Chapter 6: The Enemy Sitting at Luca’s Table
Adrian's blood was warm on Luca's hands.
For twelve years, Luca had imagined touching his brother again in a thousand impossible ways.
He had imagined a cemetery.
A dream.
A memory.
Never this.
“Stay with me,” Luca said.
Adrian's eyes opened halfway.
“Still bossing me around.””
The words were weak, but unmistakably Adrian.
Luca laughed once, almost choking on it.
“You're an idiot.””
“You always said that.””
“Because you were.””
Adrian tried to smile.
Then his eyes closed again.
Marco dropped to his knees beside him.
“Bullet went through the shoulder.””
“Will he live?””
Marco looked at the wound.
“I think so.””
“Don't think.””
Marco met his eyes.
“He'll live.””
That was enough.
For now.
Two guards carried Adrian toward an SUV while another group secured the warehouse. Victor Shaw followed them, his face pale.
Luca stopped him.
“You're not coming.””
Victor stared.
“I can help.””
“You've helped enough.””
Victor looked toward Adrian.
“He needs surgery.””
“So get him a surgeon.””
“I know one.””
“No.””
Victor's voice tightened.
“Luca, listen to me. If he goes to a hospital under his own name, they'll find him.””
Luca went still.
“Who?””
“The Meridian.””
“Then give me the name of a surgeon who doesn't ask questions.””
Victor nodded.
“There is one.””
Luca looked at Marco.
“Get the doctor.””
Marco moved immediately.
Luca turned back toward the warehouse.
Maya was standing beside Elena, trembling.
Luca rolled toward her.
“You hurt?””
She shook her head.
“Your brother…”
“He's going to be okay.””
“You promise?””
Luca looked at the blood on his hands.
He had not made many promises in his life.
The ones he had made, he had usually kept.
“I promise.””
Maya nodded.
Then she looked behind him.
“Mr. Costello?””
“What?””
“That man knew you would come here.””
Luca followed her gaze toward the open tunnel.
“I know.””
“No.””
Maya shook her head.
“He knew you would come here before you did.””
Luca frowned.
“How?””
“He said your name.””
“What man?””
“The doctor.””
Luca looked toward Victor.
Victor had frozen near the SUV.
Maya continued.
“Before you came down the stairs, he told the other man, ‘Luca will come.’”
Luca's eyes narrowed.
Victor looked at him.
“I didn't.””
“You did.””
“I was warning him.””
“You knew I was coming.””
“I knew you would investigate.””
“Because?””
Victor hesitated.
“Because I know you.””
Luca stared at him.
No.
That wasn't it.
Victor knew too much.
He knew about Adrian.
He knew about the warehouse.
He knew where to find the surgeon.
And yet Adrian had said the person inside Luca's house was family.
Victor was not family.
Unless he was protecting someone who was.
Luca decided not to press him.
Not yet.
They drove through the rain without using the main roads.
Adrian lay unconscious in the back of the SUV, Victor applying pressure to the wound.
Maya sat beside Elena in the second vehicle.
Luca rode with Marco.
For thirty minutes, nobody spoke.
Then Marco's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“Sir.””
“What?””
“The estate was breached.””
Luca looked at him.
“When?””
“Eight minutes ago.””
“Who?””
“We don't know.””
“My family?””
“We're checking.””
Luca's voice became cold.
“Check the study first.””
Marco listened.
Then said, “There was someone inside.””
“Who?””
“Your aunt.””
Luca stared through the windshield.
Helena.
She had been in his house while he was gone.
“Where is she now?””
“Gone.””
“Take every camera recording from the last forty-eight hours.””
“We already are.””
“Don't send the files through the company network.””
Marco looked at him.
“Why?””
“Because the mole may have access.””
Marco nodded.
“Understood.””
A second call came in.
He answered.
Then he went silent.
“What?””
He covered the microphone.
“Your aunt wasn't alone.””
“Who was with her?””
“Mr. Bell.””
Luca's heart sank.
Richard Bell had been his father's attorney.
He had been Luca's personal attorney for twelve years.
Luca had trusted him with every legal matter in his empire.
“Are you sure?””
“The camera caught them together.””
Luca stared ahead.
“Where are they?””
“They left through the service entrance.””
“Find them.””
Marco hesitated.
“There's more.””
“What?””
“They weren't stealing anything.””
Luca frowned.
“Then what were they doing?””
Marco looked down at his phone.
“They were in your bedroom.””
Luca felt a cold sensation move across his skin.
“What did they take?””
“We don't know yet.””
“Then find out.””
They reached the safe house twenty minutes later.
The surgeon arrived within minutes.
Adrian was taken into a private medical room.
Luca waited outside.
Maya sat beside him.
She swung her legs nervously.
“Do you think he'll wake up?””
“Yes.””
“How do you know?””
“Because he owes me twelve years of explanations.””
Maya smiled faintly.
After a moment, she asked, “Are you angry?””
Luca looked at her.
“Yes.””
“At him?””
“Partly.””
“At the doctor?””
“Very.””
“At your aunt?””
Luca stared down the hallway.
“More than I can explain.””
Maya nodded.
Then she said, “You don't have to be angry at yourself.””
Luca looked at her.
“Why would I?””
“Because you didn't know.””
The words struck him harder than expected.
Luca looked away.
He had spent twelve years blaming his body.
Then doctors.
Then fate.
Then God, occasionally.
Never himself.
Yet beneath all of those things had been an unspoken question.
Why didn't I fight harder?
Maya answered it without knowing she was answering.
You didn't know.
Luca's hands loosened.
For the first time in years, he allowed himself to consider that perhaps he had been a victim before he had become a prisoner.
The door opened.
The surgeon stepped out.
“He lost a lot of blood, but the bullet missed the major vessels.””
Luca exhaled.
“He's stable.””
“Can I see him?””
“In a few minutes.””
The surgeon left.
Luca leaned back.
Marco entered carrying a tablet.
“We found something.””
“Show me.””
A video appeared.
The bedroom at the Costello estate.
Helena entered.
Richard Bell followed.
They walked to Luca's bedside.
Richard knelt.
He opened the hidden compartment beneath the bed.
Luca's face hardened.
“What was in there?””
“We're still trying to determine that.””
The video continued.
Richard removed a small black box.
Helena opened it.
Inside was a key.
Not the brass key from warehouse 317.
A different key.
Gold.
Luca watched Helena hold it.
Then she said something.
There was no audio.
Marco enhanced the recording.
A second camera angle appeared.
A microphone had captured part of the conversation.
Helena's voice was faint.
“We're out of time.””
Richard answered.
“He doesn't know.””
“He knows enough.””
“What about the girl?””
Helena looked toward the door.
“She has to disappear.””
Luca's entire body went still.
Marco stopped the video.
“Sir…”
Luca's voice was almost a whisper.
“They're talking about Maya.””
“Yes.””
“Find her.””
“She is with us.””
“No.””
Luca pointed toward the screen.
“They were planning to take her before we returned.””
Marco nodded.
“Security confirms no one has reached the safe house.””
“Yet.””
Luca stared at the image.
“Play the rest.””
Marco did.
Richard asked, “And Adrian?””
Helena's expression changed.
“He should have died twelve years ago.””
Luca felt the world tilt.
Richard continued.
“What if he's alive?””
“He is.””
Luca looked at Marco.
Marco stared back.
The video ended.
Luca's voice was cold.
“They knew.””
“Yes.””
“They knew Adrian survived.””
“Yes.””
“They knew where he was.””
“Yes.””
“And they knew I was investigating.””
Marco nodded.
“They've been watching you.””
Luca looked toward the hallway.
“Then why didn't they kill me?””
Marco thought about it.
“Maybe they still need you.””
Luca shook his head.
“No.””
“Why?””
“Because if they wanted me dead, I would be dead.””
He looked at Maya.
“There's another reason.””
Marco waited.
“They're afraid.””
“Of what?””
“Of Adrian telling me something.””
At that moment, Adrian's hospital room door opened.
Victor Shaw stood there.
“Luca.””
Luca moved toward him.
“Can I see him?””
“Yes.””
Luca entered.
Adrian was awake.
Barely.
His face was pale, and an IV ran into his arm.
He turned his head.
“You came.””
“Of course.””
Adrian looked toward the door.
“Where's Maya?””
“Safe.””
“Good.””
Luca moved closer.
“You knew they were after her.””
“Yes.””
“Who are they?””
Adrian closed his eyes.
“The Meridian.””
“That's not enough.””
“It is for tonight.””
“Not anymore.””
Luca reached into his coat and placed the photograph of Helena and Richard on the table.
Adrian looked at it.
“They were in my bedroom.””
Adrian said nothing.
“They took something.””
Still nothing.
“What was in the box?””
Adrian finally opened his eyes.
“You're asking the wrong question.””
“Then give me the right one.””
Adrian took a slow breath.
“The question isn't what was in the box.””
“Then what?””
“Who gave Helena the key?””
Luca stared.
“Who?””
Adrian looked toward the hallway.
“Dad.””
Luca froze.
“Our father has been dead for fifteen years.””
“Yes.””
“So how could he—”
Adrian's voice dropped.
“Because the key was made before he died.””
Luca's mind raced.
“Made for what?””
Adrian looked directly into his eyes.
“For the room underneath the house.””
Luca went still.
“There is no room underneath the house.””
Adrian gave him a faint smile.
“That is what they wanted you to believe.””
“Where is it?””
Adrian lifted one trembling hand.
He pointed toward the floor.
“Beneath your study.””
Luca stared.
His entire life had been built above it.
His office.
His safe.
His meetings.
His father's old desk.
All of it.
And beneath the floorboards was a room that apparently did not exist.
Adrian closed his eyes again.
“There is one more thing.””
“What?””
“The reason they never finished killing you.””
Luca leaned closer.
Adrian whispered:
“Because your father left you something in that room.””
“What?””
Adrian's fingers tightened around Luca's wrist.
“The truth about why you were chosen.””
A crash sounded from the hallway.
Everyone turned.
The lights went out.
Then Maya screamed.
Luca's blood ran cold.
Marco drew his weapon.
“She's gone.””
Luca looked at the empty chair outside the room.
Elena was unconscious on the floor.
The hallway was empty.
A small pink shoe lay near the exit.
Maya's shoe.
Luca stared at it.
Then he heard the elevator doors closing at the end of the corridor.
Someone had found them.
May you like
Again.
And this time, they had taken the one person Luca had sworn to protect.
