Chapter 10 - The Woman Roman Could No Longer Protect From a Distance
Judge Everett Shaw arrived at the hospital at nine-thirty that morning.
Roman had not called him.
That made everything worse.
Serena was standing beside the window when Marcus entered.
“Shaw’s downstairs.”
Roman looked up.
“Who notified him?”
“No one from us.”
“Media?”
“The shooting hasn’t been reported.”
Roman and Serena exchanged a glance.
“He knows,” Serena said.
Roman nodded.
Marcus asked, “Do we send him away?”
“No.”
Serena turned sharply.
“You’re letting him upstairs?”
Roman looked at her.
“I need to know what he knows.”
“And I need to know why we’re knowingly letting a suspected conspirator near the man somebody just tried to kill.”
Roman almost argued.
Then stopped.
“You’re right.”
Serena blinked.
Marcus smiled faintly.
“This marriage thing is transforming you.”
Roman glared.
“Enjoy unemployment.”
Marcus’s smile vanished.
“Yes, sir.”
Serena nearly laughed.
They arranged the meeting in a conference room two floors below Adrian.
Judge Shaw entered alone.
At sixty-eight, he carried the kind of authority people associated with marble courtrooms and old institutions.
Silver hair.
Perfect suit.
Measured expression.
He greeted Serena first.
“My dear.”
She did not accept his offered embrace.
Something flickered in his eyes.
Then Shaw turned to Roman.
“What happened?”
Roman watched him.
“You tell me.”
Shaw’s face remained calm.
“I don’t understand.”
“Adrian Vale.”
The name changed everything.
Only slightly.
But Roman noticed slight changes.
That was his gift.
“He’s alive?” Shaw asked.
Roman leaned back.
“You don’t seem surprised he exists.”
“I knew Adrian when he was young.”
“You told me he died.”
“I was told he died.”
“By whom?”
Shaw sighed.
“Roman, what is this?”
Roman placed a copy of the ledger on the table.
Shaw looked down.
For perhaps half a second, genuine fear crossed his face.
Serena saw it.
Roman did too.
“Where did you get this?”
“That isn’t the response of an innocent man.”
Shaw looked at Serena.
“Perhaps we should speak privately.”
Roman’s voice hardened.
“My wife stays.”
There was something different in the way he said it.
Not possession.
Alliance.
Serena heard the difference.
So did Shaw.
“Roman, certain matters involve your father.”
“My wife stays.”
Shaw folded his hands.
“Fine.”
Roman pushed the paper closer.
“Vincent Vale.”
Shaw stared at the name.
“What about him?”
“You authorized his transfer.”
“To prison?”
“To a forged identity.”
Shaw’s jaw tightened.
“Your father made decisions.”
“You signed the documents.”
“I was his lawyer.”
“You broke the law.”
Shaw gave him a tired look.
“We all broke laws back then.”
Serena saw Roman’s expression go cold.
“No,” Roman said. “That sentence is how men like my father sleep at night.”
Shaw leaned back.
“You think you’re different?”
“I’ve spent twenty years trying to be.”
“By hiding everything?”
The words hit Roman unexpectedly.
Shaw continued.
“You cleaned the companies. Donated money. Built hospitals. Bought respectability. But you kept the same walls.”
Serena glanced at Roman.
There was truth in that accusation.
Roman knew it too.
Shaw smiled faintly.
“You even hid your wife like a valuable painting.”
Roman’s eyes sharpened.
“How do you know about the threats?”
Shaw’s expression stopped.
There.
Serena felt it.
Roman leaned forward.
“I never told you about the threats against Serena.”
Silence.
Shaw recovered quickly.
“You’ve always been overly protective.”
“No.”
Roman’s voice lowered.
“You knew.”
Shaw stood.
“This conversation is over.”
Marcus entered before he reached the door.
Shaw looked at him.
“Move.”
Marcus did not.
Roman remained seated.
“Who sent the photographs?”
Shaw turned.
“I don’t know.”
“Who shot Adrian?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who intercepted his letters?”
No answer.
Roman rose.
“For three years, somebody stopped Adrian from contacting me.”
Shaw’s face hardened.
“And maybe they had good reason.”
Serena whispered, “It was you.”
Shaw looked at her.
For the first time, the kind elder disappeared.
“Mrs. Duca, you have no idea what kind of man you married.”
Serena held his gaze.
“You’re right.”
Roman looked at her.
She continued.
“But unlike you, he finally started telling me.”
Shaw’s expression darkened.
It was a tiny victory.
Yet Serena felt Roman straighten beside her.
For perhaps the first time in their marriage, she had publicly stood with him while knowing the truth was imperfect.
Not because he demanded loyalty.
Because he had begun earning it.
Shaw turned back to Roman.
“You want answers? Ask Vale what he did before you make him a victim.”
Then he walked out.
Marcus followed.
Roman remained silent.
Serena approached him.
“What did he mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then we ask Adrian.”
Roman nodded.
Several hours later, Adrian woke.
Roman and Serena entered together.
Adrian looked weak but alert.
His eyes moved to their joined hands.
A faint smile touched his mouth.
“So,” he said hoarsely.
“The great Roman Duca finally learned.”
Roman frowned.
“Learned what?”
Adrian looked at Serena.
“That protecting someone from a distance only means you aren’t there when the danger reaches them.”
Roman did not respond.
Adrian’s smile vanished.
“Now close the door.”
Serena did.
Adrian looked between them.
May you like
“Because if Everett Shaw knows I survived, none of us have much time.”
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