Chapter 4 - Roman Meets the Brother He Buried Nine Years Ago
They found Adrian at an abandoned church outside the city.
It was 11:57 p.m.
Roman entered alone.
Norah waited in the vehicle with the twins and 2 guards.
Snow fell through holes in the roof.
Candles burned along the altar.
Then a voice came from the darkness.
“You still walk like Dad.”
Roman stopped.
“Come out.”
A man stepped forward.
Older.
Thinner.
A scar across his cheek.
But Adrian.
Alive.
Roman stared.
Neither spoke.
Then Roman crossed the room and hit him.
Once.
Hard.
Adrian accepted it.
Roman hit him again.
“You left me.”
Adrian said nothing.
“You let me bury you.”
“I had to.”
“You let me believe I was alone.”
“I thought you were safer that way.”
Roman shoved him against the wall.
“You let Mom die thinking you were dead.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“She knew.”
Roman froze.
“What?”
“She knew.”
Adrian's voice broke.
“She knew I was alive.”
Roman released him.
“Then why didn't she tell me?”
“Because she knew you'd come.”
“For you.”
“Yes.”
“You let her die carrying that secret?”
Adrian looked away.
“I failed.”
Roman breathed heavily.
“Who killed her?”
“Not who you think.”
Roman's eyes narrowed.
“Start talking.”
Adrian explained.
Their father had built an underground financial structure before either son understood it.
Mason had been the architect.
Not merely an accountant.
A strategist.
He had created shell companies, hidden accounts, and alliances between political figures and criminal organizations.
Their father had eventually tried to leave.
Mason had arranged the staged deaths.
Adrian discovered the truth.
He confronted him.
Mason tried to kill him.
Adrian survived.
But the organization believed he was dead.
He went underground.
Years later, he contacted Norah because she was the only person Roman might still trust.
Roman stared.
“Why didn't you come to me?”
“Because I didn't know whether you had joined Mason.”
Roman laughed bitterly.
“I spent 9 years thinking you were dead.”
“I know.”
“Then what changed?”
“Mason found Norah.”
Roman's expression hardened.
“He wanted her because?”
“Because she was pregnant.”
Adrian looked toward the doorway.
“The twins are not just your children.”
Roman went still.
“What does that mean?”
“They were the reason Mason needed leverage over you.”
Roman waited.
Adrian continued.
“Mason has been building a succession plan.”
“For what?”
“For your organization.”
Roman's face turned cold.
“He wants to take over.”
“He wants you to destroy yourself.”
Adrian revealed the final piece.
The Irish crew moving into Denver was not a rival expansion.
It was bait.
Mason had arranged the attack on Roman's lieutenant.
If Roman ordered retaliation, federal attention would intensify.
If Roman started a war, the organization would fracture.
Then Mason would step in as the reasonable successor.
Roman looked toward the snow outside.
“You could have told me.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Eleven months ago.”
Roman turned.
“What?”
Adrian handed him a phone.
Inside were 23 unanswered messages.
Sent from Adrian's number.
All addressed to Roman.
Roman stared.
He had never received them.
“They were intercepted.”
“By Mason.”
“Yes.”
Roman's hands tightened.
“What else?”
Adrian hesitated.
“Your marriage.”
Roman looked at him.
“What about it?”
“Mason arranged the misunderstanding between you and Norah.”
Roman's chest tightened.
“The night she left.”
“Yes.”
“The message.”
“Forged.”
“The blood.”
“A staged scene.”
“The police raid.”
“Mason's people tipped them off.”
Roman shook his head.
“All of it?”
“Yes.”
Adrian looked him directly in the eye.
“Mason wanted you angry enough to isolate yourself.”
Roman laughed without humor.
“He succeeded.”
The door opened.
Norah entered carrying Lena.
“You found him.”
Adrian smiled.
“Hello, Norah.”
She nodded.
“You're late.”
“I'm alive.”
“That isn't the same thing.”
Adrian smiled sadly.
Roman looked between them.
“How long have you known him?”
“Almost a year.”
“You trusted him.”
“Yes.”
Roman swallowed.
That knowledge hurt.
But he understood why.
Norah had trusted Adrian because Adrian had done what Roman could not.
He had protected her without demanding anything in return.
Roman looked at the twins.
“What do they know?”
Adrian shook his head.
“Nothing.”
“What do they want?”
“Control.”
“Of me?”
“Of everything.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Mason isn't working alone.”
Roman frowned.
“Who else?”
Adrian whispered a name.
“Your mother.”
Roman stared at him.
“That’s impossible.”
“She wasn't killed.”
The world seemed to stop.
“What?”
“She disappeared.”
“Why?”
“She knows where the original ledger is.”
Roman remembered the old family stories.
His mother had died after a long illness.
Or so he had been told.
Adrian shook his head.
“She has been hiding.”
“Where?”
Adrian looked toward Norah.
“With us.”
Norah slowly nodded.
Roman stared at her.
“You knew?”
“I found her six months ago.”
“You found my mother.”
“Yes.”
“And never told me.”
“She was afraid.”
Roman's face hardened.
“She was my mother.”
“She was afraid of what you'd become.”
Roman looked away.
Adrian touched his shoulder.
“She wants to see you.”
Roman did not answer.
He looked at the clock.
12:01 a.m.
Christmas had arrived.
His first Christmas as a father.
His first Christmas since learning his family had been lying to him.
He turned toward Norah.
“Take the kids home.”
“Where?”
“Our real home.”
She frowned.
“The penthouse?”
“Yes.”
“Roman—”
“It is secured.”
“That place has cameras everywhere.”
“Not anymore.”
He looked at her.
“I’m changing everything.”
She searched his face.
“Why?”
“Because if we're going to survive this, I don't want the children raised in a fortress.”
Norah's eyes softened.
Roman stepped closer.
“I don't know how to be a father.”
“You'll learn.”
“Will you teach me?”
Norah swallowed.
“I might.”
He nodded.
It was not forgiveness.
May you like
But it was hope.
And hope was more dangerous to Roman Moretti than any bullet.
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