The one I’d found in my father’s study. The one with the photo I couldn’t stop thinking about.
I leaned in closer, my pulse quickening.
Same face. Same eyes. Same slight smirk.
But this photo was old. Years older than the one in the album.
Which meant he’d been around a long time.
I frowned, stepping back slightly and glancing around. There was no plaque, no nameplate. Just the photo, hanging quietly in the hallway like it had always been there.
I turned, spotting a servant passing by with a tray of glasses.
“Excuse me,” I said, stepping toward him.
He paused, nodding politely. “Yes, signora?”
I pointed to the photo. “Do you know who that is?” I asked, tapping the glass near the man’s face.
The servant squinted, then smiled. “Ah, yes. That’s Signore Matteo. He used to handle logistics for the family. Retired a few years ago.”
I frowned. “Matteo?”
He nodded. “Yes, Signore Matteo. Very loyal. Quiet man. Kept to himself.”
I stared at the photo, something twisting in my gut.
That wasn’t Matteo.
I didn’t know who it was—but I knew it wasn’t him.
I forced a smile. “Right. Thank you.”
He nodded again and disappeared down the hall, leaving me alone with the photo and the gnawing feeling in my chest.
I looked back at the man in the picture.
He wasn’t Matteo.
He was the man from the album.
The one who’d been in my father’s office the day I was given the wrong paperwork. The one who had stood in the corner, silent, watching.
I didn’t know his name.
But I was going to find out.
Because whoever he was—he didn’t belong.
And if he was in this photo, if he was tied to the Contis and my father and the missing money—then he wasn’t just a ghost from the past.
He was the key to everything.
I turned on my heel and made my way back through the estate, the photo still burned into my mind, my pulse quickening with every step.
I needed to find Dante.
Because this time, I wasn’t just guessing.