Chapter 2: Secrets in the Deep
Inside Matteo’s sprawling, multi-room executive suite, the atmosphere was a world away from the chaotic hallway. Marco had brought a first-aid kit, gently treating the small cuts on Lena's palms from the broken glass before leaving her to change into a soft, oversized cashmere sweater and dark trousers provided by the ship’s luxury boutique.
Lena sat on the edge of a leather sofa, staring out the massive window at the dark, churning Pacific ocean. She was terrified, but more than that, she was angry. Her whole life had been an uphill battle since her father disappeared when she was eighteen. She had taken this cruise ship job to pay off her mother's medical debts, only to be dragged into a high-society nightmare.
The door clicked open. Matteo walked in alone, his jacket off, the sleeves of his white shirt rolled up to reveal thick forearms covered in intricate, dark tattoos.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, throwing his car keys onto a marble counter.
"Just my pride," Lena said sharply. "Why am I here, Mr. Romano? If you know I didn't do it, let me go back to my cabin."
Matteo walked over, standing a few feet away. "You can't go back to your cabin, Lena. Because whoever put that key in your pocket wanted you dead. If my men hadn't been there, ship security—who are on Vivian's father's payroll—would have taken you to a private holding room. You wouldn't have made it to Alaska."
Lena felt a chill run down her spine. "Why? I'm a nobody. I clean toilets."
"You're Thomas Carter's daughter," Matteo said softly.
Lena froze, her breath catching in her throat. "How... how do you know my father's name?"
"Because my father was the one who tried to save him," Matteo explained, his expression darkening with old grief. "Your father didn't just disappear, Lena. He was murdered by the Russo family—Vivian's family. He kept a ledger that proved the Russos were stealing from my family's legitimate businesses. Before he died, he hid it. That gold key opens the vault where the ledger was supposed to be kept. But the vault was emptied last week."
Lena stood up, her hands trembling. "So this whole wedding... you marrying Vivian... it's a lie?"
"It was a trap," Matteo admitted, stepping closer. "A corporate merger of two empires to bring the Russos close enough so I could find out where they hid my family's stolen wealth. But they played their card early. Vivian planted that key on you to frame you, intending to use the chaos to exit the ship with the stolen diamonds—which aren't diamonds at all. They are uncut raw gems smuggled from a blood-diamond pipeline."
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Suddenly, the suite’s landline phone rang. Matteo answered it on speaker.
"Boss," Marco’s panicked voice came through. "We have a problem. Vivian and her father just boarded a private helicopter on the ship’s aft helipad. They claim they are leaving due to 'security concerns.' And Boss... they have the captain at gunpoint."
