Chapter 6 - The Brother They Tried First
Adrian did not go alone.
He simply made it look that way.
At 6:18 a.m., his SUV entered the underground garage beneath Moretti Memorial Hospital.
Luca and Marco arrived separately.
Keller remained with Isabella.
Elena and Sofia were moved to a secured apartment with guards Adrian personally selected.
No one knew the address except Adrian.
Not even Victor.
Especially not Victor.
The hospital was quiet.
Adrian entered through the research wing.
A message arrived from an unknown number.
BASEMENT. ARCHIVE C.
He descended.
The underground corridor smelled of disinfectant and concrete.
Archive C stood open.
Victor sat inside.
His wrists were bound to a chair.
Blood marked one side of his forehead.
Adrian entered.
Victor looked up.
“About time.”
Adrian closed the door.
“Daniel?”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“You figured that much out.”
“Where is he?”
“If I knew, I wouldn't be tied to a chair.”
Adrian cut the restraints.
Victor rubbed his wrists.
“You followed me to the warehouse.”
“Yes.”
“I knew.”
“Obviously.”
“I was trying to find Daniel.”
“You were discussing dosage.”
Victor looked at him.
“Because I was buying information.”
“The man?”
“Former lab technician.”
“And Sofia?”
Victor’s expression changed.
“What happened to Sofia?”
Adrian studied him.
He truly didn't know.
“Daniel took her.”
Victor swore.
“She’s safe.”
Victor closed his eyes briefly.
“Thank God.”
Adrian watched him.
“Why does she call you Uncle?”
“She doesn't.”
“Not you.”
Victor understood.
“Daniel.”
“Yes.”
Victor sat heavily.
“I should have seen it.”
“Seen what?”
“Daniel started visiting the penthouse after Elena was hired. He said he liked the kid.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“He used her to observe us.”
“Probably.”
“Why protect him?”
Victor looked at Adrian.
“Because I promised his father.”
“Gabriel.”
“Yes.”
“Gabriel experimented on Luca.”
Victor’s face changed.
“You know.”
“I know enough.”
“No, you don't.”
“Then fix that.”
Victor leaned against the archive cabinet.
“Gabriel was obsessed with proving Antonio was unfit to lead. He thought if he could make your father appear unstable, the family would remove him.”
“So he developed Somnus.”
“He stole it.”
“And tested it on Luca.”
Victor nodded.
“Not intentionally at first.”
Adrian’s stare sharpened.
“Careful.”
“He contaminated supplements in Antonio’s house. Luca took them.”
“And when Gabriel realized?”
“He kept going.”
Adrian looked away.
He needed a second.
Only one.
“Why?”
“To collect data.”
The door opened.
Luca entered.
Victor froze.
Luca had heard everything.
“You let him?”
Victor shook his head.
“I didn't know until later.”
“How much later?”
“Months.”
“And then?”
“I confronted Gabriel.”
“What did you do?”
“I threatened to tell Antonio.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
Luca laughed without humor.
“Family loyalty.”
“Cowardice,” Victor said. “Call it what it was.”
Luca stared at him.
Victor continued.
“Gabriel promised he destroyed the research. Then he died five years later. I believed it was finished.”
“But Daniel inherited it,” Adrian said.
“Yes.”
“Why target me?”
Victor looked toward the archive shelves.
“Because you were going to dismantle the organization Gabriel believed belonged to his branch of the family.”
Adrian understood.
Three years earlier, Adrian planned to sell the questionable businesses and convert the Moretti empire into entirely legitimate holdings.
Daniel would lose millions.
Possibly hundreds of millions.
“So he kept me impaired.”
“Yes.”
“And you?”
Victor hesitated.
Adrian’s voice lowered.
“What did you do?”
“I discovered the truth eighteen months ago.”
Luca stepped forward.
“You knew for eighteen months?”
Victor nodded.
“Why didn't you tell us?”
“Daniel threatened evidence that could put both of you in prison for crimes your father committed.”
Adrian stared.
“You believed him?”
“I saw the files.”
“So you protected him.”
“I tried to control him.”
“You helped poison me.”
“No.”
“You knew.”
Victor looked at the floor.
That was answer enough.
Adrian turned away.
He wanted to hit him.
Instead, he opened an archive drawer.
Empty.
“Where are the records?”
Victor looked up.
“They were here.”
“Not anymore.”
A speaker above the door crackled.
Daniel’s voice filled the room.
“Good morning, cousins.”
Luca looked upward.
Adrian remained still.
Daniel continued.
“I imagine Uncle Victor has finally confessed.”
Victor whispered, “Daniel.”
“Don't look so disappointed, Uncle. You taught me family survives by keeping leverage.”
Adrian scanned the room.
Camera in the corner.
“You wanted us here.”
“Correct.”
“Why?”
“Because there’s one thing my father never understood.”
Adrian waited.
“People don't need to die to lose power. They only need to look incapable of holding it.”
The lights shut off.
Emergency red lamps illuminated.
Metal shutters slammed over the exits.
Luca ran to the door.
Locked.
A ventilation fan activated.
Victor looked up.
“No.”
Adrian smelled something faint.
Chemical.
“Cover your mouths.”
They pulled shirts over their noses.
Daniel’s voice returned.
“Don't worry. It's not lethal.”
Adrian’s vision blurred slightly.
“Just enough to make the next hour very confusing.”
Marco’s voice came through Adrian’s earpiece.
“Adrian? Respond.”
“Archive C. Ventilation attack.”
“We're coming.”
Daniel laughed through the speaker.
“Marco won't reach you.”
A loud crash sounded outside.
Then gunfire.
Luca looked at Adrian.
The room tilted.
Adrian forced himself toward the ventilation controls.
Victor grabbed a metal chair and smashed the vent grille.
Fresh air did not come.
More gas.
“Wrong duct!” Luca shouted.
Adrian spotted a fire alarm.
He pulled it.
Sprinklers activated.
The ventilation system automatically shut down.
Daniel’s voice disappeared.
Adrian inhaled.
The dizziness remained but stopped worsening.
Marco finally broke through the door with security.
“Move!”
They exited.
Daniel was gone.
But he had left something behind.
A tablet sat on a hospital cart.
The screen displayed a live video.
Elena was sitting inside the secured apartment.
Sofia played beside her.
Adrian stared.
“How does he know where they are?”
Marco went pale.
Nobody had known.
Nobody except—
Adrian.
He checked his jacket.
Inside the lining was a tiny tracking device.
Someone had planted it.
“When?”
Luca asked.
Adrian thought back.
Only one person had physically examined him recently.
Blood pressure.
Pulse.
Jacket moved from the chair.
Dr. Samuel Keller.
Adrian called Isabella.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Marco checked the estate security feed.
The cameras were offline.
Adrian ran.
Forty minutes later, they reached Isabella’s estate.
The front doors stood open.
Keller’s medical bag remained in the foyer.
A chair had been overturned.
Isabella was gone.
On the library table lay one handwritten note.
Adrian recognized Keller’s writing.
I’M SORRY. HE HAS MY DAUGHTER.
Beneath it was a second sentence.
DON’T LET DANIEL OPEN THE ORIGINAL SOMNUS FILE.
Luca looked at Adrian.
“What original file?”
Adrian turned toward the leather folder Isabella had shown them.
It was gone.
Then the old grandfather clock began chiming.
Behind it, something clicked.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside was a sealed envelope addressed in Antonio Moretti’s handwriting.
TO ADRIAN AND LUCA — OPEN ONLY IF SOMNUS RETURNS.
Adrian tore it open.
May you like
The first page contained only one sentence.
Daniel Moretti was never Gabriel’s son.
