Chapter 3 - The Gala of Liars
"Stay down!"
Lucian covered Evelyn as glass crashed across the penthouse floor.
Another bullet struck the wall.
Security guards rushed into position.
Lucian dragged Evelyn behind a structural column.
Marcus groaned.
Alive.
Blood spread across his shoulder.
Lucian barked, "Medic."
Evelyn stared toward the broken window.
"Where did that shot come from?"
"Another tower."
"Another tower?"
"Yes."
"This is your normal life?"
"No."
"That's becoming your favorite lie."
Lucian looked at her.
For one dangerous second, neither spoke.
Then the medic team reached Marcus.
The bullet had passed through his shoulder.
Painful but survivable.
Lucian crouched beside him.
"Why would Sofia warn me about you?"
Marcus's breathing was ragged.
"Because somebody wants you to."
"Try again."
"I never hurt Sofia."
"That's not what I asked."
Marcus closed his eyes.
"Three years ago, Sofia came to me."
Lucian froze.
"When?"
"Two weeks before the crash."
"What did she want?"
"Protection."
Lucian's face changed.
"From whom?"
Marcus looked toward Evelyn.
"Your family."
The word landed harder than the gunshot.
Lucian stood.
"Get him downstairs."
Marcus caught his wrist.
"Don't go to the gala."
"Why?"
"Dominic knows you're coming."
"How?"
Marcus looked toward his ringing phone.
"Because I was supposed to deliver you."
Evelyn felt ice crawl along her spine.
Lucian stared at the man who had worked beside him for fourteen years.
"Deliver me where?"
Marcus's voice fell to a whisper.
"To Sofia."
Lucian didn't move.
Evelyn could almost see the questions colliding behind his eyes.
"Is she alive?"
Marcus hesitated.
"I don't know."
Lucian looked ready to kill him.
"That is not an acceptable answer."
"I swear. I haven't seen her since before the crash."
"Then why did you say deliver me to Sofia?"
"Those were Dominic's words."
Lucian straightened.
"Take him."
Security removed Marcus.
Evelyn picked up the tablet.
The frozen image of Sofia stared from the screen.
"Maybe the gala is exactly where we should go."
Lucian turned.
"We?"
"Someone put that key on my cart. Someone photographed me. Someone knows my mother worked for your father. I'm already involved."
"I can put you under protection."
"Your head of security just admitted he was taking orders from your uncle."
Lucian said nothing.
"Exactly."
He looked almost annoyed that she had made sense.
Thirty minutes later, they arrived at the Vale Foundation gala.
Evelyn had never been around that much money.
The ballroom occupied the top two floors of a hotel overlooking Central Park. Crystal lights hung over hundreds of guests. Politicians, CEOs, celebrities, financiers.
And somewhere among them, perhaps, the person who had arranged Sofia Vale's death.
Or disappearance.
Lucian entered with Evelyn on his arm.
The room changed.
Conversations lowered.
People turned.
Power moved differently around Lucian.
It wasn't loud.
It didn't need to be.
Everyone seemed to know that the man entering the ballroom could alter their lives with one phone call.
Evelyn leaned toward him.
"People are scared of you."
"Some."
"Most."
"Useful distinction."
"Do you ever answer normally?"
"No."
She almost laughed.
At the far end of the ballroom stood Dominic Vale.
Late fifties.
Silver hair.
Perfect tuxedo.
Warm smile.
He looked nothing like the villain Evelyn expected.
That made him worse.
Dominic opened his arms.
"Nephew."
Lucian didn't return the gesture.
"Uncle."
Dominic looked at Evelyn.
"And you must be Evelyn Hart."
Evelyn felt Lucian's arm tense.
"I don't remember introducing her."
Dominic smiled.
"You didn't."
Silence.
Dominic offered Evelyn his hand.
She didn't take it.
His smile grew slightly.
"You have your mother's caution."
Evelyn's blood ran cold.
"You knew her."
"Oh, yes."
"How?"
Dominic glanced around.
"Not here."
Lucian stepped closer.
"We're talking here."
Dominic's pleasant expression hardened by one degree.
"Always impatient."
"You knew Diane Hart."
"She worked for Alessandro."
"You know why someone brought Evelyn into this."
Dominic lifted a champagne glass from a passing tray.
"You assume there is a this."
Lucian took the glass from his hand and set it aside.
"Sofia is alive."
For the first time, Dominic's composure cracked.
Barely.
But enough.
Evelyn saw it.
Lucian did too.
Dominic recovered.
"Grief does strange things."
"I watched footage from tonight."
"Footage can be manipulated."
"She knew about 317."
Dominic's gaze sharpened.
"Where did you hear that number?"
Lucian smiled without warmth.
There it was.
The mistake.
Dominic knew.
Before Lucian could speak, a woman approached.
"Mr. Vale?"
She was one of the gala staff.
She handed Evelyn a folded napkin.
"This was left for you."
"For me?"
The woman nodded and left.
Evelyn unfolded it.
Bathroom. Second floor. Come alone if you want the truth about your mother.
Lucian read over her shoulder.
"No."
"I'm going."
"No."
"You don't own me."
"No, but tonight someone is trying very hard to kill people standing near me."
"I've noticed."
"Then stop volunteering."
Evelyn looked at Dominic.
He was already speaking with someone else.
Pretending not to watch.
"Someone wants me upstairs."
"Which is exactly why you're not going."
She lowered her voice.
"Then follow me from a distance."
Lucian studied her.
"You do understand how bad an idea that is?"
"Almost as bad as bringing a maid to a criminal conspiracy in borrowed designer clothes."
Five minutes later, Evelyn climbed the staircase alone.
Lucian followed twenty feet behind.
The second-floor corridor was nearly empty.
She entered the women's restroom.
No one.
On the marble counter sat another envelope.
EVELYN.
Inside was a photograph of Diane Hart.
Her mother.
Young.
Standing beside Alessandro Vale.
And Sofia.
Evelyn stared.
The photo had been taken years before Sofia married Lucian.
That made no sense.
Sofia looked perhaps eighteen.
Evelyn's mother had one hand resting protectively on her shoulder.
On the back was written:
YOUR MOTHER SAVED HER ONCE.
A stall door clicked.
Evelyn looked up.
"Sofia?"
No answer.
She slowly approached.
The door opened.
A frightened young server stepped out.
"Are you Evelyn?"
"Yes."
The girl handed her a flash drive.
"A woman paid me to give you this."
"What woman?"
"Blonde. Maybe forty."
"Where is she?"
The girl pointed toward the service hallway.
"She left."
Evelyn ran.
"Evelyn!" Lucian called.
She pushed through the service door.
A figure disappeared around the corner.
Blonde hair.
Evelyn chased her.
The corridor led to a private stairwell.
Footsteps echoed below.
Lucian caught up.
"Stop."
"She's here."
They descended.
One floor.
Two.
The stairwell door opened into an underground garage.
Empty rows of black cars.
A woman stood at the far end.
Lucian stopped.
"Sofia."
The woman turned.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Older.
Alive.
Lucian's breathing changed.
For three years, he had believed he buried his wife.
Now she stood forty feet away.
Sofia raised one hand.
"Don't come closer."
Lucian whispered, "Why?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I was trying to keep you alive."
"By letting me bury you?"
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
Sofia looked past him.
At Evelyn.
"Diane promised me her daughter would never be dragged into this."
Evelyn stepped forward.
"My mother knew you?"
"She saved me."
"From what?"
Sofia's expression twisted.
"From Lucian's father."
Lucian went still.
Sofia continued.
"Alessandro wasn't building only a criminal empire. He was building a system. Judges. Companies. Police. Banks. Everything recorded. Everything controlled."
"And my mother?"
"She found the archive."
"The archive in 317?"
"No."
Sofia shook her head.
"317 was the entrance."
Evelyn's heart hammered.
"Entrance to what?"
Sofia looked at Lucian.
"The reason your father was murdered."
A car engine roared.
Headlights flashed.
Lucian grabbed Evelyn.
The vehicle accelerated directly toward them.
They dove behind a pillar.
Sofia ran.
Gunfire erupted.
When Lucian looked again, Sofia had vanished.
The car sped toward the exit.
On the concrete where Sofia had stood lay a small red notebook.
Evelyn grabbed it.
Inside were dozens of names.
Politicians.
Executives.
Police commanders.
And one name circled three times.
DOMINIC VALE.
Beneath it:
HE DID NOT KILL ALESSANDRO.
HE WORKED FOR THE PERSON WHO DID.
Lucian flipped the page.
There was one final line.
THE PERSON RUNNING THE NETWORK IS ALREADY INSIDE YOUR HOME.
Lucian's phone vibrated.
A penthouse security alert appeared.
FRONT DOOR OPENED.
No authorized entry.
Then the live camera feed loaded.
May you like
Someone was standing inside Lucian's bedroom.
And the person slowly turned toward the camera.
