Chapter 2 - The Brother Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
I ended the call.
Marco immediately asked, “Was it him?”
“Yes.”
“You’re sure?”
“I grew up with him.”
Outside, men began stepping from the SUVs.
No visible weapons.
That didn’t mean anything.
I looked at my head of security.
“Back exit.”
He nodded.
“Noah. Ruby. With me.”
Ruby clutched the music box.
“What’s happening?”
Noah stood beside her.
“My dad does that face when something bad is happening.”
“Noah.”
“What? He does.”
I took Ruby’s hand.
She hesitated.
Then held on.
We moved through the kitchen.
Marco walked beside me.
“Russo’s men?”
“Probably.”
“Why hit the restaurant?”
“To scare me.”
“No. Victor knows better.”
That bothered me too.
Victor had worked beside my family for decades.
He knew I would never leave my son unprotected.
Which meant this wasn’t an attack.
It was pressure.
We reached the underground garage.
Two armored cars waited.
Noah climbed into the first.
Ruby stopped.
“My mom.”
“I haven’t forgotten her.”
“What if they hurt her?”
“They won’t.”
I had no way to promise that.
I did anyway.
She climbed inside.
I turned to Marco.
“Find Elena.”
“Already moving.”
“And pull everything we have on Victor for the last seven years.”
Marco paused.
“You think Adrian’s disappearance was his work?”
“I think I buried an empty coffin because somebody wanted me to stop looking.”
“What if Adrian ran?”
“He wouldn’t leave me without a word unless staying would get me killed.”
Marco’s expression tightened.
“That means he believed there was someone close to you.”
“There was.”
“Victor.”
“Maybe.”
The convoy left through the garage exit.
At the Moretti estate outside the city, Ruby stared at everything as if she had entered another world.
Noah gave her a tour.
“This is the kitchen.”
Ruby nodded.
“This is the movie room.”
Another nod.
“This is the room Dad says is a library, but nobody reads anything.”
“I read.”
Noah looked at me.
“You read reports.”
“Reports have words.”
“That doesn’t count.”
Ruby laughed.
The sound stopped me.
Adrian again.
Exactly Adrian.
Noah noticed my expression.
“Dad?”
“Keep going.”
Later, Ruby sat at the kitchen island eating pasta.
She tried to eat slowly.
She failed.
Noah pushed the bread basket closer.
“You can have mine.”
“You don’t want it?”
“I hate the crust.”
“You’re weird.”
“So are you.”
She smiled.
Marco entered.
I walked away from the children.
“What?”
“We found Elena.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“St. Anne’s Hospital.”
My jaw tightened.
“What happened?”
“She was found unconscious near an abandoned warehouse.”
“Police?”
“No report.”
“Why?”
“Someone paid the hospital to keep her identity quiet.”
“Russo?”
“We don’t know.”
“When does she wake?”
“Doctor says soon.”
I looked toward Ruby.
“Prepare the car.”
Before we left, my phone rang again.
Unknown number.
“Adrian?”
“You have Ruby?”
“Yes.”
“Is she safe?”
“For now.”
“Listen carefully, Dante.”
“No. You listen. I buried you.”
Silence.
“Six years, Adrian.”
“I know.”
“I stood over your coffin.”
“I know.”
“Then explain.”
“I can’t over the phone.”
“Try.”
He exhaled.
“Victor discovered I was working with federal investigators.”
Marco looked toward me.
I put the phone on speaker.
Adrian continued.
“I wasn’t informing on the family.”
“Then who?”
“Victor.”
Marco’s face hardened.
“Why?”
“Because he’d started moving drugs through our legitimate transport companies. He was using our name without permission.”
I said, “You should’ve come to me.”
“I tried.”
“You never did.”
“Because the first person I told was our father.”
My blood went cold.
Adrian continued.
“Two days later, someone tried to kill Elena.”
Marco whispered, “Damn.”
“I realized whoever Victor had inside the family was closer than I thought.”
“Dad?”
“No. Dad was protecting you. Someone intercepted the information.”
“What happened the night you supposedly died?”
“A body was placed in my car.”
“And the jewelry?”
“Stolen before the explosion.”
“Who helped you disappear?”
“A detective named Samuel Reese.”
“Where is he?”
“Dead.”
“Convenient.”
“I know how this sounds.”
“It sounds like you let me mourn you.”
“I did what I had to do to keep Elena and Ruby alive.”
I looked at Ruby across the room.
She was showing Noah her teddy bear.
I lowered my voice.
“Why come back now?”
“Because Victor found us.”
“And now?”
Another pause.
“I’m hurt.”
“How bad?”
“Bad enough that I can’t move alone.”
“Location.”
“No.”
My anger rose.
“Adrian.”
“If Victor has someone inside your house—”
“He doesn’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
He was right.
I hated that.
“Then tell me something only you and I know.”
He laughed weakly.
“You broke Mom’s vase when you were eleven and blamed me.”
Marco looked at me.
I ignored him.
Adrian continued.
“And you cried when she punished me.”
“I did not.”
“You absolutely did.”
My throat tightened.
It was him.
“Send me your location.”
“I’ll send coordinates when you reach the hospital.”
“Why?”
“Because Elena knows the name of Victor’s inside man.”
The call ended.
Marco stared at me.
“If that’s true, we’ve had a traitor beside us for six years.”
I looked at the house around me.
At the men who guarded my son.
May you like
At doors I had believed were safe.
“Then tonight we find out who.”
