Chapter 4: The Dead Man’s Secret
Dante did not move.
For eight years, Marcus Reed had been a ghost.
A name whispered only behind locked doors. A photograph hidden in an old family safe. A funeral held without a body because there had never been one to bury.
And now Marcus stood alive beneath the crystal chandeliers.
Older.
Thinner.
A pale scar crossed one side of his jaw.
But unmistakably Marcus.
Dante stared at him.
“You’re dead.””
Marcus gave a tired smile.
“That was the idea.””
Victoria took a step backward.
Marcus saw her.
His smile disappeared.
“You.””
Victoria's fingers curled around the folds of her burgundy gown.
Dante turned sharply.
“You know him?””
Victoria shook her head.
“No.””
Marcus laughed once.
“You always were a terrible liar.””
“Marcus,” Dante said, his voice low, “start talking.””
Security surrounded the three of them.
Marcus slowly looked around the ballroom.
“Not here.””
Dante grabbed the front of Marcus's jacket.
“You walk into my engagement party after eight years, say my fiancée knows you, and tell me not here?””
Marcus didn't resist.
“I came because you're about to make the biggest mistake of your life.””
Dante's grip tightened.
“What mistake?””
“Marrying her.””
Victoria's face hardened.
“You don't know anything about me.””
Marcus looked directly at her.
“I know you were in the private kitchen tonight.””
Victoria said nothing.
“I know you opened the cabinet behind the wine storage.””
Still nothing.
“And I know you weren't looking for champagne.””
Dante slowly released Marcus.
“Take us somewhere private.””
Victoria immediately protested.
“No.””
Dante looked at her.
“That's not a request.””
Two guards moved toward the private lounge.
Elena remained near the service corridor, clutching her uniform at the waist.
Dante noticed.
“You too.””
Elena's eyes widened.
“Me?””
“You're coming.””
Victoria snapped, “She doesn't belong in that room.””
Dante looked at her.
“Neither does a poisoned glass.””
Victoria went silent.
The private lounge doors closed behind them.
Music from the ballroom became muffled.
Marcus sat down heavily.
Dante remained standing.
Victoria stayed near the door.
Elena stood beside a velvet chair, visibly shaking.
Dante folded his arms.
“Eight years.””
Marcus nodded.
“Eight years.””
“I watched them bury an empty coffin.””
“I know.””
“I spent years believing you betrayed me.””
Marcus looked down.
“I let you believe it.””
Dante's jaw tightened.
“Why?””
Marcus slowly lifted his eyes.
“Because someone wanted you to.””
Victoria whispered, “This is ridiculous.””
Marcus turned toward her.
“No. What's ridiculous is that you still think nobody knows.””
Her face tightened.
“Knows what?””
“That your brother is alive.””
Victoria froze.
Dante looked at her.
“What brother?””
Marcus's expression changed.
“Exactly.””
Victoria's lips parted.
“You don't know what you're talking about.””
Marcus leaned forward.
“Then why did you give them the password?””
The silence was immediate.
Dante turned toward Victoria.
“What password?””
She shook her head.
“I don't know.””
Marcus looked at Dante.
“She knows.””
Victoria's voice rose.
“Stop lying about me!””
Elena flinched.
Dante stepped toward Victoria.
“Who is your brother?””
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
“That isn't relevant.””
“Everything is relevant now.””
Marcus reached inside his jacket.
Several guards raised their weapons.
“Relax,” Marcus said.
He pulled out a small, battered photograph.
He placed it on the table.
Dante looked down.
A younger Victoria stood beside a teenage boy.
The boy had the same eyes.
Same sharp cheekbones.
Same expression.
Dante looked at Victoria.
“Name.””
She closed her eyes.
“Caleb.””
Marcus nodded.
“Caleb Reed.””
Dante stared at him.
“Reed?””
Marcus said nothing.
Victoria whispered, “He's Marcus's son.””
Dante's eyes narrowed.
Marcus looked away.
“Was.””
Victoria suddenly covered her mouth.
Elena whispered, “What happened to him?””
Marcus answered without looking at her.
“He disappeared.””
Dante's voice was cold.
“When?””
“Three years ago.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because I was trying to find him.””
“And you thought disappearing was going to help?””
Marcus looked directly at his brother.
“I wasn't the one disappearing.””
A phone vibrated.
Everyone froze.
It came from Victoria's purse.
Dante held out his hand.
“Give it to me.””
Victoria didn't move.
“Victoria.””
Slowly, she removed the phone.
A message glowed on the screen.
*YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES.*
Below it was a photograph.
Elena recognized it first.
Her face drained.
It showed a young Black man tied to a chair in a dark room.
Marcus stood so quickly the chair scraped backward.
“Caleb.””
Dante grabbed the phone.
Another message appeared.
*BRING THE LEDGER. COME ALONE.*
Dante looked at Marcus.
“What ledger?””
Marcus stared at the screen.
“I thought it was destroyed.””
Victoria whispered, “It wasn't.””
Dante turned toward her.
“What wasn't?””
Victoria looked at the photograph.
Then at Marcus.
Then at Elena.
Finally, she whispered four words.
“Your father hid it.””
Dante's expression changed.
“My father died before you met me.””
“I know.””
“Then how do you know what he hid?””
Victoria's phone vibrated again.
A new message appeared.
*ASK ELENA WHAT SHE FOUND IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM.*
Every eye turned toward Elena.
She stopped breathing.
Dante stepped closer.
“Elena?””
She backed away.
“I didn't steal anything.””
Marcus stared at her.
“Then what did you find?””
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“A key.””
Dante's voice dropped.
“To what?””
Elena reached beneath the collar of her uniform.
A small brass key hung from a thin black cord around her neck.
She pulled it free.
On the key was a number.
*17.*
Marcus stared at it.
“No.””
Dante looked at him.
“What?””
Marcus whispered, “That's the archive.””
Victoria's knees nearly buckled.
Dante caught the key between two fingers.
“Where is it?””
Marcus looked toward the ballroom wall.
“Under the old family house.””
Dante's eyes hardened.
“And how do we get there?””
Marcus answered quietly.
“We don't.””
A gunshot exploded somewhere outside the lounge.
Everyone ducked.
Then another.
The lights went out.
In the darkness, Elena screamed.
May you like
And Victoria whispered one sentence that made Dante's blood run cold.
“They found us.””
