Chapter 4 - The Ring That Shouldn't Have Existed
Elara ran to him.
“Where are you hit?”
Adrian looked down.
“Not my blood.”
She nearly collapsed with relief.
Behind him, two of his men appeared.
“One shooter escaped,” Adrian said.
Marianne's eyes fixed on the ring.
“You gave her Sofia's ring.”
Adrian looked at Elara's hand.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“It fit.”
Marianne almost laughed.
“That isn't an answer.”
Elara pulled the ring off.
“Good. Because I'm done wearing props.”
She handed it back.
Adrian didn't take it.
“Keep it.”
“No.”
“Please.”
The word surprised everyone.
Marianne looked away.
Elara stared at Adrian.
“Why?”
His voice was quieter.
“My mother gave that ring to me before she died.”
Elara's anger sharpened.
“So you carry your dead mother's wedding ring around waiting for random women at receptions?”
Julian made a strangled sound that might have been a laugh.
Adrian ignored him.
“I brought it because of you.”
Silence.
Elara's pulse quickened.
“What?”
“I knew Julian would be at the wedding.”
“That doesn't explain the ring.”
“I knew he might approach you.”
“Still not an explanation.”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“I planned to introduce myself.”
“As what?”
“Myself.”
“And then?”
“I don't know.”
It was the first time she had heard him sound uncertain.
Marianne watched him closely.
“You knew more than you told her.”
Adrian looked at Marianne.
“So did you.”
“Stop.”
Elara's voice echoed through the tunnel.
“Both of you.”
Lily stirred against her shoulder.
Elara lowered her voice.
“My daughter is tired. Men are shooting at us. My dead mother is alive. My ex-fiancé is suddenly pretending to have a conscience. And the Mafia Boss who sat beside me at a wedding apparently carried his mother's ring specifically for me.”
Julian said, “When you put it that way—”
“Don't.”
He shut up.
Elara turned to Marianne.
“Where can Lily be safe?”
Marianne hesitated.
Adrian answered.
“My house.”
“No.”
Elara glared.
He continued.
“It has private security, reinforced access, and no one gets within half a mile without being seen.”
Marianne said, “He's right.”
Elara looked between them.
She hated that those two words had become her best option.
An hour later, Lily slept in an upstairs guest bedroom at Adrian's estate.
Elara sat beside her until her breathing became slow and steady.
Then she went downstairs.
Adrian's home was nothing like she expected.
Not gaudy.
Not cold.
Dark wood.
Old books.
Family photographs.
On one wall was a picture of Adrian at perhaps ten years old beside a beautiful dark-haired woman.
His mother.
Sofia.
Elara looked at her hand.
The ring was back on her finger.
She couldn't explain why she had put it there.
Adrian entered.
“You should sleep.”
“You should stop telling me what to do.”
“Fair.”
He poured water.
Not whiskey.
Elara noticed.
“Where is Marianne?”
“Marco is questioning her.”
“You mean interrogating.”
“Talking.”
“Men like you don't talk.”
“Men like me spend most of our lives talking so we don't have to do the other thing.”
Elara studied him.
“You're not what I expected.”
“That's rarely a compliment.”
“It wasn't.”
He almost smiled.
She sat.
“Tell me why you knew about Lily.”
Adrian remained standing.
“Marianne contacted me four years ago.”
Elara froze.
“You said you hadn't heard from her.”
“I said I hadn't found her.”
“That is wordplay.”
“Yes.”
“Why would you lie?”
“Because her message came anonymously.”
“But you knew it was her?”
“I suspected.”
“What did she say?”
Adrian took out his phone.
He opened an old encrypted message.
A photograph of infant Lily appeared.
Elara's eyes narrowed.
Below it:
If anything happens to Elara, protect the child. She is the key to everything.
Elara looked up.
“Why you?”
“I don't know.”
“Don't.”
“I don't.”
“You knew my mother.”
“Yes.”
“You helped her escape.”
“Yes.”
“You searched for her.”
“Yes.”
“Why would she choose you if she didn't trust you?”
Adrian leaned against the table.
“Because I was the only person powerful enough to oppose Richard.”
“Or because she knew you cared.”
His eyes lifted.
Elara felt suddenly exposed.
“About her?”
“No.”
The silence changed.
“About me.”
Adrian looked away.
There it was.
Something.
Small.
Dangerous in a completely different way.
“Elara.”
“How long have you known who I was?”
“Twelve years.”
Her heartbeat skipped.
“You watched me?”
“No.”
“You investigated me?”
“Occasionally.”
“That sounds like watching.”
“I made sure you were alive.”
She stared.
“You knew I was struggling.”
“Yes.”
“You could have helped.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you?”
“Because Marianne told me never to interfere unless you were in danger.”
“I was poor.”
“You were not helpless.”
“I was alone.”
Adrian's expression tightened.
“I know.”
“You could have told me she might be alive.”
“I had no proof.”
“You could have told me about Richard.”
“And made you a target before I could protect you?”
“I became one anyway.”
“Yes.”
He looked tired for the first time.
“And I was wrong.”
That stopped her.
Men like Julian apologized to manipulate.
Adrian seemed almost uncomfortable admitting failure.
“Why did you come tonight?”
“Because someone accessed an old Moretti archive three days ago.”
“And?”
“Your name was searched.”
“By who?”
“Richard's company.”
Elara wrapped her arms around herself.
“So you came to the wedding.”
“Yes.”
“With your mother's ring.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Adrian looked at her for a long time.
Then he walked to a locked cabinet.
He opened it.
Inside were files.
He took out a photograph.
Marianne.
Sofia Moretti.
And Elara.
Elara was maybe sixteen.
The photograph had been taken at a charity luncheon.
She remembered that day.
Her mother had made her wear an ugly yellow dress.
“You were there.”
“I was.”
She studied the picture.
Adrian stood in the background.
Twenty-eight.
Serious.
Watching something outside the frame.
“What is this?”
“My mother and Marianne were friends.”
Elara looked up.
“What?”
“Sofia discovered what my father was doing at the docks.”
“Human trafficking.”
“Yes.”
“She helped my mother?”
“Yes.”
Adrian sat across from her.
“My mother was supposed to testify with Marianne.”
“What happened?”
“She died first.”
Elara's stomach dropped.
“How?”
“Car accident.”
The same words.
She understood.
“Not an accident.”
“No.”
“Your father?”
“I believed so.”
“And Marianne?”
“Disappeared three months later.”
Elara looked at Sofia's ring.
“So this isn't about me.”
Adrian's gaze settled on her.
“It started with them.”
“And now?”
“Now Richard has taken shots at you and Lily.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
He didn't answer.
A knock interrupted them.
Marco entered.
“Boss.”
Adrian stood.
“What did she say?”
“Marianne wants to tell both of you.”
They found Marianne in the study.
Julian was already there.
Elara frowned.
“Why him?”
Marianne said, “Because his father is part of it.”
Julian folded his arms.
Marianne looked at them.
“Richard did not order Sofia's death.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“How do you know?”
“Because I did.”
Silence.
Elara stared.
Adrian did not move.
Marianne continued quickly.
“Not intentionally.”
His voice became ice.
“Explain.”
“Sofia and I were meeting the federal prosecutor.”
Adrian's breathing changed.
“Your father discovered it. He sent men to intercept us.”
“You said you killed her.”
“I was driving.”
Marianne's voice shook.
“We were chased. A truck hit us. Sofia died at the scene.”
Adrian's face went blank.
“I survived.”
Elara understood.
“You blamed yourself.”
“Every day.”
Marianne looked at Adrian.
“Carlo covered up Sofia's involvement afterward.”
“Why?”
“Because he loved her.”
Adrian laughed once without humor.
“He had a strange way of showing it.”
“He didn't order her death.”
“Richard did?”
“No.”
“Then who sent the truck?”
Marianne closed her eyes.
“This is what I've been trying to prove.”
Julian said, “My father.”
Marianne looked at him.
“Yes.”
Julian went pale.
Adrian's fists tightened.
Marianne continued.
“Richard learned Sofia and I copied the ledger. He manipulated Carlo into believing we were stealing from him, then arranged the chase.”
Elara whispered, “So Richard killed Sofia.”
“Yes.”
“And tried to kill you.”
“Yes.”
“Then why hasn't he killed you now?”
Marianne's expression changed.
“Because he needs me.”
“For what?”
“The vault.”
Elara frowned.
“Lily opens it.”
“Only the first lock.”
“What is the second?”
Marianne looked at Adrian.
“His blood.”
Nobody spoke.
Adrian said, “Why?”
“Because Sofia created the vault.”
He stared.
Marianne continued.
“She knew neither family could be trusted alone. So she designed a dead man's switch.”
Elara shook her head.
“But Lily wasn't born.”
“The lock originally required your blood.”
“Then Richard changed it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he discovered something after Lily was born.”
Elara's throat tightened.
“What?”
Marianne looked toward Julian.
“I need him to hear this.”
Julian stepped forward.
“What did my father discover?”
Marianne's eyes filled with something close to pity.
“Lily's DNA.”
Elara went cold.
“No.”
Julian frowned.
“What about it?”
Marianne looked directly at him.
“Richard didn't change the lock because Lily was Elara's daughter.”
A pause.
“He changed it because he discovered who Lily's father really was.”
Elara's voice broke.
“Julian is her father.”
Julian looked sick.
Marianne slowly shook her head.
“No.”
A sound came from the hallway.
A glass shattered.
Everyone turned.
May you like
Lily stood in the doorway.
And behind her was a man pointing a gun at Adrian.
