Chapter 2 - The Mansion Where Nobody Was Allowed to Ask Questions
Adrian's home wasn't really a home.
It was a fortress disguised as a mansion.
Black iron gates.
Cameras.
Armed guards.
Bulletproof glass.
Two security checkpoints before reaching the front door.
I stared at the estate from the back seat.
“You live here?”
Adrian glanced at me.
“Yes.”
“It looks like a prison.”
“No.”
He paused.
“Prisons have fewer guns.”
I laughed despite myself.
Sophie sat between us.
She had refused to let anyone else bring her from the hospital.
The moment we arrived, she grabbed my hand.
Adrian noticed.
He said nothing.
Inside, the mansion was surprisingly warm.
Not luxurious in the way I expected.
There were books everywhere.
Family photographs.
A grand piano.
Paintings.
And children's drawings taped to the refrigerator.
I stopped.
“Those are Sophie’s?”
“Yes.”
“She likes drawing?”
“When she isn't worrying about everyone.”
I looked at him.
“You worry about her too much.”
His expression became serious.
“She lost her mother.”
That explained the fear.
Not all of it.
But enough.
I asked,
“How did her mother die?”
Adrian didn't answer immediately.
Then he said,
“Cancer.”
Sophie had been sleeping when we arrived.
Now she stood in the hallway.
Her face changed when she saw us talking.
She signed rapidly.
I didn't catch everything.
Adrian did.
“What did she say?”
“She wants breakfast.”
He looked at the clock.
“It's almost noon.”
She shrugged.
I laughed.
“She's six. Food doesn't know what time it is.”
For the first time, Adrian smiled openly.
By the afternoon, I had learned that Sophie had two tutors, three security specialists, one private doctor, and absolutely no friends.
“Why?”
“She can't go anywhere without protection.”
“She's a child, Adrian.”
“I know.”
“She needs to live.”
“I know.”
“Then let her.”
He stared at me.
Nobody talked to him like that.
I was beginning to understand why.
The house staff avoided his eyes.
His men moved the moment he spoke.
Even his older brother, Nicholas, addressed him carefully.
“You're asking too much.”
Adrian looked at me.
“She's different.”
“That's obvious.”
“No.”
His voice dropped.
“She doesn't fear me.”
I glanced at Sophie.
She was coloring at the table.
“She doesn't fear you because you never gave her a reason to.”
Adrian looked away.
That night, I woke to a soft tapping.
Sophie stood in the doorway.
I signed.
What happened?
She pointed toward the window.
Someone was outside.
I sat up.
Her face was terrified.
Adrian appeared instantly in the corridor.
He must have had cameras connected to his room.
“What is it?”
Sophie signed.
Someone is watching.
Adrian moved toward the window.
His security team swept the grounds.
Nothing.
Then one guard returned.
“Boss.”
He held up something.
A small red balloon.
It had been tied to the outer gate.
Adrian's face changed.
He took it.
Written on the balloon was one word.
SOPHIE.
He immediately ordered the gates locked.
I looked at him.
“What is happening?”
He didn't answer.
“Adrian.”
“Someone knows she is here.”
“Who?”
“My enemies.”
“How many do you have?”
“Enough.”
I crossed my arms.
“That isn't an answer.”
He looked at me.
“You don't need to know.”
“I took a bullet for your daughter.”
His jaw tightened.
“I know.”
“Then stop treating me like a stranger.”
He stared at me for several seconds.
Finally he said,
“Three years ago, someone tried to kidnap Sophie.”
I looked at her.
“She was four.”
“They wanted leverage.”
“Against you?”
“Yes.”
“Her mother?”
“She was alive then.”
“What happened?”
Adrian looked away.
“They tried again.”
“And?”
“My wife died.”
The room became silent.
“She was shot protecting Sophie.”
I swallowed.
“I’m sorry.”
He nodded.
“Since then, I've trusted no one.”
I looked at the little girl.
“That isn't helping her.”
“I know.”
“Then why keep doing it?”
He didn't answer.
Because he didn't know how to stop.
Later that night, Sophie brought me a drawing.
Three people stood beneath an enormous yellow sun.
Sophie.
Adrian.
Me.
I pointed at the third figure.
“Who's this?”
She smiled.
Family.
My chest tightened.
“I've known you for one day.”
She nodded.
Still family.
I looked at Adrian.
He was standing in the doorway.
He had seen everything.
He looked away quickly.
But not before I saw his eyes.
For the first time, the most feared man in New York looked like a father who desperately wanted his little girl to feel safe.
The next morning, Adrian received a call.
His expression hardened.
A shipment had been attacked.
One of his warehouses had been burned.
But the investigators found something more interesting.
The fire wasn't intended to destroy goods.
It was meant to retrieve a file.
“What file?” I asked.
Adrian didn't answer.
I noticed the reaction of his head of security.
He looked directly at me.
Then away.
I followed Adrian into his office.
“There’s something you're not telling me.”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“Sophie's medical records were stolen.”
“Why would anyone want them?”
He closed the blinds.
“Because there is something about her that I don't know.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
“We're still finding out.”
Before I could ask more, the door opened.
A doctor entered.
“Mr. Moretti.”
“Yes?”
“We found the old record.”
“What does it say?”
The doctor looked at me.
Then at Sophie.
Then back at Adrian.
“Sophie's mother did not have cancer.”
Adrian froze.
“What?”
“She was diagnosed with a poisoning.”
Silence.
“She died because of a slow-acting toxin.”
I stared.
Adrian's face became terrifyingly still.
“Who treated her?”
“Dr. Elena Voss.”
“Where is she now?”
The doctor swallowed.
“She disappeared six months after your wife died.”
Adrian looked at me.
The room suddenly felt smaller.
Someone had lied about Sophie's mother's death.
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And if her medical records were worth stealing…
the truth was more dangerous than any enemy Adrian had ever faced.
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