Chapter 11 - The Man Who Died Twice
“Michael.”
The name left Georgia’s lips before she could stop it.
The man on the balcony lowered the hood completely.
He looked older than she remembered.
Thinner.
His dark hair had turned almost completely silver.
But the eyes were the same.
Warm brown eyes that had once smiled at her across the kitchen table.
Eyes she remembered from childhood photographs.
Eyes she had believed she would never see again.
Michael Reed.
Her father’s closest friend.
The man who had taught her how to ride a bicycle.
The man who had carried her when she fell asleep at Flynn’s after closing.
The man whose obituary Georgia had seen when she was eleven.
The man whose death certificate her mother had kept in a locked drawer.
Georgia stared at him.
“You died.”
Michael smiled sadly.
“That was the idea.”
Damiano stepped in front of her.
“You’re supposed to be dead.”
Michael looked at him.
“So is your father.”
Damiano’s jaw tightened.
“Don't.”
Michael lifted page 114.
“You've spent twenty years believing the wrong people died.”
Georgia couldn't move.
Her eyes stayed on the page.
“Give it to me.”
Michael looked at the paper.
“This?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know what it contains?”
“No.”
“Then you don't know what you're asking for.”
“I know my father died trying to protect it.”
Michael's expression softened.
“He did.”
Anthony's voice came from the upper balcony.
“Enough.”
Michael turned.
“You've had twenty years.”
Anthony raised his gun.
“You should have stayed dead.”
Michael smiled.
“I tried.”
Georgia looked between them.
“You know each other.”
Anthony laughed.
“We know each other very well.”
Michael held up the missing page.
“Anthony knows exactly what this says.”
Anthony's expression hardened.
“Give me the page.”
“No.”
“You don't understand what happens if that page becomes public.”
Michael looked at Georgia.
“That is exactly why she needs to see it.”
Anthony raised his weapon.
Damiano moved.
“Put the gun down.”
Anthony laughed.
“You think you can stop me?”
“No.”
Damiano's voice remained calm.
“I know I can.”
Georgia grabbed his arm.
“Damiano.”
He looked at her.
She shook her head.
“Not yet.”
She turned toward Michael.
“Why did you let me believe you were dead?”
Michael lowered the page.
“Because your father asked me to.”
“Why?”
“Because someone was hunting anyone connected to him.”
“And you thought disappearing was enough?”
“No.”
Michael looked toward Evelyn.
“It wasn't.”
Georgia followed his gaze.
Her mother was crying silently.
“You knew Michael was alive.”
Evelyn nodded.
“For twenty years?”
“Yes.”
Georgia felt betrayed all over again.
“You all knew.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“Everyone says that.”
Evelyn looked down.
“I know.”
Georgia turned toward Michael.
“Did my father know you survived?”
“He was the one who made me disappear.”
“Why?”
“Because I was the last person who knew where he hid the evidence.”
“The ledger.”
“No.”
Michael looked at the page.
“The ledger was only part of it.”
Georgia's stomach tightened.
“What else was there?”
“Names.”
“Names of the people in the network?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“Enough to bring down half the city.”
Anthony laughed.
“Still dramatic.”
Michael looked at him.
“You know I'm right.”
Anthony's smile faded.
Georgia looked at page 114.
“What's on it?”
Michael hesitated.
Then he held it toward her.
“Your father wrote this.”
Georgia reached for it.
Anthony shouted.
“Don't!”
A gunshot exploded.
The page flew from Michael's hand.
Georgia screamed.
Damiano pulled her down.
The paper landed on the floor.
Michael ducked behind the balcony railing.
Nathaniel fired upward.
Anthony disappeared from view.
Chaos erupted.
Men stormed through the warehouse entrance.
Damiano pushed Georgia behind the concrete pillar.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Georgia.”
“I need that page.”
“I'll get it.”
He ran.
Georgia crawled toward the fallen paper.
A boot stepped on it.
She looked up.
One of Anthony's men stood over her.
He raised his weapon.
Damiano slammed into him from the side.
The gun flew across the floor.
Georgia grabbed the page.
She folded it inside her coat.
The man lunged at her.
Damiano struck him down.
“Are you okay?”
Georgia nodded.
“I have it.”
“Good.”
A second man appeared.
Michael jumped from the balcony.
He landed hard beside them.
Georgia stared.
“You could have died.”
Michael laughed breathlessly.
“Again?”
Damiano looked at him.
“Can you fight?”
Michael picked up the fallen weapon.
“Your father taught me.”
Another burst of gunfire erupted.
The three of them moved behind the crates.
Anthony was gone.
So was Evelyn.
Georgia looked around.
“Mom!”
No answer.
“Where is she?”
Michael's expression changed.
“Anthony took her.”
Georgia's blood went cold.
“Then we follow him.”
“No.”
Michael grabbed her wrist.
“You need to listen to me.”
“Let go.”
“Your mother knew this day would come.”
“Then she can explain it herself.”
Michael looked at Damiano.
“There's something you don't know.”
Damiano stared at him.
“What?”
Michael's voice lowered.
“Nico isn't missing.”
Damiano froze.
Georgia looked at him.
“What?”
Michael continued.
“Your brother has been alive all these years.”
Damiano's face went pale.
“Where?”
Michael didn't answer.
“Where is he?”
“He's been watching Georgia.”
Georgia's heart stopped.
“Watching me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Patrick asked him to.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It will.”
Michael pulled a small photograph from his coat.
He handed it to Georgia.
The picture showed her outside Flynn Creative Group.
Taken only a few months earlier.
Standing beside her was a young man.
Dark hair.
Tall.
A faint scar near his eyebrow.
Georgia didn't recognize him.
But he was looking directly at the camera.
Michael pointed to him.
“Nico.”
Damiano stared.
“He looks…”
“Like Salvatore,” Michael said.
Damiano shook his head.
“No.”
Georgia looked at the photograph again.
There was something familiar about the young man's face.
Something she couldn't place.
“When was this taken?”
“Three months ago.”
“Why was he watching me?”
“Because someone else was watching you first.”
“Who?”
Michael looked toward the warehouse entrance.
“The same person who put the tracker under your car.”
Georgia's breath caught.
Her assistant.
The betrayal.
The tracker.
The office break-in.
The blind date.
The photograph.
All of it.
“Was Nico protecting me?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't he contact me?”
“Because Patrick ordered him not to.”
“My father knew Nico was alive?”
“Yes.”
“And my mother?”
“Yes.”
“Damiano?”
Michael looked at him.
“No.”
Damiano stared at the photograph.
His voice broke slightly.
“My father knew.”
“Yes.”
“But I didn't.”
“You were the one person who could never know.”
“Why?”
Michael hesitated.
“Because you were the reason Nico disappeared.”
Damiano looked at him sharply.
“What does that mean?”
“Salvatore believed Anthony would use you to find Nico.”
“So my father hid him from me?”
“Yes.”
Damiano looked devastated.
Georgia reached for his hand.
He looked at her.
For a moment, the danger around them disappeared.
Then Michael spoke.
“There’s more.”
Georgia turned.
“What?”
Michael looked at the ledger.
“Patrick wasn't the only person who wrote a message on page 114.”
He pointed toward the folded paper in Georgia's coat.
“Your mother did too.”
Georgia pulled it out.
The page was covered in handwriting.
Her father's at the top.
Then a second section.
Her mother's.
Georgia read the first line.
Georgia, if you're reading this, I failed to keep you away from the truth.
Her eyes filled.
She continued.
You were never the reason your father was targeted.
Her hands trembled.
You were the reason he kept fighting.
Georgia swallowed.
Below it:
There is one person you must never trust.
She looked at Michael.
“Who?”
Michael didn't answer.
Georgia kept reading.
It isn't Anthony.
Her heart pounded.
It isn't Martin.
Another line.
It isn't Nathaniel.
She looked up.
Everyone was watching her.
Then she read the final sentence.
The person who betrayed your father is the person who taught you to call him family.
Georgia stared at the page.
A cold feeling spread through her.
Someone had taught her to call a man family.
Someone she had trusted as a child.
Someone she had never questioned.
Michael watched her face.
“You know who it is.”
Georgia shook her head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I don't.”
“You do.”
Her mind raced through childhood.
Her father.
Her mother.
Martin.
Nathaniel.
Richard.
Michael.
Salvatore.
Anthony.
And one other name.
A name she had almost forgotten.
A man who had been at every birthday.
Every holiday.
Every family dinner.
A man who had signed her school papers when her father was gone.
A man who had told her, after Patrick died, that she could always call him Uncle.
Georgia's eyes widened.
“No.”
Damiano looked at her.
“What?”
She whispered the name.
“Thomas.”
Michael's expression changed.
Damiano frowned.
“Who is Thomas?”
“My father's older brother.”
Michael shook his head.
“Patrick never had a brother.”
Georgia stared.
“What?”
Michael's voice became very quiet.
“The man you called Uncle Thomas wasn't your father's brother.”
“Then who was he?”
Michael looked toward the staircase.
“He was the one person Patrick feared more than Anthony.”
Georgia's phone suddenly vibrated.
A new message appeared.
You finally remembered me.
She stared at the screen.
Another message arrived.
Now come to the house where you were born.
Then a photograph appeared.
Georgia opened it.
Her blood ran cold.
It showed Evelyn holding a newborn baby.
Beside her stood Salvatore Fontana.
And behind them—
Thomas.
Alive.
Smiling.
Holding another newborn in his arms.
Georgia stared at the photograph.
There were two babies.
One was her.
The other was Nico.
And written beneath the photograph was one sentence:
Only one of them was supposed to survive.
Georgia looked up at Michael.
“Where is Thomas?”
Michael's face went pale.
“He's already here.”
The warehouse lights went out again.
May you like
A man's voice whispered from directly behind Georgia—
“Hello, sweetheart.”
