Chapter 2 - The Secret My Uncle Left Behind
By morning, I wanted to believe the previous night had been a nightmare.
Then I saw Adrian waiting in the kitchen.
He was already dressed in a black suit, reading from a tablet while drinking coffee.
“You look terrible,” he said.
“You kidnapped me.”
“I prevented you from being kidnapped.”
“Semantics.”
His mouth twitched.
“Eat.”
I looked at the breakfast in front of me.
Eggs.
Toast.
Fruit.
Coffee.
“I can buy my own breakfast.”
“Then consider this an investment.”
“Into what?”
“You surviving the week.”
I sat.
He slid a folder across the table.
I didn't touch it.
“What is that?”
“Everything we know about Gabriel's last six months.”
I opened it.
Bank statements.
Warehouse records.
Names.
Photographs.
My uncle had apparently been investigating someone.
A company called Northstar Logistics.
I frowned.
“Gabriel worked as an accountant.”
“Exactly.”
“That doesn't explain weapons.”
“It wasn't his company. He discovered money moving through it.”
I looked closer.
Millions of dollars had been transferred through shell companies.
Some went through Dallas.
Some through Miami.
Others through ports in Louisiana.
“Why didn't he tell the police?”
“He did.”
“And?”
Adrian leaned back.
“The detective assigned to his case was paid to bury it.”
I looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because I paid him first.”
I stared.
“You're saying you bribed the police?”
“I'm saying the world isn't as clean as your nursing textbooks.”
I hated how calm he was.
Then something caught my eye.
An old receipt was clipped to one page.
The address was familiar.
My grandmother's apartment complex.
I went cold.
“Why is this here?”
Adrian looked.
“Because Gabriel paid your rent three months before he died.”
“I thought my mother had.”
He said nothing.
“My uncle helped us?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't he tell me?”
“He didn't want you to feel like a charity case.”
My throat tightened.
I looked away.
Adrian's voice softened.
“He loved you.”
I blinked rapidly.
No one had said that to me since the funeral.
My uncle had been my favorite person after my mother died.
He used to call me his little storm because I argued with everyone.
I missed him every day.
I closed the folder.
“I need to go home.”
“You can.”
He pushed a phone toward me.
“Call your grandmother.”
I dialed.
She answered on the second ring.
“Bella?”
Her voice sounded weak.
“I'm okay, Grandma.”
“Where are you?”
“At a friend's.”
“Since when do you have mysterious friends?”
I almost laughed.
Adrian looked away.
“I'm coming home soon.”
She was silent.
Then she whispered, “Your uncle used to say if anything happened to him, you should find a man named Adrian.”
I looked at him.
He had heard her.
He lowered his eyes.
“Did he tell you anything else?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
She hesitated.
“He left a box.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
“In his storage unit.”
Adrian stood immediately.
“Do you know the number?”
Grandma gave it to me.
Adrian was already calling someone.
“You're not going alone.”
“I can go.”
“No.”
“I don't need you to protect me every second.”
“You don't understand what may be in that box.”
“I understand that it belongs to my uncle.”
Adrian looked directly at me.
“Fine.”
He handed me a coat.
“We go together.”
At the storage facility, two of his men searched the area first.
I hated how normal that had become.
We found the unit.
Inside were boxes of old tax files, photographs, and household things.
Nothing seemed important.
Then I noticed a child's wooden toy on the floor.
A wooden horse.
My uncle had given it to me when I was eight.
I picked it up.
Something rattled inside.
Adrian took it from me.
He examined the base.
Four screws.
One had been replaced.
He removed it.
A tiny key fell into his palm.
“What does it open?” I asked.
He looked at the key.
“Probably something your uncle didn't want found.”
We searched the boxes.
Nothing.
Then I remembered the old house where my uncle had lived before moving into an apartment.
He had kept a desk there.
The key fit the desk.
Inside was a hidden compartment.
A small black notebook sat inside.
My uncle's handwriting covered the pages.
Names.
Dates.
Numbers.
And one sentence underlined twice.
DO NOT TRUST ADRIAN ROMANO UNLESS HE TELLS HER ABOUT LUCIA.
I looked up.
“Who's Lucia?”
Adrian's face became unreadable.
“I was hoping you wouldn't find that.”
“What does it mean?”
“Lucia was my sister.”
“Was?”
“She died fifteen years ago.”
I waited.
“Your uncle knew her.”
“How?”
Adrian took a breath.
“She helped me escape from a rival family.”
I read the page again.
“Why would my uncle write this?”
“Because he knew my family had secrets.”
“Does Lucia have anything to do with the ledger?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Adrian looked away.
“Because she stole it.”
The room seemed to shrink around us.
“What ledger?”
“The one your uncle was trying to protect.”
“From who?”
“Me.”
I stared at him.
“You're saying my uncle thought you were dangerous?”
“He was right.”
I closed the notebook.
“Then why should I trust you?”
“You shouldn't.”
“Then why are you protecting me?”
“Because Gabriel asked me to.”
“That's not enough.”
“No.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“So I'll tell you the truth.”
He lowered his voice.
“I was there the night Gabriel died.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“I found him after the crash.”
“You said he was murdered.”
“He was.”
“Did you kill him?”
His eyes met mine.
“No.”
“Then who did?”
“I don't know.”
He paused.
“But I know the man who gave the order.”
“Who?”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“Victor Moretti.”
I had heard that name too.
A rival crime boss.
A man rumored to control the eastern ports.
Adrian continued.
“Lucia stole something from Victor fifteen years ago. That theft started a war.”
“What did she steal?”
“The ledger.”
“The same ledger?”
“Yes.”
“Where is it now?”
Adrian looked at the notebook.
“Your uncle found it.”
I felt dizzy.
“Then why did he hide it?”
“Because he learned what Victor planned to do with it.”
“What?”
“Buy judges. Police. Politicians. Entire companies.”
He paused.
“And expose people who thought they were untouchable.”
I looked at my uncle's handwriting.
The final page contained one name.
Isabella Santos.
Under it was a sentence.
SHE IS THE KEY.
I looked at Adrian.
“I don't understand.”
Neither did he.
And then the storage facility lights went out.
Three gunshots exploded through the darkness.
Adrian pulled me to the floor.
Someone shouted from outside.
He covered my body with his.
“Stay down.”
I could hear his heart beating.
Fast.
Human.
Not the untouchable man everyone feared.
A bullet struck the metal wall.
Adrian's face hardened.
Then he whispered in my ear,
“Your uncle didn't just leave you a warning.”
I swallowed.
May you like
“What did he leave me?”
“A war.”
