Chapter 6 - The Door Adrian Vale Opened
The forged letter contained instructions for Meline's death.
She read it twice.
Then a third time.
The words remained impossible.
Adrian examined the metadata.
"Someone created this using Lorenzo's credentials."
"Daniel?" Meline asked.
"No."
Lorenzo leaned closer.
"Look at the timestamp."
3:17 a.m.
Lorenzo had been with Meline that night.
She remembered because it was the night he proposed.
They had stayed awake until sunrise.
"Who had your credentials?" she asked.
"Three people."
"Names."
"Marco. My attorney. And my uncle."
"Which uncle?"
Lorenzo's face hardened.
"Vittorio."
Meline knew Vittorio Moretti.
He had toasted their wedding.
Called her family.
Sent flowers every birthday.
Another trusted person.
Another lie.
The archive showed Vittorio had secretly maintained parts of Richard Mercer's network after Lorenzo attempted to clean Moretti Imports.
Daniel had been useful.
But Vittorio had been above him.
Suddenly the surveillance made more sense.
Someone had not merely been watching Meline.
Someone had been waiting for Michael Hayes's evidence to resurface.
Adrian said, "We need to move."
Meline looked at him.
"Where?"
"Somewhere Vittorio doesn't control."
Lorenzo shook his head.
"Not one of mine."
"Agreed."
Adrian looked at Meline.
"My place."
Lorenzo laughed humorlessly.
"Absolutely not."
Meline stood.
"Your opinion has been recorded."
Lorenzo stared at her.
She almost enjoyed that.
Adrian's property was nothing like Lorenzo's mansion.
No marble staircase.
No enormous skyline.
A secluded modern house overlooking the Hudson.
Quiet.
Simple.
Secure.
Meline was given a bedroom with a lock on the inside.
That detail did not escape her.
Adrian handed her the key.
"No cameras inside. No guards outside your door. If you want to leave, the car keys are downstairs."
Meline studied him.
"Are you trying to make Lorenzo look bad?"
"No."
"You're succeeding."
Adrian almost smiled.
Lorenzo, standing behind them, did not.
Later, Meline found Adrian alone on the terrace.
"Why did Daniel call you Lorenzo's rival?"
"Because Lorenzo and I spent ten years trying to destroy each other's influence."
"Why?"
"We blamed each other's families for what happened to your father."
"And now?"
"Now we know Vittorio encouraged that feud because it kept us looking at each other."
Meline leaned against the railing.
"Men seem to waste extraordinary amounts of time proving they're the most dangerous person in a room."
Adrian laughed.
"Your father said something similar."
She looked at him.
"You knew him well?"
"Very."
"Did he trust you?"
"Eventually."
"Do I?"
"No."
The answer surprised her.
Adrian continued.
"You shouldn't trust anyone just because they claim they protected you."
Meline thought of Lorenzo.
"That's unusually self-aware."
"I've had practice being wrong."
They stood quietly.
Then Adrian said, "There's something else."
Of course there was.
"What?"
"Your father left me a letter."
"For me?"
"No. For Lorenzo."
"Did you give it to him?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because Michael told me to give it to Lorenzo only if he ever loved you enough to let you leave."
Meline stared at him.
"That's absurdly specific."
"Your father was annoyingly specific."
"Why now?"
"Because this morning, you walked out of Lorenzo's house."
"And he let me."
"Yes."
Meline looked through the glass doors.
Lorenzo sat alone in the living room.
He had not followed her onto the terrace.
Had not demanded conversation.
Had not tried to take her home.
For the first time since she'd known him, he was protecting her by doing nothing.
Adrian handed her an envelope.
"Your choice."
Meline carried it inside.
She placed it before Lorenzo.
His face changed when he recognized Michael's handwriting.
"You should read it."
"It's addressed to you."
"Everything involving my father somehow became my business years before anyone bothered telling me."
Lorenzo opened it.
Michael's letter was short.
If you are reading this, then you finally learned the difference between keeping someone safe and keeping someone.
Meline swallowed.
Lorenzo continued reading silently.
His eyes reddened.
"What else?"
He handed her the letter.
Michael had written:
Meline spent her childhood believing love had to be earned by making herself smaller. Do not become another man who asks her to shrink. If she chooses you, deserve it. If she chooses freedom, open the door.
Meline read it twice.
Then she looked at Lorenzo.
He stood.
Walked toward the front entrance.
Opened the door.
And placed his car keys on the table beside it.
"You can leave whenever you want," he said.
"No one follows you. No one watches you. No one reports to me."
Meline's throat tightened.
"And us?"
His eyes filled with something she had never seen from Lorenzo Moretti.
Helplessness.
"That's your choice too."
A phone rang.
Adrian answered.
His face immediately changed.
"What?"
He listened.
Then looked at Meline.
"Vittorio has your mother."
Meline went cold.
Adrian continued listening.
Then he slowly lowered the phone.
"He doesn't want the archive."
"What does he want?"
May you like
Adrian looked directly at her.
"You."
