Chapter 3 - THE DEAD MAN’S SECRETFor the first time in years, Adrian felt the old instinct to kill without asking questions.
It came quietly.
No rage.
No shaking hands.
Just a clean, cold decision.
He stared across the room at Vittorio Rossi and imagined exactly how many seconds it would take.
Sofia saw it.
“Adrian.”
She had never called him by his first name before.
That stopped him.
Rossi laughed.
“Look at that. The maid has a leash on Stone Moretti.”
Adrian ignored him.
“Untie her.”
“No.”
Rossi swirled whiskey in his glass.
“You came alone.”
“I didn’t say I was alone.”
Outside the walls, Marco and six men were waiting.
Rossi knew it too.
His smile weakened.
“Your father would’ve burned this whole building down before walking in to negotiate.”
“My father is dead.”
“Exactly.”
Adrian stepped toward Sofia.
One of Rossi’s guards raised a pistol.
Adrian stopped.
Sofia’s eyes pleaded with him.
“Please don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Start a war.”
Rossi laughed again.
“Oh, sweetheart. That war started four years ago.”
Adrian looked at Sofia.
“What did your husband discover?”
She shook her head.
“Not here.”
Rossi slapped the table.
“This is my house.”
Adrian turned toward him.
“No. This is a room you rented because you were too afraid to show your face in Chicago.”
Rossi’s cheeks darkened.
Adrian continued.
“You disappeared because you knew I’d kill you if you ever touched another Moretti business.”
“I disappeared because your brother paid me to.”
Silence.
Adrian felt something move inside him.
“My brother?”
“Lucian.”
Adrian did not blink.
Lucian Moretti was younger by seven years.
Charming where Adrian was severe.
Public where Adrian preferred shadows.
After Elena and Claire died, Lucian became the family member who attended charity galas, kissed babies, and reassured investors that the Morettis were legitimate businessmen now.
He was also the only person alive with full access to Adrian’s private accounts, estate schedules, and family trust.
Rossi watched realization spread across Adrian’s face.
“That’s right.”
“You’re lying.”
“Ask your maid.”
Adrian turned.
Sofia looked at the floor.
That was answer enough.
His chest tightened.
“Sofia.”
She whispered, “Daniel worked at one of your shipping garages.”
Her dead husband.
The mechanic in Emma’s photograph.
“He repaired fleet vehicles. Mostly trucks.”
“I know.”
Adrian remembered the employee records vaguely.
Daniel Romano.
Good reviews.
No disciplinary problems.
Killed during what police called an armed robbery.
Sofia continued.
“One night he found something hidden inside a truck.”
“What?”
“A ledger.”
Rossi’s smile vanished.
Sofia looked at Adrian.
“Payments. Names. Dates. Police officers. Judges. Contractors.”
“And Lucian?”
“His initials were everywhere.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“Initials aren’t proof.”
“No.”
Sofia swallowed.
“But Daniel recognized his voice.”
Rossi leaned back.
Adrian ignored him.
“What voice?”
“There was a recorder in the truck.”
Sofia’s eyes filled.
“Daniel brought it home. We listened together.”
Her breathing became shallow.
“He was scared.”
“What was on it?”
“A conversation between Lucian and another man. They were talking about moving weapons through Moretti warehouses without your knowledge.”
Adrian’s blood chilled.
Weapons trafficking was one line he had refused to cross.
After his father died, Adrian had shut down several operations and forced the family organization toward unions, gambling, construction, logistics, and other businesses that could eventually become legitimate.
Lucian had complained.
But he had complied.
Or Adrian believed he had.
“Why didn’t Daniel come to me?”
“He tried.”
Adrian frowned.
Sofia’s tears spilled over.
“The night he died.”
The room became very quiet.
“He called your office.”
Adrian remembered nothing.
“Who answered?”
“Your secretary said you were unavailable.”
That had been three years and nine months ago.
A different secretary.
One Lucian had recommended.
Daniel had been shot before midnight.
Adrian stared at Sofia.
“And the ledger?”
“Gone.”
“Recording?”
“Gone.”
Rossi interrupted.
“Not all of it.”
Sofia closed her eyes.
Adrian turned.
Rossi tapped his temple.
“Daniel was smarter than Lucian thought.”
“What does that mean?”
“He made a copy.”
“Where?”
Rossi smiled.
“That’s why your maid is still breathing.”
Adrian stepped toward him.
The guards raised their weapons again.
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
Rossi’s smile vanished.
“I’ve spent three years squeezing her for the answer.”
Sofia’s voice broke.
“I don’t know either.”
Adrian looked at her bruised face.
“The debt.”
She nodded.
“There was no debt.”
Rossi shrugged.
“It kept her cooperative.”
Adrian’s hands curled.
“He threatened Emma.”
“I needed leverage.”
Something changed in Adrian’s face.
Every man in the room saw it.
Rossi did too.
He raised a hand.
“Careful.”
“You threatened a three-year-old child.”
“I threatened her mother.”
“You used Emma’s father’s murder to terrorize them.”
Rossi’s chair scraped backward.
“Stone.”
Adrian drew a pistol from beneath his coat.
Sofia gasped.
But he did not point it at Rossi.
He placed it on the table.
Rossi stared.
Adrian spoke softly.
“You have two choices.”
Rossi laughed nervously.
“You walk out of this building tonight and disappear forever.”
“And the second?”
Adrian looked at Sofia.
“You stay.”
No one misunderstood.
Rossi wet his lips.
“You think Lucian will let you protect them?”
Adrian’s gaze hardened.
“Lucian doesn’t know I know yet.”
“He knows more than you think.”
“What does that mean?”
Rossi smiled.
“The car bomb.”
Adrian stopped.
Sofia looked between them.
“What about the car bomb?”
Rossi leaned toward Adrian.
“The one that killed Elena and Claire.”
Adrian’s body went completely still.
“Choose your next words very carefully.”
“You spent three years believing the bomb was meant for you.”
“It was.”
“Was it?”
Adrian’s heartbeat became deafening.
Rossi continued.
“You were supposed to attend that fundraiser with them.”
“Yes.”
“You canceled because of a federal subpoena.”
“Yes.”
“Who knew you canceled?”
Adrian said nothing.
Rossi answered for him.
“Lucian.”
The room tilted.
“No.”
“He was at the estate that morning.”
“No.”
“He spoke to Elena.”
“Stop.”
“He knew you weren’t in the car.”
Adrian crossed the room before anyone moved.
His fist hit Rossi’s mouth.
The chair toppled.
Two guards aimed weapons.
Marco’s men burst through the back entrance.
Chaos exploded.
“DOWN!”
Guns came up.
Tables overturned.
Sofia screamed.
Adrian grabbed Rossi by the collar and pulled him upright.
“You’re lying!”
Rossi spat blood.
“Check the bombing report!”
“I read it a hundred times.”
“Then read the part you were never shown.”
Adrian froze.
“What part?”
Rossi laughed despite the blood on his teeth.
“The detonator.”
Marco stepped closer.
“Boss?”
Rossi looked straight at Adrian.
“Remote trigger.”
Adrian already knew that.
The police had believed someone watched the vehicle leave.
Rossi continued.
“The signal receiver had a seventy-yard range.”
Adrian’s stomach dropped.
The bomber had to be nearby.
“There were security cameras.”
“Three failed that morning.”
Adrian remembered.
A power fluctuation.
A coincidence.
“Who supervised the replacement system?”
Rossi asked.
Adrian said nothing.
Lucian.
Rossi saw the answer.
“Your brother didn’t need to kill you, Stone.”
His voice dropped.
“He needed to break you.”
Adrian released him.
For three years, he had lived among ghosts.
He had abandoned board meetings.
Stopped attending family events.
Left most public business to Lucian.
He had surrendered power without realizing it.
Exactly what someone might have wanted.
Sofia whispered, “Adrian.”
He turned.
She looked terrified for him.
Not of him.
For him.
That disturbed him more.
Marco walked over and cut the restraints from her wrist.
Adrian took off his coat and placed it around her shoulders.
“We’re leaving.”
Rossi wiped blood from his mouth.
“What about me?”
Adrian looked at him.
“You disappear.”
Rossi smiled faintly.
“Lucian will find me.”
“Then run faster.”
Outside, snow had begun falling.
Sofia shivered as Adrian opened the Lincoln’s passenger door.
“I need Emma.”
“She’s at the estate.”
Sofia went white.
“What?”
“She’s safe.”
“You took her there?”
“Yes.”
Sofia grabbed his sleeve.
“You don’t understand.”
Adrian frowned.
“Understand what?”
Her eyes filled with terror.
“I never came to your house only because Daniel worked for you.”
The world seemed to slow again.
“Then why?”
She looked toward the dark street.
“Daniel told me something before he died.”
Adrian waited.
“He said if anything happened to him, there was only one place Emma and I might survive.”
Adrian’s chest tightened.
“What place?”
Sofia looked directly into his eyes.
“Your house.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel trusted you.”
Adrian almost laughed bitterly.
“He never knew me.”
“Yes, he did.”
“No.”
“He knew what you did for Elena.”
Adrian stared.
Sofia’s voice softened.
“He knew you were trying to change the Moretti family.”
Her lips trembled.
“And he knew the person who killed him would eventually come after Emma.”
Adrian looked toward the road.
“Why Emma?”
Sofia hesitated.
May you like
Then whispered the words he was not prepared to hear.
“Because Daniel hid the evidence somewhere only our daughter could lead us to.”
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