Lily began to cry quietly against my shoulder.
I pressed her face into my neck.
“Look at me, piccola.”
She lifted wet eyes.
“Remember what you said about brave people?”
Her lower lip trembled.
“They still need hugs.”
“That’s right.”
I held her tighter.
“So you hug me, and I’ll be brave for both of us.”
Her tiny arms wrapped around my neck.
Elena stared at me as though seeing something she had not expected.
The emergency lights flickered.
A metallic sound came from beyond the safe-room door.
Someone was trying to override the lock.
Vincent drew his weapon.
The guards formed a line.
“Stay behind me,” I told Elena.
“You’re holding Lily.”
“Exactly.”
The lock mechanism clicked once.
Then stopped.
A voice came through the wall speaker.
“Adrian.”
Every muscle in my body froze.
I knew that voice.
It was older, rougher, weakened by pain.
But I knew it.
Elena’s hand flew to her mouth.
“No,” she whispered.
The speaker crackled.
“Adrian, do not open the door.”
My heartbeat thundered.
“Matteo?”
Lily lifted her head.
“Daddy?”
Elena made a broken sound.
Vincent stared at the speaker, his weapon still raised.
The voice returned.
“You have less than two minutes before the ventilation system releases gas.”
One of the guards rushed to the control panel.
“System shows normal.”
“It’s lying,” the voice said. “Someone rewired it months ago.”
I stepped toward the speaker.
“Where are you?”
“No time.”
“You have been gone for five years.”
“I know.”
“You let me think you were dead.”
“I know.”
“Where are you?”
The voice weakened.
“Close.”
A monitor suddenly came alive.
The west tunnel camera displayed a man leaning against the concrete wall.
His hair was longer. A beard covered his face. His clothes were soaked with blood.
But it was him.
Matteo.
Alive.
Elena stumbled toward the screen.
