Smoke and Silence

Smoke and Silence
Matteo’s POV

I closed the compartment door and the metal clicked into place. The sound felt small but it cut through the chaos in my chest. I pressed my hand against the cold surface for a short second. I did not want to move. Aria was alone in there. She looked terrified when I shut the door, but she still nodded at me. I told her I would be fast. I forced myself to believe it.

I pulled my hand back and turned around. My heartbeat was fast and heavy, but my steps stayed steady. I walked into the hallway and the air hit me like a punch. Smoke rolled across the ceiling. Gunshots cracked from somewhere deeper inside the mansion. The walls shook with the vibration. Two guards ran past me, shouting over each other in Italian. I caught pieces of what they said. North wing breached. East entrance compromised. Spread out. Do not let them circle around.

Their panic was loud. Too loud. The attack was too organized for this to be random.

I moved down the hall. A beam collapsed behind me and dust blew forward, stinging my eyes. I kept walking. I did not slow. There was no space for fear. My job was clear. Find Chiara. Find Mama. Get them safe. Then get Aria.

I reached the family quarters and shoved the first door open with my shoulder. The room was dark, curtains ripped halfway from the wall. Chiara sat on the floor behind the bed, knees pulled to her chest. She looked up fast when she heard me. Her lips trembled. She ran to me and I grabbed her, pulling her against my chest. Her arms locked around my waist, and I could feel how badly she was shaking.

“It is me,” I said. “You are safe now. Stay with me.”

I moved her behind me and opened the door to Mama’s room. She sat in her chair by the window, holding her rosary tight. Her face was calm, but her knuckles were white. The room smelled like smoke and perfume.

“Mama, we need to go,” I said.

She nodded once and stood. I held her arm and guided her to the hallway. Chiara held my other hand like she was afraid I would disappear.

The guards had said to go toward the west exit. They claimed it was clear. I moved fast, pulling both women behind me. We passed a corridor where smoke poured out from under a door. The heat pushed against us like a wave. Something inside that room was burning.

A guard I trusted ran toward me. He stopped when he reached me, out of breath and covered in soot. “They are pulling back,” he said. “They are leaving the house.”

Another guard came behind him, coughing. “They were not trying to take rooms. They were searching. They went straight for certain areas.”

The air in my lungs turned cold.

Searching for what.

Or who.

I did not say her name. It was too loud inside my skull. I forced myself to move again.

I handed Chiara to the older guard. “Take her and my mother to the underground shelter. Barricade the door. Do not open it for anyone except me. If I do not come, Enzo or Dante will.”

Chiara tried to hold onto my sleeve, but I pulled her hand off gently. “Go now,” I said.

Mama touched my arm once before she turned away, like she wanted to pray for me but did not have time. The guards rushed them down the hall.

I pulled out my radio. Static cracked through the line. I raised it close to my mouth.

“Enzo. Dante. Respond.”

Enzo answered first, his voice strained. “South wing cleared. I am outside. Taking fire from the trees.”

Dante spoke a second after him. “East entrance. They are running. Something is wrong.”

I swallowed and said the words I already feared. “They were searching. Check Aria’s hallway.”

There was silence.

Then Dante swore loud and violent.

Then the line went quiet.

A tight burn climbed through my chest. I ran. I pushed my body as fast as it could move. The smoke was thick. My lungs began to ache. I felt the heat of the fires on my back as I passed broken doors and fallen debris.

A bullet hit the wall inches from my arm. Pieces of the stone sprayed across my shoulder. I did not stop.

I reached the hallway where the hidden compartment was. It was too quiet now. Most of the smoke had drifted away. The silence felt wrong. It felt like someone had already been here.

The painting was pushed slightly open.

My stomach dropped.

I moved to it and grabbed the frame with both hands. I pulled it aside and unlocked the metal door behind it. The compartment was empty. The blanket inside was bunched up on one side. The small space felt cold, like no one had been inside for minutes.

Aria was gone.

I grabbed the edge of the compartment and swore under my breath. I forced myself to breathe and look around sharply. There were boot prints on the floor. Heavy ones. A man’s. I followed them.

Dante’s voice exploded through my radio. It cracked with panic and rage. “She is not here. Matteo she is not here.”

I pushed forward and ran harder. My legs burned. I reached the foyer and felt the cold morning air cut across my face. Smoke drifted outside from broken windows. Guards shouted orders, their voices blending with the sound of gunfire in the distance.

Then I saw it.

A black limo turning sharply, tires sliding across gravel. It sped down the hill toward the docks. A guard fired at it but the bullets hit the ground behind the tires.

I raised the radio again. “Enzo, get to the docks now. They have her.”

I ran down the steps. Dante was already far ahead of me. His movements were desperate, like he was running through fire. I had never seen him like that. He did not look back. He only moved forward, faster, pushing his body past anything human.

I ran after him, but he was too fast. The sea wind blew smoke across the path, making my eyes sting. The sound of the limo engine faded as it reached the docks below.

As I ran, pieces of the attack started to fit together in my head.

They attacked multiple doors at the same time.

They drew guards away from certain areas.

They destroyed cameras near the bedroom wing.

They ignored territory.

They ignored valuables.

They ignored us.

They only needed us to be distracted.

They came for Aria.

I reached the bottom of the hill and saw Dante at the edge of the dock. He looked frozen, like someone had drained the blood from his face. His chest was rising and falling too fast.

The boat was already pulling away from the dock. The distance between us grew with every second.

I saw a figure on the deck swing something heavy.

I saw Aria’s body drop.

I saw Nathan step behind her.

My vision blurred from fury.

I ran to Dante. I stood beside him, watching the boat speed into open water. The waves crashed against the dock. Smoke drifted behind us. My hands shook with rage.

“They planned this,” I said quietly. “They came for her.”

And we had let them.