Chapter 8 - The Secret Across the Street
Adrian Vale did not look like a ghost.
That was Serena’s first thought.
He looked ordinary.
Late forties.
Tall.
Lean.
Dark hair touched with gray.
No visible weapon.
No theatrical smile.
He stood beyond the iron gates holding a white envelope as calmly as someone delivering an invitation.
Roman watched through the security monitor.
Marcus stood beside him.
“Sniper coverage?”
“Two positions.”
“Police?”
“Still no.”
Serena entered the security room.
Roman immediately looked at her.
“You should be upstairs.”
She stared.
He corrected himself.
“I would feel better if you were upstairs.”
“I wouldn’t.”
Progress.
Small.
But progress.
Adrian looked into the camera.
Then he spoke.
“I know you can hear me, Roman.”
The outside microphone carried his voice into the room.
“I came alone.”
Marcus muttered, “Sure.”
Adrian continued.
“I want ten minutes.”
Roman pressed the intercom.
“You have thirty seconds.”
Adrian smiled faintly.
“You sound like your father.”
Roman’s expression went cold.
Serena saw exactly how deeply the words landed.
“I’m nothing like him.”
“That’s what sons always say.”
“What do you want?”
“Truth.”
“You sent threats to my wife.”
“No.”
Roman leaned toward the monitor.
“You photographed her.”
“Yes.”
“You watched my home.”
“Yes.”
“You wrote tomorrow’s date beneath her wedding picture.”
Adrian nodded.
“That was cruel.”
Serena looked at Roman.
Cruel?
Not denial.
Roman heard it too.
“Open the gate,” Serena said.
Both men turned.
“No,” Roman and Marcus said together.
Serena ignored Marcus.
“If he wanted to attack us, why walk directly into twenty cameras?”
“To get close.”
“He has been close for six years.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
Exactly.
Adrian spoke again through the camera.
“Ask Serena why she thinks I’m here.”
Roman went still.
Serena stared at the monitor.
How did he know she was present?
Adrian lifted his face toward another camera.
“I can see your reflection in the glass, Mrs. Duca.”
Marcus quietly swore.
Serena stepped closer to the microphone.
“What do you want?”
Roman looked at her, surprised.
Adrian’s expression softened.
“To prevent your husband from repeating his father’s mistake.”
Roman pushed the button.
“Leave her out of this.”
“You already brought her into it.”
Roman stopped.
Adrian raised the envelope.
“Your father didn’t kill mine.”
Roman frowned.
“What?”
“He did something worse.”
Serena looked between Roman and the screen.
Adrian continued.
“He framed him.”
Roman’s voice was quiet.
“I know.”
“No. You know half.”
Adrian placed the envelope on the pavement.
“My father went to prison under another name.”
Roman’s face changed.
“He died there eight years later.”
Silence.
“Your father stole his business, his reputation, and his family. My mother spent years believing Vincent abandoned us.”
Roman spoke carefully.
“What does that have to do with Serena?”
“Everything.”
Adrian looked directly toward the camera.
“Because I spent twenty years planning to destroy you the way your father destroyed us.”
Serena’s skin went cold.
“Then I started watching.”
Roman’s hand curled into a fist.
“I watched you rebuild his companies legally. I watched you pay restitution to families whose businesses your father ruined.”
Roman glanced at Marcus.
Serena noticed.
This was something else she had never known.
Adrian continued.
“I watched you close the routes he used for smuggling. Watched you testify anonymously against men who had worked beside him.”
Serena stared at Roman.
Roman stared only at Adrian.
“You still threatened my wife.”
“I wanted to know whether you became him when you were afraid.”
Roman’s expression turned dangerous.
“You used Serena as a test?”
“Yes.”
“That was a mistake.”
Adrian gave a sad smile.
“There he is.”
Serena stepped forward.
“Stop.”
Roman looked at her.
She pressed the intercom.
“If you wanted truth, why all the photographs?”
“Because Roman Duca has ignored every letter I sent for three years.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed.
“I never received letters.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
That was the first moment Serena believed something genuinely surprised him.
“I sent twelve.”
“When?”
“Beginning three years ago.”
Roman looked at Marcus.
Marcus immediately shook his head.
“Nothing reached us.”
Adrian stepped closer to the gate.
“Then someone didn’t want us talking.”
The entire situation shifted.
Roman pressed the intercom.
“Who?”
Adrian looked over his shoulder toward the dark street.
“I don’t know.”
A red dot appeared on his chest.
Serena saw it first.
“Roman!”
Roman moved.
A sharp crack split the night.
Adrian dropped.
Security lights flooded the street.
Marcus shouted orders.
Roman grabbed Serena and pulled her behind the reinforced wall.
For the first time, he did not care who saw him touch her.
Outside, guards rushed toward Adrian.
The shooter vanished into the darkness.
And suddenly Roman understood the truth.
Adrian Vale might not be the enemy.
Someone else had spent years keeping two dangerous men apart.
May you like
Someone who was terrified of what they might discover if they ever compared their secrets.
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