Chapter 3 - The Man I Was Taught to Fear Became the First Person I Wanted Beside MeThe next morning, Adrien was already awake.
I found him in the library.
He stood beside an old map.
“Come here.”
I approached.
He pointed at three locations.
“Your mother was seen at these places.”
Montreal.
Boston.
New York.
“When?”
“Over fifteen years.”
“She was running.”
“Yes.”
“From my father.”
“And others.”
“Who?”
He pointed to another name.
The Blackwell Group.
A private organization with ties to banks, law firms, and political consultants.
“They were helping my father.”
“Your father created them?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Adrien looked at me.
“Someone who knew your mother.”
“Who?”
“My mother.”
I froze.
“Your mother?”
“Yes.”
She had died when Adrien was eighteen.
Accident.
Or so everyone believed.
I sat down.
“Everyone in our families is supposed to be dead.”
He smiled bitterly.
“Apparently.”
He explained.
His mother had worked with mine.
They had discovered the same criminal network.
They had tried to expose it.
Both women disappeared.
Both families were told they had died.
And both children were manipulated.
Adrien into becoming a feared criminal leader.
Me into believing I had no family.
I stared at him.
“This can't be real.”
“It is.”
“What happens now?”
“We find the surviving witnesses.”
“Who?”
“Three people.”
He listed them.
A former judge.
A retired federal agent.
And an old nurse.
We found the nurse first.
She lived in Queens.
She opened the door.
Then saw me.
Her face went white.
“Elena's daughter.”
I froze.
“You knew my mother?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to her?”
The nurse looked at Adrien.
“Come inside.”
She told us.
My mother had brought me to the clinic when I was six.
I was sick.
There had been people looking for us.
A man wanted to take me.
My mother refused.
The nurse had helped her escape.
“Where did she go?”
“She went to Chicago.”
My heart stopped.
“Why?”
“To meet someone.”
“Who?”
“Your father's enemy.”
“Who?”
The nurse whispered:
“Adrian Viscari.”
Adrien froze.
“My father.”
“Yes.”
“Why would Elena go to him?”
“Because she trusted him.”
That made everything more confusing.
“Did she give him something?”
“Yes.”
“The ledger?”
“No.”
The nurse shook her head.
“A child.”
I stared.
“What?”
“She left you with him for three days.”
I looked at Adrien.
His face had gone pale.
“My father had her.”
The nurse nodded.
“He was supposed to protect you.”
“And?”
“He did.”
That was the first thing that made sense.
My mother had trusted Adrien's father.
He had protected me.
Then something had happened.
The nurse continued.
“Your father found out.”
“He came.”
“He tried to take you.”
“Then?”
“Your mother came back.”
“She took you.”
“And disappeared.”
I stared.
“What happened to her?”
The nurse looked at me.
“She died protecting you.”
My throat tightened.
“How?”
“She was shot.”
I closed my eyes.
Finally.
A real answer.
My mother had died.
But not in a car accident.
She had been murdered.
And she had died protecting me.
I cried.
Adrien sat beside me.
He didn't touch me.
Not until I reached for his hand.
He took it.
Warm.
Steady.
That simple touch changed something.
I didn't feel alone anymore.
The nurse handed me a letter.
“She left this.”
I opened it.
My little Lena,
If you are reading this, then I failed to come home.
I'm sorry.
But I did one thing right.
I made sure you would survive.
Trust the man who carries the Viscari name without becoming its monster.
I looked at Adrien.
He was reading silently.
The final line:
He will know what you need when the time comes.
I folded the letter.
“What does this mean?”
Adrien looked at me.
“I don't know.”
“Your mother trusted you.”
“Maybe she trusted my father.”
“What is the difference?”
He smiled faintly.
“I'm still figuring that out.”
The nurse suddenly stood.
“Someone is outside.”
We heard tires.
Adrien moved.
“Get behind me.”
The window shattered.
Gunfire.
We dropped.
The nurse screamed.
Adrien returned fire.
Men surrounded the house.
I crawled toward the back door.
Then saw a man in the yard.
Marcus.
He looked directly at me.
He smiled.
“You always were difficult to keep.”
Adrien raised his gun.
Marcus disappeared.
When the shooting stopped, the nurse was wounded.
Adrien called an ambulance.
Then looked at me.
“He knew where we'd be.”
I stared.
“Someone told him.”
“Who?”
He didn't answer.
Then his phone rang.
It was Marco.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“The old Viscari safe was opened.”
“By whom?”
“Your fiancée.”
Adrien froze.
May you like
My stomach dropped.
Chloe had found us.
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