Chapter 5 - THE TRAP CLOSES"Who is he?" Matteo’s voice was dangerously low, a quiet purr before a strike.
Clara swallowed hard, tears of frustration and fear prickling her eyes. "He’s nobody. Please, Mr. Moretti—just let me handle him. If your guards kill him here, it will bring police, questions, investigations..."
"My estate doesn't answer to the police, Clara," Matteo said calmly. He raised two fingers. Within three seconds, Leo and two armed guards emerged silently from the shadows of the lower terrace, converging on Grant from three different directions before the intruder even realized he was surrounded.
Grant spun around, swearing loudly as Leo grabbed him by the collar and slammed him face-first against the frozen stone fountain.
"Let me go! Do you know who I am?" Grant yelled, thrashing wildly.
"You are trespassing on private property," Matteo replied, stepping down from the porch with Clara trailing reluctantly behind him. He walked up to Grant, towering over the terrified man. "Which makes you a liability. And I don't tolerate liabilities."
Grant’s eyes widened as he finally recognized the man standing before him. The terrifying reputation of Matteo Moretti hit him like a physical blow. Grant’s color drained instantly, and he pointed a trembling finger at Clara.
"She's my wife! My runaway wife! She stole from me!" Grant shrieked, desperately trying to save his own skin. "She belongs to me!"
Clara flinched, the old familiar terror clawing at her throat. "He's lying! I didn't steal anything! I ran because he—"
"Shut up, you bitch!" Grant screamed, lunging forward despite Leo's grip.
In a fraction of a second, Matteo moved. He didn't use a gun. With terrifying, calculated precision, Matteo drove his fist directly into Grant's stomach, doubling the man over, before sweeping his legs out from under him. Grant hit the frozen ground with a brutal thud, gasping for air.
Matteo crouched down, grabbing Grant by his hair and pulling his face up. "She belongs to no one," Matteo whispered so softly that only Grant and Clara could hear. "And she certainly doesn't belong to a piece of trash who tracks her like an animal."
Matteo stood up, wiping his hands on a handkerchief. "Lock him in the lower cellar. We’ll have a conversation in the morning."
As Leo dragged the weeping, broken Grant away into the darkness, Matteo turned his dark gaze back to Clara. "You lied on your employment application, Clara. You said you had no living family. You said you were completely alone."
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"I am alone," Clara whispered, tears finally spilling over her lashes. "He isn't family. He's a monster."
Matteo stared at her for a long, agonizing moment. Then, without a word, he took off his warm overcoat, draped it over her trembling shoulders, and walked back inside, leaving her standing in the snow with a storm brewing around them.
