Chapter 6 - The Night the Mafia Boss Chose Her Over Everything
My father came back three days later.
Not secretly.
Not hiding.
He walked into Veil Meridian Tower at noon carrying a black cane and wearing a gray coat.
Everyone recognized him.
Elias Whitlock.
Alive.
Older.
Scarred.
But alive.
When he saw me, he stopped.
I couldn't move.
He looked at me as though seeing me was more painful than any wound.
"Marin."
My voice broke.
"Dad."
He opened his arms.
I ran to him.
For a few seconds, seventeen years disappeared.
Then Ronin entered.
His gun was visible beneath his jacket.
Elias noticed.
"You must be Ronin."
"I've heard enough about you."
Elias smiled.
"Then you know my daughter."
"I know her better than anyone."
I stared at Ronin.
My father did too.
Something passed between them.
Respect.
Suspicion.
Maybe even gratitude.
Elias sat down.
"I don't have much time."
"What happened to Mom?"
He looked at me.
"She discovered who was behind the network."
"Who?"
"Someone close."
"Salvatore?"
"No."
"Then who?"
Elias pulled a photograph from his pocket.
A young man.
Ronin looked at it.
His face changed.
"Adrian Vale."
"My grandfather?"
"No."
Ronin's voice was cold.
"My uncle."
Elias nodded.
"Adrian wasn't your father's brother."
"What?"
"He was Salvatore's older half-brother."
Ronin stepped back.
"He died."
"No."
Elias handed him another photograph.
Adrian Vale was alive in it.
And beside him was Nolan Price.
The man who had tried to kill Camilla.
"The Blue Room," Elias said, "contains proof that Adrian orchestrated the original war."
I stared at the photograph.
"Why?"
"To inherit everything."
"Then why kill Mom?"
"She discovered him."
Ronin's expression hardened.
"Why did he blame my father?"
"Because your father already had enemies."
I turned to Elias.
"Why did you disappear?"
"To protect you."
"Why didn't you contact me?"
"Because every person I trusted was watched."
He looked at Ronin.
"Until now."
Ronin said nothing.
Elias placed a key on the table.
"The Blue Room is underneath the old Vale theater."
Ronin frowned.
"That building was demolished."
"Only above ground."
We found the entrance that night.
The old theater had been abandoned for years.
Beneath it was a sealed passage.
The key opened a steel door.
Inside were documents.
Photos.
Recordings.
Bank accounts.
Evidence of decades of corruption.
I found my mother's file.
My hands shook.
There was a photograph of her taken the week before her death.
She was meeting Adrian Vale.
On the back was a note.
SHE KNOWS.
Another photograph showed Adrian speaking to Nolan.
Then a recording.
My mother's voice.
"If anything happens to me, Marin must never know."
I pressed play.
She continued.
"Adrian is using both families. Elias believes Salvatore is responsible, but Salvatore is protecting me."
Ronin looked at me.
His father had been telling the truth.
My mother had known.
The recording ended.
Then the doors slammed shut.
Someone had locked us inside.
Gas began filling the room.
Ronin grabbed me.
"Cover your mouth."
Elias smashed a window.
Smoke alarms screamed.
We found an emergency tunnel.
Ronin pushed me through.
Elias followed.
The building exploded behind us.
We barely escaped.
Outside, Ronin collapsed against a wall.
I held him.
"Are you okay?"
He nodded.
Then he looked at me.
"If I lose you..."
He couldn't finish.
I touched his face.
"You won't."
"What if I do?"
"You won't."
He pulled me close.
"I love you."
I stopped breathing.
He looked almost frightened after saying it.
I whispered.
"I love you too."
He kissed me.
Behind us, Elias quietly turned away.
For the first time since finding my father, I smiled.
But the happiness lasted only minutes.
Wade called.
"Boss."
Ronin answered.
"Talk."
"We found Adrian."
"Where?"
"He has Salvatore."
Ronin's face changed.
"Alive?"
"Yes."
"And Elena?"
A pause.
"Taken too."
Elena.
The same woman who had once made me jealous.
The same woman who had been at the gala.
She wasn't Adrian's ally.
She had been spying on him.
And now she was a hostage.
Ronin looked at me.
"The war starts tonight."
May you like
I took his hand.
"Then we finish it together."
