Chapter 8 - Elena Finally Revealed Why She Had Sent Arya to Lucian
The abandoned school was empty when Lucian arrived.
He entered alone.
Gabriel insisted on staying close.
Matteo waited outside with police.
Dr. Pierce appeared in the auditorium.
Lena was tied to a chair.
But Arya was nowhere.
"Where is my niece?"
Pierce smiled.
"Safe."
"Bring her out."
"First you need to understand."
Lucian walked closer.
"I have spent my entire life surrounded by men who explain themselves after hurting people."
Pierce sighed.
"You really are your father's son."
"No."
Lucian looked him in the eyes.
"That's why I'm still standing."
Pierce looked toward the stage.
"Your grandmother built the first Moretti network during Prohibition."
Lucian knew the history.
But not this.
"She created routes."
"Protection routes."
"For immigrant families."
Pierce nodded.
"Money came later. Weapons came later. Crime came later."
"And the men took over."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because power attracts people who love power."
Pierce looked bitter.
"Your grandmother tried to control what she created."
"And failed."
"Your grandfather betrayed her."
"What happened?"
"She died believing the family would destroy itself."
Lucian looked around.
"And my father?"
"He tried to undo it."
Pierce smiled.
"He loved Elena."
"Yes."
"He loved you."
Lucian said nothing.
"But he also feared you would become him."
"So he created the vault."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"To give you a way out."
Lucian stared.
"Then why did everyone keep dragging me back?"
Pierce's smile disappeared.
"Because not everyone wanted freedom."
A noise came from backstage.
Arya.
Lucian moved.
Pierce grabbed a gun.
"Stop."
Arya stepped from behind a curtain.
She wasn't tied.
She held something in her hands.
The Bible.
Pierce looked furious.
"What did you tell her?"
"Nothing."
Arya said.
"I found it."
Lucian looked at her.
"What?"
She held up a tiny envelope.
Pierce's expression changed.
"Give me that."
Arya stepped back.
"No."
Pierce raised his gun.
Lucian moved in front of her.
"Don't."
Pierce's hand shook.
Then police sirens exploded outside.
Pierce looked toward the windows.
Lucian smiled.
"You thought I came alone."
Pierce lowered the gun.
But he suddenly smiled.
"Too late."
He pressed a button.
The school lights went black.
A loud explosion rocked the building.
The ceiling shook.
Lucian pulled Arya against him.
"Stay with me."
"I am."
Gabriel appeared through the smoke.
"Everyone out!"
They escaped through a side exit.
Pierce was arrested.
The envelope was opened later.
Inside was a letter from Elena.
Arya read it aloud.
Your father is not the only person who needs saving.
Sometimes the strongest person in a family is the one nobody notices.
You.
Lucian closed his eyes.
Elena had known.
She had sent Arya into the restaurant because she trusted the little girl to recognize the right man.
Not a powerful man.
A safe man.
Lucian found Elena in the hospital that evening.
She was sitting by the window.
"You knew."
"About what?"
"Everything."
She smiled sadly.
"I knew enough."
"You sent Arya to me."
"Yes."
"You knew the men were watching her."
"Yes."
"That was dangerous."
"I had no other choice."
"Why didn't you call me?"
She looked down.
"Because every phone I owned was monitored."
Lucian sat beside her.
"How did you know I would help?"
Elena smiled.
"Because I remembered who you were before you became Lucian Moretti."
He looked at her.
"The boy who carried medicine to my mother's apartment."
"You remember that?"
"I remember everything."
He took her hand.
"I thought you were dead."
"I thought you hated me."
"I never hated you."
She cried.
For a while they simply sat together.
Then Elena whispered.
"I need to tell you one more thing."
"What?"
"Your father was not the final traitor."
Lucian stiffened.
"Who was?"
Elena looked toward the door.
"Me."
He stared.
"What?"
"I helped build the escape route."
"From the Moretti network?"
"Yes."
"Then why did you disappear?"
"Because I discovered someone was planning to use Arya."
"Who?"
She shook her head.
"I never learned his name."
Lucian's stomach tightened.
"Then how do you know?"
"Because he left a message."
She handed him a photograph.
A man standing outside a church.
Lucian stared.
He knew him.
He had seen him every Sunday since he was a child.
Father Michael.
The priest at Saint Mary's.
The priest who had kept Elena's box.
The priest who had known Arya.
Lucian felt sick.
"He helped you."
"Yes."
"And betrayed you."
"Maybe."
Lucian looked at the photograph.
The man beside Father Michael was someone else.
A younger man.
Lucian stared.
It was his father.
And between them stood a woman.
His grandmother.
The three people who created the original network.
May you like
The truth was bigger than one criminal family.
And the person who had guided Arya to safety might know exactly how to end it.
