Chapter 9: The Last Conversation
Dario came to the estate the following afternoon.
He did not call first.
He arrived at the front gate with his lawyer and two men Matteo did not recognize, and he spoke to the guard with the easy confidence of someone who expected the gate to open.
It did not open.
Matteo's voice came through the intercom.
"Come alone, Dario.
Or don't come at all."
A pause.
Then Dario sent the lawyer and the two men back to the car and walked through the gate alone.
Matteo met him in the study.
Liana was there.
She was seated near the window with Daniel in her arms.
Nico was in the nursery upstairs with a guard.
Dario stopped when he saw Daniel.
His composure held.
But his eyes moved from the baby to Liana to Matteo, and something behind them recalculated very quickly.
"Sit down, Dario," Matteo said.
"I'd rather stand."
"Sit down."
Dario sat.
Matteo placed three documents on the desk in front of him.
The DNA results.
A transcript of Petra's recorded testimony.
A copy of the forged death certificate issued in Liana's name on October third.
Dario looked at them.
He did not touch them.
"You want to tell me this is fabricated," Matteo said.
"Go ahead."
Dario looked up.
"Where is Petra now?"
"Safe."
"She's a disgruntled former employee with a motive to lie."
"She has corroborating documentation.
The doctor she named has already been contacted by the city medical board.
The nurse has retained a lawyer and is cooperating with investigators in exchange for reduced charges." Matteo leaned forward.
"It's already moving, Dario.
It moved last night."
Dario's jaw tightened.
"You have a child who you claim is yours.
A DNA test run by your personal physician.
A recording made without consent.
None of this is—"
"The recording was made with full legal consent in the jurisdiction where it was taken," Matteo said.
"My lawyer confirmed it before we used a single second of it."
Silence.
"You switched two babies," Matteo said.
"You arranged for Elena's child to be placed with a grieving woman who had no family and no resources to fight back.
You arranged for her son to be reported d*ad and handed to a caretaker under a false adoption.
You did this because you wanted a child with Varric bl00d that you could use as a legal instrument against me." His voice did not rise.
"And then Elena found out.
And Elena d*ad in a car accident."
Dario's face went very still.
"I had nothing to do with Elena's accident."
"I know you'll say that."
"It's the truth."
"Then you'll have the opportunity to prove it.
Because that investigation is being reopened." Matteo sat back.
"Everything is being reopened."
Dario looked at Liana.
She met his gaze and held it.
"You," he said.
"You came here with nothing.
A maid's uniform and a grief story."
"I came here with a mother's instinct," she said.
"It was enough."
He looked back at Matteo.
"What do you want?"
"I don't want anything from you.
I want you to face what you did in the appropriate rooms, in front of the appropriate people, with all of the appropriate evidence present." Matteo stood.
"My lawyer will be in contact with yours this afternoon.
The police will be in contact shortly after."
Dario stood slowly.
He straightened his jacket.
He looked at the documents on the desk one more time.
"You're making an enemy," he said.
"I already had one," Matteo said.
"I just didn't know his face."
Dario looked at Daniel one last time.
The baby was awake, watching him with dark, calm eyes.
Dario's expression did something complicated that was not quite regret and not quite anything else that had a name.
Then he walked out.
The front door closed.
Liana let out a breath she had been holding since he walked in.
"Is it enough?" she asked.
"The evidence."
"It's enough." Matteo looked at the closed door.
"His lawyer knows it's enough.
That's why Dario went quiet when he saw the documents."
"And Elena's accident?"
"That will take longer.
But it will be investigated properly this time." He paused.
"I should have questioned it when it happened.
I was too deep in grief to think clearly."
"You were a man who had just lost his wife and was left alone with a baby who wouldn't stop crying," Liana said.
"You were doing the best you could."
He looked at her.
"So were you."
Daniel made a small sound and grabbed a fistful of Liana's hair.
May you like
She winced and gently freed it, and the baby looked immensely pleased with himself.
Despite everything, Matteo almost smiled.
