Page 51 of To Love a Monster
But he’s not in a boardroom, not in a darkened office.He’s sitting in a garden, smiling and cradling a tiny baby to his chest.The infant’s wrapped in a pale pink blanket, half-asleep, one fist curled against her cheek.
I set it on the table between us and look at her.No more lies.“Because you’re not who you think you are, Lila.”Her brow furrows and she leans forward, staring at the photo.
“Wait ...is that me?”she asks, blinking.Her voice is light, confused, trying to laugh it off.Then her eyes narrow.“Who's the ...fat man holding me?”
I wince.“That’s Matteo Ferro.”She jerks back.
“Matteo...”Her voice trails off, then comes back sharper.“Is he the man who hired you?”I nod.Her stare cuts through me like a blade and she drops the photo before pressing her fingers to her temples.“The fuck is going on, Nikolai?”
Chapter Nineteen
Nikolai
“Why would this manbe holding me?”she snaps.Her eyes flicker from the photo to my face and back again.“And why would he send you to protect me from Carl?”
There’s no point dodging it anymore.I sit forward, forearms braced against my knees and exhale slowly.“Because you’re not just some girl born to a quiet suburban family.Because he’s the one who raised you for your first year of life.Before he faked your death.”
She doesn’t blink, doesn’t breathe, but I see her knuckles go white around the edge of the photo.
“I’m going to tell you everything,” I say, voice low, deliberate.“But you have to let me say it all before you stop me.Can you do that?”She doesn’t nod.But she doesn’t run either.That’s enough for me.
“Matteo isn’t just a powerful man.He’s one of the most powerful men in the world.A name that gets whispered around in rooms everyday people won’t be found in.Private syndicates, mafia negotiations, military blacklists.
His empire is built on blood, on calculated alliances, and a reputation for brutality.He’s had his fingers in everything.Arms deals, surveillance networks, cybertech, asset laundering.Everything except trafficking.That’s his line.”Lila’s eyes narrow, but she doesn’t speak.
“Years ago,” I begin, voice low, steady, “Matteo pissed off a rival family.Stopped one of their biggest takeovers and the way he did it was seen as a declaration of fucking war.”
Lila’s still.Listening and processing.
“There was a rumor,” I continue, “that the Gallezos were planning a hit.Not a clean one either.Something messy.A robbery staged as a cartel ambush, mid-transport.Matteo had intel that they were going to intercept one of his cash shipments.Forty million Euros, routed through South Africa via a shell company front.But that wasn’t the worst of it.”
I lean forward, elbows on my knees.“Matteo sent some of his most trusted agents on that mission and they were planning to kill every man involved.They wanted to make it a complete bloodbath, send a message that they weren’t afraid of touching Ferro money.But Matteo heard about it before it went down.He didn’t wait, he rerouted the cash, replaced the transporter with explosives and sent a hit team after the Gallezo transport convoy.There were three trucks, twelve men total.Every single one of them armed to the teeth.”
My voice drops.“But they never saw it coming.Matteo’s crew blocked the exits, boxed them in.Then hit the convoy from above.Drones, snipers, a ground team moving in tight formation.It was surgical.Brutal.By the time the smoke cleared, there wasn’t enough left of the last truck to even identify the driver.”
Lila’s eyes widen, but I keep going.“And it wasn’t just foot soldiers that got caught in the crossfire.One of the Gallezo family’s upper lieutenants, Domenico Gallezo, was leading the operation.He was the eldest son and next in line to take over.Matteo didn’t know he’d be there.But when the body was found?It was game over.”
