Chapter 1 - THE MIDNIGHT KNOCK
Nathan pushed up Emma's sleeve.
Adrian saw the marks around her wrist.
Some were old.
Some were recent.
They looked like restraint injuries.
The room seemed to lose several degrees of warmth.
Adrian stared at the bruises.
“Who did that?”
Nathan didn't answer immediately.
“Could be from anything.”
Adrian looked at him.
Nathan sighed.
“You know it isn't.”
Lily sat on the edge of the bed, hugging her battered rabbit.
“Mommy said don't tell.”
Adrian's gaze moved to her.
“Don't tell me what?”
Lily lowered her voice.
“The man.”
“What man?”
She looked toward the bedroom door.
Then toward the small window.
“He comes when it's dark.”
Adrian went still.
“How often?”
“Sometimes.”
“What does he do?”
Lily shook her head.
“He tells Mommy she has to be quiet.”
Adrian felt a coldness settle in his stomach.
He looked at Nathan.
“Can you wake her?”
Nathan checked Emma's pupils.
“She may not come around for another hour.”
Adrian nodded.
He turned toward Lily.
“Did this man hurt your mother?”
Lily hugged the rabbit tighter.
“He hurt Bunny.”
Adrian frowned.
“What?”
“He said if Mommy talked, Bunny would disappear.”
Lily looked at the stuffed rabbit.
Adrian understood.
Threats didn't always involve people.
Sometimes, criminals threatened children through the only things they believed mattered to them.
He crouched.
“Lily.”
She looked at him.
“Has the man ever hurt you?”
She shook her head.
“Mommy won't let him.”
“Did he ever touch you?”
“No.”
Adrian exhaled.
“Good.”
Then Lily whispered something else.
“He knows you.”
Adrian's entire body went still.
“What?”
“The man.”
“How does he know me?”
“He said your name.”
“What name?”
“Adrian.”
Nathan looked at him.
Adrian's expression changed.
“Did he say anything else?”
Lily nodded.
“He said…”
She leaned closer.
“…that you were going to die.”
Silence.
Marcus entered the room.
“Boss?”
Adrian looked at him.
“Lock down the property.”
Marcus immediately understood.
“Why?”
“Someone has been entering the staff wing.”
Marcus's eyes narrowed.
“From outside?”
“No.”
Adrian looked at Emma.
“From inside.”
That changed everything.
Because the Moretti estate was protected like a fortress.
Every entrance had cameras.
Every hallway had sensors.
Every member of staff was vetted.
Someone had not broken in.
Someone had been invited in.
Or was already part of the household.
Marcus lowered his voice.
“Who knows about this?”
“Me. You. Nathan.”
Marcus glanced at Lily.
“And her.”
Adrian nodded.
“Add her to the list.”
Marcus's expression softened slightly when he looked at the child.
Then he noticed the bruises on Emma.
“Jesus.”
Adrian stood.
“Don't say anything to the staff.”
“What do we tell them?”
“That Emma fainted.”
Marcus nodded.
“And Lily?”
“She stays with me.”
Marcus looked surprised.
Adrian ignored it.
He picked up Lily.
She stiffened.
Then relaxed when he wrapped his jacket around her.
“Where are we going?”
“To somewhere safe.”
“Are you a bad man?”
Adrian almost smiled.
“That depends who you ask.”
Lily considered the answer.
“My mommy says bad men make promises.”
Adrian's eyes flickered.
“What else does she say?”
“She says good men keep them.”
He looked at the child.
“Then I'll keep mine.”
Lily rested her head against his shoulder.
Adrian carried her into the corridor.
The estate was silent.
Too silent.
He could feel eyes on them.
He knew his people.
He knew when something was wrong.
But this was different.
Someone had been hiding in plain sight.
The question was who.
An hour later, Emma finally woke.
She looked around.
Her eyes landed on Lily.
“Where is she?”
Adrian stood beside the bed.
“Safe.”
Emma immediately tried to sit up.
“You can't.”
“Lily?”
“She's downstairs.”
Emma relaxed.
Then she saw Adrian.
Her expression changed.
“You.”
“Yes.”
Her voice was weak.
“I'm sorry.”
“Don't apologize.”
“You shouldn't have gotten involved.”
“I already did.”
She closed her eyes.
“Please send us away.”
“Why?”
“They'll come.”
“Who?”
She didn't answer.
“Emma.”
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
She swallowed.
“Your house isn't safe.”
Adrian stared.
“Why?”
“Because they're already inside.”
The room went still.
“You know who?”
She looked toward Nathan.
Then Marcus.
Then Adrian.
“I don't know all of them.”
“How many?”
“At least three.”
Marcus cursed under his breath.
Adrian leaned closer.
“What do they want?”
Emma whispered,
“Something that belonged to your father.”
Adrian's face changed.
“My father died fifteen years ago.”
“I know.”
“What does he have to do with you?”
Emma looked at him.
“He knew my mother.”
Adrian stopped breathing.
“My father knew you?”
“He knew Sarah.”
“Who's Sarah?”
“My mother.”
Emma's voice broke.
“Your father promised he would protect her.”
Adrian felt a deep unease.
His father had died when Adrian was twenty-four.
Officially, heart failure.
A quiet death.
No enemies.
No suspicion.
No reason to investigate.
At least, that was what Adrian had believed.
“Where is the thing he promised to protect?”
Emma looked toward the wall.
“In this house.”
Adrian turned.
His eyes moved across the room.
The old photographs.
The antique dresser.
The fireplace.
The books.
Then he noticed something.
A painting.
An old portrait his father had purchased decades earlier.
He remembered seeing it countless times.
Nothing special.
Except now he noticed the frame.
A tiny scratch.
Three horizontal lines.
He approached it.
Emma whispered,
“That's it.”
He looked at her.
“You've seen this before?”
“My mom showed me.”
“When?”
“Before she got sick.”
Adrian removed the painting.
Behind it was a hidden compartment.
Empty.
His jaw tightened.
“Someone already took it.”
Emma shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“They didn't.”
“How do you know?”
“My mother moved it.”
“Where?”
“She said only someone who heard the lullaby would know.”
Adrian frowned.
“What lullaby?”
Lily began humming.
Three notes.
Soft.
Familiar.
Adrian froze.
He had heard that melody before.
His father used to hum it when Adrian was a child.
He had forgotten.
Until now.
He looked at Emma.
“Who taught your mother?”
“My grandmother.”
“What's her name?”
“Grace.”
Adrian's eyes widened.
Grace Moretti.
His grandmother.
Dead twenty years.
Suddenly everything connected.
His family.
Emma's mother.
The old painting.
The hidden compartment.
The man entering the estate at night.
And a secret his father had taken to his grave.
Adrian turned toward Marcus.
“Find every record involving Sarah Carter.”
Marcus nodded.
“Anything else?”
“Find Grace Moretti's private journals.”
“Those were destroyed.”
“No.”
Adrian looked at the painting.
“Someone wanted us to believe they were.”
Then Lily tugged on his sleeve.
“Adrian?”
“What?”
“The man is coming tonight.”
Adrian crouched.
“How do you know?”
“He always comes when Mommy wakes up.”
Adrian looked at Emma.
Then at the clock.
2:17 a.m.
He slowly stood.
“Then we'll be waiting.”
Outside, rain struck the windows.
And somewhere inside the estate, someone heard the same thing.
May you like
The little girl's voice.
The mafia boss knows.
