Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO WALKED AWAY
The police separated the witnesses.
Lena gave her statement in the kitchen.
Jimmy sat beside her.
Mrs. Patterson insisted on remaining until the officers finished.
The truck driver offered his dashcam footage, which had captured part of the incident through the diner's front windows.
Matteo stayed near the counter.
He didn't interfere.
He didn't make calls.
He didn't threaten anyone.
But his presence changed the room.
The three men sat silently while officers questioned them.
The leader identified himself as Travis Cole.
The heavy man was Brent Dugan.
The youngest was Owen Pike.
All three worked for a private security company called Blackwater Transit Protection.
Lena noticed Matteo's expression change when he heard the name.
“Matteo?” she asked.
He looked at her.
“Later.”
She knew that tone.
Something was wrong.
After the police took the men away, Jimmy locked the diner.
Lena changed into a spare uniform.
Her wrist ached.
Her shoulder was bruised.
But the worst part was the humiliation.
The memory of twenty people watching while a stranger tore her clothes.
Matteo waited beside the back door.
“Ready?”
She nodded.
They drove home in silence.
Their house stood on a quiet street outside the city.
A small brick place with a narrow porch.
Nothing like the mansion Matteo once owned.
Lena loved it.
She loved the creaking stairs.
The mismatched furniture.
The herb garden beneath the kitchen window.
Ordinary things.
Safe things.
Matteo made tea.
Lena sat at the table.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Then she said:
“You knew that company.”
Matteo stopped.
“Blackwater?”
She nodded.
He sat across from her.
“They used to handle security contracts around the waterfront.”
“Your waterfront?”
“Once.”
Lena studied him.
“Are they connected to your old organization?”
Matteo hesitated.
“I don't know anymore.”
She looked down.
That answer frightened her more than a simple yes.
Three years earlier, Matteo had promised to leave the criminal world behind.
He'd sold his interests in the docks.
Cut ties with his former captains.
Changed his routines.
Stopped carrying a gun.
They had built a quiet life.
But Lena knew leaving wasn't the same as being forgotten.
“Do you think tonight was planned?” she asked.
Matteo looked at her.
“I hope not.”
She laughed bitterly.
“That's not reassuring.”
“I know.”
He reached for her hand.
She let him.
“Lena, I'm sorry.”
She looked up.
“For what?”
“For the life I had before you.”
She shook her head.
“You can't apologize for every bad man in Chicago.”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“But I can take responsibility for the enemies I made.”
Lena stared at him.
Then whispered:
“I don't want you going back.”
Matteo's expression changed.
“I won't.”
She searched his face.
“Promise?”
He nodded.
“I promise.”
But later that night, while Lena slept, Matteo received a message from an unknown number.
A photograph.
The diner.
Lena standing beside booth seven.
Taken before the assault.
Underneath were six words.
WE KNOW WHAT YOU GAVE AWAY.
Matteo stared at the screen.
Then deleted nothing.
May you like
He forwarded the message to a lawyer he trusted.
And for the first time in three years, he understood that someone was trying to pull him back into the life he'd escaped.
