Chapter 6 - THE FATHER WHO LEFT A WARNING
Dominic Bellini had spent twenty years serving Mateo Vital.
He'd protected him.
Driven him.
Taken bullets meant for him.
And never once questioned his loyalty.
But now Mateo was looking at him as though he were a stranger.
“My father knew Victor Bellamy,” Dominic admitted.
Mateo stared.
“How well?”
Dominic swallowed.
“They worked together.”
“Doing what?”
“Shipping.”
Mateo laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
Dominic looked toward Sophia.
“My father died when I was seventeen.”
Sophia watched him.
“He left me the ring.”
Mateo nodded slowly.
“And?”
Dominic hesitated.
“He told me never to trust Victor Bellamy.”
Silence.
Mateo looked at him.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Dominic's face tightened.
“Because I didn't know it mattered.”
Mateo stared.
“Luca died looking into Bellamy.”
Dominic looked down.
“I know.”
Mateo's voice hardened.
“You knew?”
Dominic swallowed.
“I knew Luca suspected him.”
The room went silent.
Sophia stepped between them.
“Stop.”
Both men looked at her.
She took a breath.
“If you start blaming each other, my father wins.”
Mateo stared.
She continued.
“He wants everyone afraid. Suspicious. Angry.”
Her voice trembled.
“That's how he controls people.”
Dominic looked away.
Mateo closed his eyes.
Then nodded.
“She's right.”
Sophia swallowed.
“We need the truth.”
Mateo looked at Dominic.
“Find out everything your father knew.”
Dominic nodded.
“I will.”
That night, Dominic returned to his childhood home.
He searched his father's belongings.
Old letters.
Photographs.
A locked wooden box.
Inside was a small envelope.
On the front, written in faded ink:
For Dominic, when the truth becomes dangerous.
He opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
Victor Bellamy.
Luca Vital.
And a woman Dominic had never seen before.
May you like
On the back, someone had written:
The blue room isn't a place. It's a person.
