Chapter 15 - The Unseen Board
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Matteo went entirely still. The Moretti family was his biggest rival, the very family suspected of ordering the hit that put him in this wheelchair.
“So, you’re Moretti blood,” Matteo said, his hand slowly sliding off the desk, inching toward the pocket where he kept his weapon. “Did they send you here to finish the job?”
Elena actually laughed—a dry, bitter, humorless sound.
“If I wanted you dead, Mr. Rinaldi, I would have swapped your pain medication for cyanide three weeks ago,” Elena said, crossing her arms. “I hate the Morettis. I despise them for what they did to my father. When I heard you were at war with them, I got a job here. I wanted a front-row seat to watch you destroy them.”
She leaned over the desk, her eyes blazing with an intense, vengeful fire that matched Matteo’s own.
“But then you got shot. And you gave up,” Elena said, disgust lacing her tone. “You were letting them win. I couldn't stand watching it happen again. So I made you stand up. Figuratively speaking.”
Matteo stared at her for a long time. The anger he initially felt faded, replaced by a profound, calculating respect. She wasn't an assassin. She was a weapon, forged in the exact same fires of betrayal that he was currently burning in.
He slowly pulled his hand away from his pocket and picked up his coffee cup.
“Lorenzo is weak, but he’s still connected,” Matteo said, shifting immediately into business. “He’ll try to contact the Morettis tonight to save his own skin. He’ll tell them I’m weak and vulnerable.”
“Then we let him,” Elena said smoothly.
May you like
Matteo raised an eyebrow, genuinely intrigued by her tactical mind. “Let him? Why?”
“Because a trap only works,” Elena said, tapping the heavy financial ledger on the desk, “if the rat believes the cheese is unguarded.”
