”
The driver glanced into the mirror.
Mateo nodded.
They pulled into a private underground garage.
Security vehicles surrounded them.
Adelaide turned.
“Why did you demand marriage?”
Mateo looked tired.
Not powerful.
Not intimidating.
Just tired.
“When Rockford accepted Moretti money, the contract included a default clause.”
“What kind?”
“Conversion rights.”
Her financial instincts activated.
“Into Jones Financial shares.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Twenty-eight percent.”
Adelaide stared.
“And marriage?”
“Would have permitted family-trust consolidation.”
“How much control?”
“Potentially forty-one percent.”
The betrayal was immediate.
“You weren’t only recovering money.”
“No.”
“You intended to take my father’s company.”
“Yes.”
“And marrying one of his daughters made it easier.”
“Yes.”
Adelaide laughed bitterly.
“Which daughter?”
Mateo’s silence answered.
“You.”
“After I learned who was actually running the internal books.”
“So Kane was right.”
“About that, yes.”
She opened the car door.
Mateo caught it.
“Listen.”
“No.”
“I changed the plan.”
“When?”
“The first night.”
“How romantic.”
“I saw what they had done to you.”
“And suddenly acquiring me became morally uncomfortable?”
His jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
The honesty hurt.
Adelaide stepped out.
Mateo followed.
“I never intended to force you.”
“You intended to use me.”
“At first.”
“You researched me.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my work.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my family hated me.”
His expression changed.
“Not until later.”
“But you still let them send me.”
“I wanted to see what Rockford would do.”
“You keep saying that as if I wasn’t the thing being tested.”
Mateo had no answer.
Adelaide felt stupid.
Not because she loved him.
Because she had started believing he saw her differently from everyone else.
Maybe he did.
Eventually.
But first he saw leverage.
“I want to leave.”
“No.”
She laughed.
“There he is.”
“That isn't what I mean.”
“It sounded exactly like it.”
“Kane knows you have evidence.”
“I know.”
“You can’t return home.”
“I don’t have a home.”
That sentence silenced him.
Adelaide looked away before he saw tears.
“I need somewhere that isn’t yours.”
Mateo made one phone call.
Maya Moretti.
His widowed aunt.
No organizational ties.
A farmhouse outside Concord.
Safe.
Private.
Adelaide left that evening.
Mateo did not try to stop her.
That almost made it worse.
Three days passed.
She worked.
Because numbers were easier than feelings.
Chloe joined her on the second day.
“Are you hiding from your mafia boyfriend?”
“He isn’t my boyfriend.”
“Your mafia emotional complication?”
“Closer.”
Chloe sat beside her.
“You love him.”
Adelaide almost dropped the pen.
“That is wildly inappropriate.”
“So yes.”
“No.”
“Your face did a thing.”
“My face always does things.”
Chloe winced.
“Sorry.”
Adelaide looked at her.
“For what?”
“Everything.”
This apology felt different.
Chloe continued.
“I spent years thinking if I could make you feel ugly, I’d feel secure.”
Adelaide said nothing.
“It didn’t work.”
“No.”
“It made me uglier.”
Adelaide looked toward her sister.
“That’s dramatic.”
“I’m growing.”
Despite herself, Adelaide laughed.
Then Chloe became serious.
“Mom called me.”
“What?”
“From jail?”
“Through her lawyer.”
“What did she say?”
“She wants to meet.”
“Why?”
“She says she has proof Kane killed Mom.”
Adelaide froze.
“It could be manipulation.”
“Obviously.”
“Then why tell me?”
“Because she said there’s another person involved.”
“Who?”
Chloe hesitated.
“Rockford.”
Adelaide’s heart sank.
Their father.
Again.
Always weaker than she needed him to be.
They arranged a monitored attorney meeting.
Evelyn looked terrible.
Adelaide was glad.
“You found Kane,” Evelyn said.
“Yes.”
“He’ll kill you.”
“You tried first.”
“That shot was not meant for you.”
“It was pointed directly at me.”
“I needed Mateo to move.”
Adelaide stared.
“You knew he would protect me.”
“I suspected.”
Something strange passed through Evelyn’s eyes.
“Men always want to rescue damaged women.”
Adelaide almost laughed.
“You really never understood him.”
“Neither do you.”
“Maybe.”
Evelyn leaned closer.
“Kane ordered your mother’s car sabotaged.”
“Proof.”
“Rockford knows.”
Adelaide’s breath caught.
“What?”
“He knew the brakes were cut.”
“When?”
“After the funeral.”
“And did nothing?”
“He took money.”
Chloe began crying.
Adelaide could barely speak.
“How much?”
“Two million.”
“To stay quiet?”
“Yes.”
Their father had sold Rebecca’s death.
Evelyn smiled faintly.
“Now you understand your family.”
Adelaide stood.
But Evelyn continued.
“There’s more.”
Adelaide turned.
“Your father didn’t spend that money.”
“Then where did it go?”
“He created a trust.”
“For whom?”
Evelyn looked directly at her.
“You.”
Adelaide stopped.
“No.”
“He knew he was a coward. He thought money might someday compensate.”
Evelyn laughed.
“It usually does in your world.”
Adelaide left shaking.
She called Rockford.
For the first time in her life, he answered immediately.
“Addie.”
“Did you know?”
Silence.
That was enough.
“Did you know someone killed Mom?”
“Yes.”
The word broke something permanent.
“Why didn’t you tell the police?”
“They threatened you.”
Adelaide stopped.
“What?”
“You.”
Rockford was crying now.
“They sent photographs of you at school. At the hospital. Sleeping in your bedroom.”
Her anger shifted.
“You took their money.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if I went to the police, they said you would die.”
“Then why marry Evelyn?”
“I didn’t know she was part of it.”
“Did you ever love her?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“She knew about the payment. She threatened to expose me.”
Everything became clearer.
Not better.
Just clearer.
Rockford had spent fifteen years surrendering one choice at a time.
And every surrender trapped him deeper.
“Adelaide,” he whispered, “I am so sorry.”
She closed her eyes.
“I know.”
“Can you forgive me?”
“No.”
The truth surprised both of them.
“Maybe someday,” Adelaide said. “But not because you’re sorry.”
She ended the call.
Outside the window, headlights appeared on the long farm road.
Black SUV.
Chloe stood.
“Are we expecting someone?”
“No.”
Adelaide’s pulse changed.
The SUV stopped.
Three men stepped out.
None were Moretti security.
One raised a weapon.
Chloe whispered, “Adelaide…”
May you like
The farmhouse lights went out.
And this time Mateo was not there to step in front of her.
