Chapter 3 - THE VOICE INSIDE EMILIA’S PHONE
Matteo dismissed the household staff but ordered Ruth to remain nearby.
He moved Camryn, Leo, and Adrian into the library where every entrance was visible.
No armed men entered.
No threats were issued.
Matteo called his personal attorney, Julian Cross, and an independent digital examiner who had never worked for Adrian.
Adrian laughed.
“You are bringing outsiders into family business because a cleaner appeared with jewelry.”
Camryn held Leo closer.
“I did not come for your business.”
“Then why carry Emilia’s phone?”
“Because she wanted someone to hear it.”
The device had been damaged by water years earlier.
Camryn could access only photographs, fragments of messages, and one corrupted audio file.
The examiner connected it to an isolated laptop.
Sound filled the library.
Emilia’s voice.
“We need to leave before Leo sees more.”
Another voice answered from farther away.
“You are not taking Matteo’s heir anywhere.”
Adrian’s posture changed.
Only slightly.
The examiner replayed the sentence.
Leo lifted his head.
His eyes moved toward Adrian.
Then he began shaking.
“No.”
The word came out clearly.
Matteo dropped beside him.
“Leo?”
The boy pressed his face against Camryn and pointed toward Adrian.
“No.”
Adrian stood.
“This has become ridiculous.”
Matteo rose with him.
“Sit down.”
“You are taking the reaction of a traumatized toddler as evidence.”
“No. I am observing it.”
The audio continued.
Emilia spoke again.
“I know about Verona.”
A chair moved.
A man whispered something too damaged to understand.
Then Emilia said:
“If Matteo learns what you did, he will choose Leo.”
The recording ended.
Matteo looked at Adrian.
“What is Verona?”
“Nothing.”
“Emilia believed it was worth leaving over.”
“She was unstable after Leo was born.”
Camryn’s eyes hardened.
“That is what you told everyone after she died.”
Adrian looked at her.
“She was taking medication.”
“Prescribed after someone began telling Matteo she was paranoid.”
Matteo remembered those months.
Emilia accused household staff of entering her room.
She said cars followed her.
She claimed money disappeared from a charitable account.
Adrian explained each concern.
Security checks.
Normal transfers.
Postpartum anxiety.
Matteo had trusted his brother because Adrian controlled the family’s internal operations.
He had arranged the doctors.
He had selected the drivers.
He had provided the car Emilia entered on the night of the explosion.
Matteo stared at him.
“Who maintained her vehicle?”
Adrian leaned back.
“The family garage.”
“Under whose authority?”
“Mine.”
Julian Cross arrived twenty minutes later.
He advised Matteo not to question Adrian further without preserving the conversation properly.
Matteo agreed.
Adrian seemed surprised.
The brother he knew would have used fear.
The father standing before him wanted evidence.
Julian arranged protection for Camryn and her mother through a licensed security company separate from DeLuca operations.
He also contacted federal authorities through outside criminal counsel regarding the recording and the previously closed explosion investigation.
Camryn looked at Matteo.
“You are calling police?”
“If Emilia was killed, whoever did it relied on my name to prevent questions.”
“And your other business?”
Matteo remained silent.
He understood her meaning.
The DeLuca Syndicate had hidden behind legitimate shipping, construction, and hospitality companies while controlling illegal gambling and extortion across parts of New York.
Opening the family records might expose more than Emilia’s death.
Adrian smiled faintly.
“You will not do it.”
Matteo looked toward Leo.
His son still held Camryn’s collar in one hand.
“You used to say family came before everything,” Adrian continued.
“My son is my family.”
“So am I.”
“Then you should want the truth.”
Adrian’s smile vanished.
A security alert sounded from the hallway.
Someone had attempted to access the penthouse server remotely.
The request used Adrian’s private credentials.
He looked toward the door.
Matteo’s voice became cold.
“Verona is not nothing.”
The digital examiner opened the access log.
The failed request had targeted one file.
EMILIA PRIVATE ARCHIVE.
Adrian moved before anyone else.
Matteo stepped into his path.
Neither man touched the other.
They stood inches apart beneath the library chandelier.
“What is in the archive?” Matteo asked.
Adrian looked at Leo.
“Something your wife died trying to steal.”
Camryn’s voice cut through the room.
“No.”
She reached for the silver locket.
May you like
“Something she died trying to protect.”
Continue to the next part: The engraving inside Camryn’s locket opens an archive containing proof that Emilia planned to take Leo away from the DeLuca family.
