Chapter 10 - THE BROTHER WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Adrian thought I had been kidnapped.
In reality, Celeste had driven me to an abandoned guest house twenty miles outside the city.
That distinction did not make anyone calmer.
Especially Adrian.
When Marcus finally tracked Celeste’s car, three black SUVs arrived at the house.
Adrian stepped out before the vehicles stopped moving.
He crossed the yard.
“Maya.”
“I’m okay.”
He pulled me against him.
No hesitation.
No concern about who watched.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
His heart was pounding.
So was mine.
Then he stepped back and looked at Celeste.
“What did you do?”
“I kept her alive.”
“You abducted her.”
“She came willingly.”
“I absolutely did not,” I said.
Celeste rolled her eyes.
“Fine. Semi-willingly.”
Julian arrived seconds later.
When Celeste saw him, she backed toward the house.
“There.”
Everyone turned.
“That’s who you should be questioning.”
Julian stared at her.
“What?”
“She thinks you caused Adrian’s crash.”
Julian looked genuinely stunned.
Then laughed.
“That’s desperate, even for you.”
Celeste told them everything.
The trust.
Julian’s parentage.
The financial consequences.
Julian’s expression became colder with every sentence.
Finally he looked at Daniel.
“Is that true?”
Daniel said nothing.
“Daniel.”
“Yes.”
The answer destroyed something.
Julian walked backward.
“My father knew?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Most of your life.”
“And Adrian?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Recently.”
Julian looked at his brother.
“You knew?”
Adrian’s face tightened.
“I don’t remember.”
“But before the crash.”
“Apparently.”
Julian laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“My entire life everyone knew except me.”
“Not everyone,” Daniel said.
“Shut up.”
He turned toward Adrian.
“You were investigating whether I belonged in the family.”
“No.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know the notes I left myself. I was investigating my father.”
“How convenient.”
“Julian.”
“You were going to destroy the trust.”
“I was going to return property that wasn’t ours.”
“Yours.”
Julian’s eyes filled.
“It was always yours.”
Adrian went quiet.
Julian continued.
“Your name. Your father. Your company.”
“You think I wanted that?”
“You had it.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
For one terrible moment, I understood both men.
Adrian had been crushed by expectations.
Julian had been crushed by exclusion.
Same father.
Different wounds.
Then Toby called.
I answered.
“Maya?”
“What’s wrong?”
His breathing was fast.
“Someone came to the hotel.”
“Who?”
“A man.”
“What man?”
“He said he works for Adrian.”
Marcus immediately took the phone.
“Describe him.”
Toby did.
Marcus’s face changed.
“That’s Vincent Shaw.”
Adrian frowned.
“Who?”
“Vale Meridian’s chief financial officer.”
Celeste whispered, “Oh God.”
“What?”
She looked at Adrian.
“Vincent was in Milan.”
Memory hit Adrian like a physical blow.
He grabbed the table.
“Adrian?”
Images returned.
Hotel suite.
Celeste crying.
A man near the window.
Financial documents.
Adrian saying, “You stole from the foundation.”
Vincent answering, “Your father taught me.”
Adrian looked up.
“It wasn’t Julian.”
Celeste whispered, “No.”
“It was Vincent.”
Marcus already had officers moving toward the hotel.
But Toby was not there anymore.
His phone signal began traveling north.
Someone had taken him.
Adrian’s face became terrifyingly calm.
“What does Vincent want?”
Celeste answered.
“The files.”
“What files?”
“Proof he moved money through shell companies.”
“Do we have them?”
“No.”
Daniel looked toward Adrian.
“You did.”
“Where?”
“No one knows.”
Then I remembered the secret office.
The corkboard.
One cabinet we had not opened.
A biometric safe.
Adrian had tried his fingerprint.
It failed.
Because the scanner was not configured to his right hand.
“Adrian.”
He looked at me.
“You’re left-handed.”
“What?”
“The safe.”
Understanding hit him.
Twenty minutes later we were racing toward headquarters.
The safe opened beneath his left palm.
Inside were four drives.
A ledger.
And a handwritten note.
Adrian read it aloud.
VINCENT KNOWS ABOUT ELEANOR.
Beneath that:
DO NOT TRUST THE ENGAGEMENT.
Everyone looked at Celeste.
Her face collapsed.
“I can explain.”
Adrian held up the note.
“Then start.”
She whispered, “Vincent arranged our engagement.”
The room went silent.
Adrian stared at the woman he was supposed to marry.
And for the first time since waking from his coma, a memory returned completely.
He remembered proposing to her.
He remembered the ring.
May you like
He remembered her crying.
And he remembered knowing, even then, that she did not love him.
