Chapter 5 - The Father Who Never Died
Adrian entered the lake house thirty seconds after Dominic.
Vincent covered the rear entrance.
Adrian heard voices below.
Then one word stopped him.
"Father?"
Elena's voice.
Adrian froze.
He descended two steps.
Through the open basement door he saw Vittorio Vale.
Alive.
Older.
Thinner.
But unmistakable.
The father Adrian had buried twelve years ago stood ten feet from his pregnant wife.
For a moment Adrian became twenty-five again.
Young.
Angry.
Standing beside a closed coffin his father had insisted no one open after a supposed boating accident.
Adrian understood everything at once.
The sealed coffin.
Dominic's disappearance.
The hidden accounts.
The men who vanished afterward.
His father had staged his death.
"Adrian," Vittorio said.
Elena turned.
Adrian stood on the stairs with his gun raised.
Her expression hardened.
"You followed me."
"Yes."
"Of course you did."
"We can argue about that later."
Dominic laughed.
"Marriage looks exhausting."
Adrian aimed at him.
"One more word."
Vittorio lifted a hand.
"Put the gun down."
Adrian looked at his father.
"You lost the right to give me orders when you made me bury an empty coffin."
Vittorio smiled faintly.
"You've become exactly what I hoped."
"I've become everything you hated."
"Same thing."
Elena stepped between their lines of sight.
"Enough."
Every man in the basement looked at her.
She stared at Vittorio.
"Did you kill my father?"
Vittorio didn't answer immediately.
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"Answer her."
Vittorio looked at Elena.
"Your father was stubborn."
"Did you kill him?"
"He refused to cooperate."
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
"That's not an answer."
"Yes."
The word landed like a gunshot.
Elena closed her eyes.
Adrian moved toward her.
She raised one hand.
Don't.
He stopped.
Vittorio continued.
"Your father had something I needed."
"The tracking system."
"Much more valuable than people realized."
Dominic leaned against the wall.
"The old man designed an invisible map of every transaction moving through Chicago."
Elena looked at him.
"And you helped murder him."
Dominic's smile disappeared.
"I delivered something. I didn't know what Vittorio intended."
"Liar," Mercer said from behind Rachel.
Dominic's face tightened.
Mercer stepped forward.
"You knew exactly what the toxin was."
Vittorio sighed.
"Samuel, you've always been sentimental."
Adrian looked around.
"Where are your men?"
Vittorio smiled.
"Closer than yours."
Vincent's voice came through Adrian's earpiece.
"Movement outside. At least eight."
Adrian's hand tightened around his weapon.
Elena saw it.
"What's happening?"
"We're surrounded."
Rachel cursed.
Vittorio gestured toward the old cabinet.
"I don't want anyone hurt."
Adrian almost laughed.
"You murdered her father."
"That was business."
Elena stared at him with disgust.
"My father was a person."
"Everyone is a person until money makes them an obstacle."
Adrian's expression darkened.
"That's why I turned against you."
Vittorio looked proud rather than offended.
"I know."
Elena turned.
"You knew he was alive?"
Adrian's face changed.
"No."
"But you knew he was responsible for my father's death."
Adrian hesitated.
That pause answered her.
Elena looked devastated.
"When?"
"I suspected before we married."
"Suspected?"
"I confirmed it afterward."
"How long afterward?"
"Three months."
Five years.
He had known for nearly five years.
Elena looked away.
Adrian spoke quickly.
"I was trying to protect you."
She laughed bitterly.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"Because Vittorio's people were still active."
"My father was dead."
"I couldn't bring him back."
"No. But you could have given me the truth."
"I was afraid you'd leave."
The honesty silenced the room.
Adrian stared at her.
"I had already lost my father. My mother. Half the people I trusted. Then I met you."
His voice lowered.
"And for the first time, I had something that wasn't built on fear."
Elena's eyes filled.
"You still lied."
"Yes."
"You planned to use me."
"Yes."
"You kissed my sister."
Pain crossed his face.
"Yes."
No excuses.
For once.
Elena looked at him.
"I don't know if I can forgive that."
"I know."
Vittorio clapped slowly.
"Beautiful."
Adrian pointed the gun at him again.
"Speak again and you'll regret surviving."
Vittorio's smile vanished.
Then a red dot appeared on Adrian's chest.
Elena saw it.
"Adrian!"
She pushed him aside.
The basement window exploded.
Gunfire erupted.
Rachel dragged Elena behind a concrete support.
Adrian fired toward the window.
Vincent shouted through the earpiece.
"Two down. More coming."
Dominic ducked behind the cabinet.
Vittorio moved toward a hidden door.
Adrian saw him.
"Stop!"
Vittorio vanished through it.
Dominic followed.
Adrian ran after them.
Elena grabbed his sleeve.
"Don't leave me."
Those words stopped him.
Not because she forgave him.
Because she was afraid.
He turned.
Their eyes met.
"I'm not going anywhere."
He stayed.
That decision cost him the chance to catch Vittorio.
And Elena noticed.
For once, Adrian chose her over revenge.
Vincent and his men secured the property eleven minutes later.
Vittorio and Dominic escaped through an old utility tunnel.
One attacker was captured.
Adrian wanted answers immediately.
Elena wanted to leave.
On the drive back, she sat in the rear seat while Adrian sat opposite her.
They didn't touch.
Rachel accompanied Mercer in another vehicle.
"You should go to the hospital," Adrian said.
"I'm fine."
"You were near gunfire."
"I wasn't hit."
"Stress can—"
"I know what stress can do."
He stopped.
Elena looked out the window.
After several miles, she spoke.
"Why did you cancel the acquisition?"
Adrian knew exactly what she meant.
"Because I met you."
"That's too easy."
"It's still true."
"When?"
"At the charity dinner."
She remembered.
He had spilled wine on her.
Actually, she had bumped him.
For years they had argued about whose fault it was.
"You knew who I was?"
"Yes."
"Did I know who you were?"
"You knew my name."
"Not what you wanted."
"No."
Elena nodded slowly.
"Then you changed your mind."
"Within two weeks."
"Why?"
Adrian almost smiled.
"You called me arrogant."
"You were."
"You still do."
"You still are."
A tiny moment.
Almost normal.
Then Elena remembered Vanessa.
Her face closed again.
Adrian saw it.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't ask me to solve that tonight."
"I won't."
They reached the estate just before midnight.
Elena refused to return to their shared bedroom.
Adrian prepared a guest suite.
He stationed security outside but gave strict orders nobody enter without Elena's permission.
At 1:00 a.m., Vanessa asked to see her.
Elena nearly refused.
Then she agreed.
Vanessa entered crying.
Elena remained standing.
"I'm not ready to forgive you."
"I know."
"Don't tell me it meant nothing."
Vanessa swallowed.
"It meant something ugly."
Elena stared.
"I was jealous."
The honesty surprised her.
Vanessa continued.
"Not because I loved Adrian. Because I wanted what you had."
Elena said nothing.
"A husband who looked at you like everyone else disappeared. A baby. A life that seemed secure."
"Seemed."
"I know."
Vanessa wiped her tears.
"When Dominic started messaging me, he kept telling me Adrian didn't deserve you. Then he said Adrian was using you. I let him poison the way I saw everything."
"And the kiss?"
"I made the first move."
Elena closed her eyes.
"And he kissed you back."
"Yes."
That part remained.
Vanessa stepped closer.
"I will regret it for the rest of my life."
"You should."
Vanessa nodded.
No defense.
No plea.
She turned toward the door.
Then stopped.
"Dominic told me something else."
Elena looked at her.
"What?"
"He said Vittorio wasn't interested in Adrian's empire anymore."
"What does he want?"
Vanessa looked at Elena's stomach.
"Your son."
Elena went still.
Before she could respond, alarms sounded throughout the estate.
Adrian appeared in the doorway seconds later.
"What's happening?" Elena demanded.
His face was pale.
"The hospital called."
"What hospital?"
"Your doctor."
Elena's heart stopped.
Adrian held up his phone.
"Someone accessed your medical records ten minutes ago."
"Who?"
He looked toward her stomach.
May you like
Then at her.
"The request was authorized using our unborn son's name."
