Chapter 9 - The Last LedgerDominic wasn’t Adrien’s brother by blood.
Because Luca Viscari stepped from the shadows and put a gun against the back of his head.
“Drop it.”
Adrien’s face went white.
“Luca?”
The gun nearly slipped from his hand.
Luca looked older.
A scar cut across his cheek.
But the resemblance was unmistakable.
“Hello, little brother.”
For the first time since I had met Adrien, he looked completely unguarded.
“You’re alive.”
“Apparently.”
Victor slowly lowered his weapon.
Dominic secured him.
Marcus lay on the floor clutching his hand.
Police sirens approached.
Real police.
State and federal.
My mother had contacted them before entering.
“This ends tonight,” Isabelle said.
It didn’t.
Men like Victor built escape routes into everything.
By the time agents stormed the hangar, Victor had triggered a concealed fire system and escaped through a maintenance tunnel.
Marcus was arrested.
Several of Victor’s men were captured.
But Victor vanished.
Again.
We returned to Harbor House under federal protection.
The FBI took possession of the archive.
For three days I barely slept.
Mostly I sat with my mother.
At first we talked about facts.
Where she had lived.
Why she stayed away.
How Teresa—Mara—raised me.
Then the questions became harder.
“Did you ever come to my school?”
“Yes.”
“My graduation?”
“Yes.”
“College?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you talk to me?”
“Because Victor watched everyone you loved.”
“So you watched me too.”
“Yes.”
I looked toward the window.
“I needed you.”
Her voice broke.
“I know.”
“That doesn’t fix anything.”
“No.”
“Do you expect me to forgive you?”
“No.”
That answer mattered.
My mother didn’t ask forgiveness.
She asked for time.
It was more than Marcus had ever offered.
Mara returned on the fourth day.
I stood in the foyer while the woman I had called Aunt Teresa for sixteen years entered.
She looked exhausted.
“I suppose you hate me.”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Fair.”
I crossed my arms.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Isabelle asked me not to.”
“That stopped being a good excuse around my eighteenth birthday.”
Mara winced.
“I know.”
“You let me date Marcus.”
“I didn’t know who he was at first.”
“You’re related.”
“Distantly. I hadn’t seen that branch of the family since I was twenty.”
“When did you figure it out?”
“Six months ago.”
My stomach turned.
“And you said nothing.”
“I started watching.”
“You should have told me.”
“Yes.”
“No explanation?”
“There are explanations. None are good enough.”
I started crying.
She did too.
Then I hugged her.
Because love and anger can exist in the same body.
That was something I was learning.
Later I found Adrien outside near the water.
He had avoided me since we returned.
“You’re hiding.”
He glanced over.
“I’m standing in plain sight.”
“You know what I mean.”
He looked back toward the ocean.
“Your mother told me Victor told you.”
“That you loved her?”
“Yes.”
“Did you?”
Adrien gave a humorless laugh.
“I was eighteen. She was the bravest person I’d ever met.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“Did she love you?”
“No.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
The certainty surprised me.
Adrien continued.
“She cared about me. She protected me. She told me I was an idiot regularly.”
“That sounds like Mom.”
“She loved Victor once. Then she loved freedom more.”
I sat on the stone wall beside him.
“And you protected me because of her?”
Adrien took a long time.
“At first.”
My pulse changed.
“At first?”
He turned toward me.
“I don’t know what happens next, Elena.”
“With Victor?”
“With anything.”
His hand moved slightly, then stopped.
I realized he wanted to touch me but wouldn’t.
That mattered too.
“I’m not ready for complicated.”
“I know.”
“I just escaped one man who controlled everything I did.”
“I know.”
“I’m not looking for another.”
His gaze sharpened.
“I would never ask you to.”
Something inside me eased.
Adrien stepped away.
“You need space.”
“Maybe.”
“Take it.”
He walked toward the house.
“Adrien.”
He turned.
“Thank you for coming after me.”
His expression softened.
“I said I would protect you.”
“I don’t need a protector forever.”
“I know.”
“But that night?”
“Yes?”
“I’m glad you were there.”
He nodded.
Then left.
For the first time in years, I was alone without feeling abandoned.
That night, my mother woke me at 2:13 a.m.
“Elena.”
I sat up.
“What?”
She held a phone.
A message had arrived.
Video.
Victor.
He stood inside a room I recognized.
The Velvet Crown.
Behind him, flames climbed the walls.
“If my daughter wants freedom,” he said, “she should understand its price.”
The camera moved.
Dominic was tied to a chair.
Bleeding.
Victor smiled.
“Bring me the final ledger before sunrise, Elena.”
May you like
He lifted a gun.
“Or Adrien loses another brother.”
