Chapter 8: The Man Who Guarded My House
I didn't believe Adrian.
I wanted to.
But I couldn't.
Marco had stood beside me through funerals, business wars, and the darkest years after Isabella vanished. He'd held my son when Leo was a baby. He'd driven me to the hospital the night my father died and stayed outside the operating room until dawn.
He was the closest thing I had to a brother after Adrian's supposed death.
“You're lying,” I said.
Adrian pressed his back against the wall.
“Listen to the gunfire. Those men knew exactly where we'd be.””
“You sent me the photograph.””
“No.””
“You arranged this meeting.””
“No.””
I grabbed his collar.
“Then why are you here?””
“Because Lily called me.””
I stared at him.
“She has a phone?””
“A hidden emergency phone. I've been checking on her for months.””
“Where did she get it?””
“From Isabella.””
My grip loosened.
Before I could ask another question, Lily tugged at my sleeve.
“Please don't leave me.””
I looked down.
She was trembling so violently that her knees seemed ready to buckle.
I crouched beside her.
“I'm not leaving you.””
“That's what the other man said.””
“What other man?””
“The man who took me from my house.””
Her voice broke.
“He said my mother had sent him. He said I was going somewhere safe.””
I forced myself to breathe slowly.
“Do you know his name?””
She shook her head.
“But he had a silver ring.””
Adrian and I exchanged a glance.
The same ring I'd seen on Dr. Reed's hand at the chapel.
I looked toward the doorway.
“Was Dr. Reed the man who took you?””
Lily nodded.
“He said I had to come because my sister was in danger.””
“Did he tell you where Evelyn was?””
“No. He said I shouldn't ask questions.””
I glanced at Adrian.
“Why would Reed take her if he was working with Vanessa?””
“Because Vanessa doesn't control the operation anymore.””
“Then who does?””
Adrian's face tightened.
“Our father.””
The words seemed absurd.
“Our father is dead.””
“That's what everyone believes.””
I stared at him.
Adrian reached into his coat and removed a small envelope.
Inside was a photograph of an older man standing outside a private clinic. His hair was almost entirely white, and a dark walking stick rested beneath one hand.
I recognized the face immediately.
My father, Victor Moretti.
He had been dead for four years.
Or so the death certificate claimed.
I felt the room tilt.
“No.””
Adrian put the photograph away.
“I saw him three weeks ago.””
“Where?””
“An estate in the mountains. He has been living under another name.””
I shook my head.
“That's impossible. I identified his body.””
“You identified a body wearing his clothes. The face was badly damaged in the accident. The dental records were altered.””
I remembered the funeral.
The closed coffin.
The coroner's insistence that further examination would serve no purpose.
My father had taught me that trust was a weakness. He'd trained me to question every kindness, every promise, every offer that seemed too good to be true.
Yet I had accepted his death without demanding answers.
Because part of me had been relieved.
“Why would he fake his death?””
“Because the investigation into his business was getting too close. He needed to disappear without attracting attention.””
“And you helped him.””
Adrian looked away.
“For a while.””
I struck him across the face.
The sound echoed through the room.
Lily screamed.
Adrian staggered against the wall, but he didn't retaliate.
“You let me bury him,” I said.
“You let me believe you were dead. You watched me lose Isabella, and you never told me what our father had done.””
“I know.””
“You let my son grow up without his mother.””
“I know.””
“You stole my daughters.””
His eyes filled with tears.
“I know.””
I wanted to hit him again.
Instead, I turned away.
A faint scraping sound came from the corridor.
Adrian raised his weapon.
“Someone's coming.””
I held Lily behind me.
Footsteps approached slowly.
Then a voice called out.
“Dante? It's Marco. I've secured the lower floor.””
I looked at Adrian.
He shook his head violently.
“Don't answer.””
Marco continued.
“Sir, the shooters are down. We need to leave before the police arrive.””
I took out my phone and sent a silent message to the two guards positioned outside.
*Do not engage Marco. Track him. Report his movements.*
Then I called back.
“I'm upstairs with Lily. Is the stairwell clear?””
“Completely, sir.””
“Wait at the bottom.””
“Understood.””
I turned toward Adrian.
“How do we get out?””
He pointed toward a narrow maintenance door behind the shelving.
“There's an old service tunnel. It leads to the railway embankment.””
I picked up Lily.
She wrapped her arms around my neck, burying her face against my shoulder.
We moved through the tunnel, following Adrian's flashlight. The passage was cramped and damp, with water dripping from the ceiling.
After several minutes, we emerged behind a row of abandoned freight cars.
My phone vibrated.
One of the guards had sent a message.
*Marco entered the warehouse carrying a weapon. He left through the north loading bay before our team arrived. He is now heading toward the estate.*
I stared at the screen.
“He's going back to the house.””
Adrian nodded.
“To finish what he started.””
I called the estate.
A young guard answered.
“Mr. Moretti?””
“Put Leo on the phone.””
“Sir, we can't locate him.””
Every muscle in my body locked.
“What do you mean, you can't locate him?””
“Grace is in the children's wing. The room is empty.””
“Where is Marco?””
The guard hesitated.
“He returned twenty minutes ago. He said you had ordered him to relocate the boy.””
I looked at Adrian.
He had gone pale.
“Dante,” he whispered, “we have to move.””
I ignored him.
“Where did Marco take my son?””
The guard's voice broke.
“He said the boy was going to a secure property. He showed us your authorization code.””
I had never given Marco permission to move Leo.
“Lock down the estate. Nobody leaves. Send every available man to the east road.””
“Yes, sir.””
I ended the call.
Lily clutched my collar.
“What's wrong?””
I forced myself to look at her.
“Someone took your brother.””
She began crying.
Adrian gripped my shoulder.
“Listen to me. Marco won't hurt Leo unless he's ordered to. He needs the boy alive.””
“By whom?””
“Our father.””
I stared at him.
“Why would Victor want his own grandson?””
Adrian hesitated.
Then he said, “Because Leo's birth certificate is the only document that proves the adoption records were altered.””
I remembered the hospital papers. The forged death certificate. The photographs. The names that had been changed.
“What does Leo know?””
“Nothing. But Isabella left something with him.””
I felt cold spread through my chest.
“What?””
Adrian looked at Lily.
“The original register. The one that identifies every child taken through the network.””
I tightened my arms around my daughter.
“Where is it?””
Adrian shook his head.
“I don't know. But our father believes Isabella gave it to Leo before she disappeared.””
I thought of my son's frightened eyes at dinner. The way he'd clutched the locket. The way Vanessa had panicked when he reached inside his jacket.
Perhaps the object hadn't been the only thing he'd found.
Perhaps he'd been carrying something much more dangerous all along.
My phone rang.
Marco's name appeared on the screen.
I answered immediately.
“Where is my son?””
His voice was calm.
“Safe, sir.””
“Put him on the phone.””
“Not yet.””
I closed my eyes.
“You have five seconds to explain why you've taken my child.””
“Your father wants to speak with you.””
“My father is dead.””
Marco sighed.
“No, sir. He isn't.””
A second voice came onto the line.
Older. Rougher. Unmistakable.
“Hello, Dante.””
My knees nearly gave way.
It was Victor Moretti.
My father.
The man I'd buried four years ago.
“Bring the register to the old family estate,” he said.
“Come alone, and I'll return your son.””
I gripped the phone so tightly that my fingers hurt.
“If you touch him—”
“You'll do what? Kill me? You should have done that years ago, son.””
A pause.
Then my father added, “You have until midnight.””
The call ended.
I stood in the rain, holding one daughter while the other clung to my brother's coat.
May you like
For the first time in my life, I knew exactly who my enemy was.
And he had my son.
