Chapter 2 - THE SILVER WATCH
The silence in the dining room was absolute.
Every guest at the long table had stopped breathing.
The security officer’s words hung in the air, heavy and inescapable.
Someone inside your house has been sending your enemies information for months.
Matteo didn’t shout. He didn’t reach for a weapon. He simply sat perfectly still, his dark eyes locked on the man who had stood by his side for fifteen years.
Vincent Cole.
The advisor. The protector. The traitor.
Vincent’s face remained a mask of polite confusion, but I saw what Matteo saw. A microscopic tightening of his jaw. The way his left hand flattened against the mahogany table.
"Matteo," Vincent said, his voice smooth, reasonable. "You can’t possibly believe this. A glitch in the old system. A maid with a wild imagination. It’s a setup."
"A setup," Matteo repeated quietly.
"Of course. Someone is trying to divide us from the inside." Vincent gestured toward the screen. "Look at the footage again. She’s the one hiding a device. She’s the one who was caught creeping around your office in the middle of the night. If there’s a rat in this house, you’re looking at her."
Every eye in the room turned to me.
My heart hammered against my ribs. I was a maid. A nobody. In their world, I was completely expendable. It would be so easy for Matteo to believe him. To dispose of me and solve the immediate problem.
But Matteo didn’t look at me.
He kept his gaze fixed on Vincent.
"She is a maid, Vincent. She cleans floors. She serves wine." Matteo leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "She doesn't know the shipping routes. She doesn't know the warehouse codes. She doesn't know the exact time my daughter leaves for school. But you do."
Vincent’s polite smile faltered.
"I have given my life to this family," Vincent said, his voice tightening.
"And apparently, you decided it was time to cash out," Matteo replied. He turned to the security officer. "Detain him. In the lower cellar. Now."
Three guards stepped forward.
For a second, I thought Vincent would fight. I saw his shoulders bunch, his eyes dart toward the nearest exit. But he was surrounded. He slowly raised his hands, stepping away from the table.
"You’re making a mistake, Matteo," Vincent said, his voice dropping its friendly facade, revealing something cold and sharp underneath. "You don't know the whole board. You don't know what you're stepping into."
"I know enough to remove the snake from my dining room," Matteo said. "Take him."
As the guards pulled Vincent away, he locked eyes with me.
There was no fear in his expression. Only a chilling, terrifying promise.
When the doors closed, the remaining guests sat in stunned silence. Matteo dismissed them with a single wave of his hand. Within two minutes, the grand dining room was empty.
Except for me. And Matteo.
I stood frozen, clutching the empty silver tray against my chest like a shield. My ear throbbed, a sharp, stabbing pain radiating down my neck.
Matteo slowly stood up and walked toward me.
I backed up until my shoulders hit the wall.
"Where is it?" he asked.
His voice wasn't cruel. It was purely transactional.
"Where is what?" I whispered.
"The recording device. The video showed you hiding it in your apron, but it’s not in your apron now. You moved it."
I swallowed hard. "If I tell you... what happens to me?"
"You live," Matteo said simply. "Which is more than I can say if whoever Vincent is working for finds you first. Where did you hide it, Lily?"
I had to trust him. I had no other choice.
"The library," I said, my voice shaking. "Third floor. Section four. Behind the encyclopedia collection. I shoved it behind the books the morning after I was attacked."
Matteo nodded once. "Show me."
We walked through the silent, dimly lit halls of the estate. The mansion felt different now. The shadows seemed deeper. Every corner felt like a threat.
We entered the massive, two-story library. It smelled of old paper and leather.
"Show me," Matteo repeated.
I walked over to the heavy oak shelves. Section four. My hands were trembling as I reached behind the thick, leather-bound encyclopedias. I felt around in the dark space against the back panel.
My fingers brushed against metal.
Relief washed over me. "I found it."
I pulled my hand out.
But it wasn't the small, black plastic recording device.
It was silver. Heavy. Attached to a broken chain.
I stared at it in my palm.
Matteo stepped closer, his breathing suddenly stopping.
It was a silver pocket watch. Engraved with a deeply intricate crest.
"Where did you get that?" Matteo’s voice was barely a whisper, but the intensity in it made me flinch.
"I... I didn't. This wasn't here. I hid the recorder right here, I swear!"
Matteo snatched the watch from my hand. His fingers traced the engraving, his eyes wide with a shock I hadn't seen him display all night. The calm, untouchable mafia boss was suddenly trembling.
"This is impossible," he muttered.
"What is it?" I asked, terrified by the look on his face.
May you like
He looked up at me, his dark eyes filled with a terrifying realization.
"This watch belonged to my father," Matteo said slowly. "It was buried with him three years ago."
