“The Gala Comes First,” Mafia Boss Insisted—His Pregnant Wife Cost Him More Than a Vote

Matteo read Daniel's message again.

Rose Mercer had been dead for twelve years.

He remembered the funeral, the black suit that never fit properly, and the gardenias resting on her coffin. He remembered his father refusing to speak about the final hours of her life.

He remembered a nurse telling him that his mother had suffered a sudden cardiac complication.

Now he was being told she might still be alive.

Catherine sat up carefully.

"Call him."

Matteo did.

The phone rang once.

Twice.

Then a man's voice answered.

"Matteo?"

"Daniel, where are you?"

"Somewhere safe. I think."

"Who told you about Rose?"

"An old nurse. Her name is Evelyn Hart. She worked at Saint Catherine's the night I was born."

"Where is she?"

"At a care home outside Asheville. She says she has proof."

Matteo closed his eyes.

"Don't go anywhere. We're coming."

Catherine reached for his hand.

"Wait."

He turned.

"If this is a trap, rushing in without a plan will only give Enzo another opportunity."

Matteo stopped himself.

"You're right."

He looked at Gabriel, who had entered with a security update.

"We need a team we can trust."

Gabriel nodded.

"I'll arrange it."

Catherine leaned back against the pillows.

"Why would Enzo pretend Rose is alive?"

"Because he knows I won't ignore it," Matteo said. "He wants me to make a mistake."

"Then we don't give him one."

They left the hospital only after Dr. Shaw approved the transfer to a private medical facility closer to Asheville. Catherine insisted on accompanying the team, but agreed to remain at a secure location while Matteo and Gabriel met Evelyn.

The care home stood behind a row of old oak trees. Evelyn Hart was eighty-three, frail, and sharp-eyed.

When Matteo entered her room, she began to cry.

"You have your mother's eyes."

"Did you take my brother?"

Evelyn shook her head.

"I helped him escape."

"Escape from whom?"

"Your father. Enzo. Men who believed a baby could be used to settle a business dispute."

She explained that Rose had discovered the plan before Daniel was removed from the hospital. With the help of two nurses, she arranged for the child to be placed with a family outside North Carolina.

Rose had intended to follow.

But someone had threatened Matteo.

"She stayed because they told her they would kill you if she left," Evelyn said.

Matteo's voice broke.

"So she let me believe she was dead?"

"She was forced to disappear. Your father announced her death to keep people from looking for her."

"Where is she?"

Evelyn reached into a drawer and removed a photograph.

It showed Rose standing beside a small house near the coast, older but unmistakably alive.

On the back was an address.

"She has been living under another name," Evelyn said. "She never stopped watching over her sons."

Matteo held the photograph with trembling fingers.

"Why didn't she contact me?"

"She tried once. Your father intercepted the letter."

Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.

"She asked me to tell you something if you ever came here."

Matteo leaned closer.

"What?"

"She said she was sorry she had taught you that love meant enduring pain in silence."

He bowed his head.

For years, he had believed his mother's death had made him strong. In truth, it had made him afraid of abandonment, and he had spent his marriage trying to control every risk except the one he created himself.

Gabriel received a message.

His face tightened.

"Enzo knows we're here."

Matteo stood.

"How?"

A nurse appeared at the doorway, pale and frightened.

"There's a man downstairs asking for Mr. Mercer."

"Who?"

The nurse swallowed.

"He says he's your brother."

Daniel entered the room.

Behind him stood a woman with silver hair and a cane.