Chapter 5 - The Truth About Her Father
Vivian spent the next hour refusing to believe what Dominic Luces had told them.
“My father wasn't a criminal.”
Dominic said nothing.
“He wasn't.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Vivian.”
“No.”
She turned to him.
“My mother hated the Black Rose.”
“Yes.”
“She was afraid of Kane.”
“Yes.”
“My father was killed trying to stop them.”
“Yes.”
“Then why would he be the leader?”
Adrian didn't answer.
Dominic finally said:
“Because your father created it.”
Silence.
The story was worse than Vivian could have imagined.
Samuel Hayes had started the Black Rose as an underground network intended to expose corruption.
He built it from lawyers, investigators, journalists, and insiders.
But after his death, Kane took control.
He transformed it into the organization everyone feared.
“He corrupted your father's work,” Dominic explained.
Vivian stared at the ledger.
“So my father wasn't responsible?”
“No.”
“Kane was.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Luca hide me?”
“Because Kane wanted you as leverage.”
“Against whom?”
“Your mother.”
Dominic revealed that Vivian's mother had possessed the only copy of Samuel's original ledger.
She had hidden it.
Luca protected her.
When she died, the protection vanished.
Adrian looked at Dominic.
“And my father?”
“He wanted to dismantle the Black Rose.”
“Then why did he die?”
“Kane got there first.”
Adrian's face hardened.
He looked like a man fighting the urge to destroy everything in the room.
“Who killed him?”
Dominic's silence was answer enough.
“Kane.”
Vivian closed her eyes.
Everything connected.
Her father's death.
Her mother's death.
Adrian's father's death.
The missing ledger.
The two coins.
Her false identity.
The red door.
All of it pointed to one man.
Elliot Kane.
But why was Kane still protecting himself?
Dominic looked at the ledger.
“Because the ledger isn't just evidence.”
“What is it?” Vivian asked.
“A list.”
“Of?”
“Everyone who ever betrayed Kane.”
Adrian opened the ledger.
Hundreds of names.
Some were crossed out.
Others circled in red.
Then they found one page.
Adrian.
Vivian.
Thomas.
Gabriel.
Dominic.
Every person still alive who could expose Kane.
“They're all targets,” Vivian whispered.
Dominic nodded.
“You understand now.”
Suddenly the lights went out.
Gunfire erupted.
Dominic dragged Vivian behind a wall.
Adrian fired into the darkness.
Gabriel returned fire.
Someone screamed.
Then the lights came back.
Dominic was bleeding.
Adrian looked at Vivian.
“Stay here.”
She grabbed his arm.
“No.”
“I have to protect you.”
“So do I.”
He almost smiled.
Then his expression softened.
“You're impossible.”
“You knew that when I kissed you.”
His gaze dropped to her mouth.
“I've been thinking about that kiss ever since.”
She swallowed.
“Adrian.”
He stepped closer.
“This isn't the time.”
“I know.”
“Good.”
“But I still want to.”
Before he could answer, she kissed him.
This kiss was different.
No panic.
No survival.
No pretending.
She kissed him because she wanted to.
His hand came to her face.
For one second, the war disappeared.
Then Adrian pulled away.
“We survive first.”
She nodded.
“Then?”
His forehead touched hers.
“Then I show you what that kiss started.”
They escaped through an underground tunnel.
But outside, they found something waiting.
Thomas.
Vivian's supervisor.
He stood beside a black SUV.
She stopped.
“You.”
He looked ashamed.
“I tried to warn you.”
“You were meeting Matthew.”
“I was investigating Kane.”
“You didn't tell me.”
“I couldn't.”
Adrian aimed his gun.
“Why should we believe you?”
Thomas swallowed.
“Because I know where Kane is.”
Everyone froze.
“Where?”
Thomas handed Vivian an envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
A mansion on the outskirts of Chicago.
And one sentence.
Come home, Lia.
Vivian's blood turned cold.
“He knows my real name.”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
Thomas looked at him.
“He also knows something else.”
“What?”
“He knows who you are to Vivian.”
Adrian stared.
May you like
Thomas whispered:
“You two were promised to each other before you were born.”
