Chapter 8 - The Brother Behind the Glass
Adrian did not tell Marco where he was going.
For the first time in nine years, he lied directly to the man responsible for protecting his life.
“I need an hour alone.”
Marco frowned.
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“After everything?”
“Yes.”
Marco watched him carefully.
Then nodded.
“Take the armored sedan.”
Adrian drove a different car.
The address Luca provided belonged to an abandoned garden center.
Broken greenhouse panels covered the rear property.
Adrian entered through a side door.
The smell of wet soil and rust filled the building.
“Luca?”
Movement behind cloudy glass.
Adrian turned.
A man stepped through the greenhouse doorway.
Older.
Leaner.
Scar above his left eyebrow.
For six years, Adrian had imagined this moment impossible.
He had imagined Luca dead in a thousand ways.
Never alive.
Never standing ten feet away.
Neither brother spoke.
Then Luca smiled faintly.
“You got old.”
Adrian crossed the distance and hit him.
One punch.
Luca stumbled.
“Okay.”
Adrian grabbed his jacket and pulled him into an embrace.
Luca froze.
Then held him back.
Neither man said anything.
They stood there like that longer than either would later admit.
When Adrian finally stepped away, his eyes burned.
“You deserved the punch.”
“I expected two.”
“You’re injured.”
“That saved you one.”
Luca lifted his shirt.
Bandage at his side.
Adrian’s expression tightened.
“Who did that?”
“Gabriel’s people.”
“Elena?”
“Alive.”
“You know?”
“I heard her voice yesterday.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Adrian handed him the photograph from the tenth birthday.
Luca stared at it.
“You found Gabriel.”
“Victor told me.”
Luca’s jaw hardened.
“You still trust Victor?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“But I don’t completely trust you either.”
Luca nodded.
“Fair.”
Adrian studied him.
“Tell me about Marco.”
Luca leaned against a table.
“Two nights before the fire, I saw him meet Gabriel outside a hotel.”
“Did you confront him?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I planned to.”
“Then the warehouse burned.”
“Yes.”
Adrian paced.
“Marco has protected me for fifteen years.”
“So did Gabriel, for a while.”
“Marco could have killed me a hundred times.”
“Maybe he doesn’t want you dead.”
“What does he want?”
“That’s the question.”
Luca reached into his coat.
Adrian stiffened automatically.
Luca smirked.
“Still dramatic.”
“Six years in hiding apparently didn’t improve your timing.”
Luca handed him a USB drive.
“Records I copied from Gabriel’s network.”
“What’s on it?”
“Payments.”
“To Marco?”
“One.”
Adrian stared.
“Amount?”
“Fifty thousand.”
“When?”
“Three days after the warehouse fire.”
Adrian’s stomach dropped.
“For what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why didn’t you investigate?”
“I did. The account disappeared.”
Adrian took the drive.
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
Luca looked toward him.
“Your father paid Marco the same amount one week later.”
Adrian frowned.
“Both sides?”
“Exactly.”
That made no sense.
Unless Marco was not working for either side.
Unless he was doing something else.
Luca lowered his voice.
“There is one more thing.”
“What?”
“Gabriel believes Sofia has the original ledger.”
“She does.”
Luca’s eyes sharpened.
“You found it?”
“Not yet.”
“What do you mean?”
“The backpack is secure. We haven’t opened every seam.”
Luca suddenly looked afraid.
“Adrian, the ledger isn’t paper.”
“What?”
“It’s microfilm.”
Adrian stared.
“Where?”
“In the rabbit.”
The stuffed rabbit.
Adrian called Teresa immediately.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
He called the estate.
One guard answered.
His voice was panicked.
“Boss, we have a problem.”
“What?”
“Teresa and the girl are gone.”
Adrian froze.
“What do you mean gone?”
“The carriage house is empty.”
“Cameras?”
“Looped.”
Luca went pale.
Adrian’s voice dropped.
“Who had access?”
The guard hesitated.
“Marco.”
Adrian ended the call.
Luca grabbed his coat.
“I told you.”
Adrian did not answer.
His phone buzzed.
A text.
From Marco.
COME HOME ALONE.
I CAN EXPLAIN.
Attached was a photograph.
Sofia sitting in the back seat of a car.
Teresa beside her.
May you like
Both alive.
And on Sofia’s lap rested the stuffed rabbit.
