Chapter 4 - The Woman Roman Thought Was Dead
Evelyn Black had disappeared sixteen years earlier.
Roman remembered the night.
He had been twenty-three.
His father told him she had betrayed the family.
Then she vanished.
No body.
No funeral.
No explanation.
Roman had spent years believing she was dead.
Now her photograph sat in a hidden room beneath his casino.
And Victor had just told him otherwise.
Meera looked at the photograph.
“She looks like you.”
Roman didn't answer.
He was studying the image.
His aunt stood beside his father.
Beside them was another man.
Trent Lawson.
And a much younger Victor Shaw.
They were not merely connected.
They had been planning something for decades.
Roman ordered his people to find Evelyn.
The trail led to a small property outside the city.
He arrived with Meera and two trusted guards.
Inside, they found an empty house.
But the kitchen was warm.
Someone had just left.
On the table sat a single cup of tea.
Beside it was a photograph of Evan.
Meera grabbed Roman's arm.
“He's been watched.”
Roman looked around.
Then Evan whispered:
“Behind you.”
Roman spun.
A woman stood in the doorway.
Silver hair.
Calm eyes.
Elegant black coat.
Evelyn.
Roman raised his gun.
“Don't.”
She smiled sadly.
“You have your father's eyes.”
“You're supposed to be dead.”
“I was supposed to stay dead.”
“Why?”
“To keep you alive.”
Roman lowered the gun slightly.
“You've been planning this?”
“No.”
“Victor says my death is part of your plan.”
“Victor lies.”
“Then explain everything.”
Evelyn looked at Meera.
Then Evan.
“He doesn't belong in this.”
Meera replied:
“He has already saved Roman twice.”
Evelyn stared at the boy.
“He looks like Ortega.”
Roman frowned.
“What does that mean?”
She took out an old photograph.
Ortega stood beside a woman.
The woman was pregnant.
Meera looked closer.
She recognized her.
It was herself.
She had never seen the photograph before.
“What is this?”
Evelyn answered:
“Three years ago, Ortega discovered Victor was manipulating the hotel's emergency infrastructure.”
Meera's voice shook.
“And?”
“He believed Victor planned to use your son's unusual hearing to detect whether his sabotage was discovered.”
Meera felt sick.
“Why me?”
“Because Ortega trusted you.”
Roman looked at Evelyn.
“Why didn't you stop Victor?”
“I tried.”
“And failed.”
Evelyn sat.
“Your father built the Black Crown on two worlds.”
She explained.
One world was legitimate.
Hotels.
Restaurants.
Property.
Investments.
The other was criminal.
Money laundering.
Smuggling.
Protection rackets.
When Roman inherited the company, he slowly pushed the criminal side away.
Victor hated that.
He believed the old empire should return.
Trent joined him.
Several security men joined.
Then Evelyn discovered something worse.
Victor wasn't after the company.
He was after Roman's family.
“Why?”
Evelyn took a long breath.
“Because your father had another heir.”
Roman went still.
“My father had no other children.”
“He did.”
“Who?”
Evelyn looked at Meera.
Then at Evan.
Meera felt a chill.
“No.”
Roman stared at her.
“What?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Not Evan.”
She pulled out another file.
“Someone else.”
Roman opened it.
Inside was a birth record.
Twin boys.
One named Roman.
One named Adrian.
Roman stared.
“Adrian?”
“Your older brother.”
Roman’s mother had given birth to twins.
One had died.
Or so Roman had been told.
But Evelyn said Adrian survived.
He had been sent away.
Raised under another name.
And Victor had found him years later.
Roman clenched his fists.
“Where is he?”
“Dead.”
“Victor killed him.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Because Adrian discovered the financial network.”
Roman looked at Meera.
“This is why Victor wants me dead.”
“Yes.”
“Adrian was the rightful heir.”
“According to your father's private documents.”
Roman laughed bitterly.
“I thought I was fighting for my own empire.”
“You were.”
Evelyn looked toward the window.
“Until Victor decided to rewrite the family.”
The house suddenly shook.
Gunfire outside.
Evelyn moved with surprising speed.
“Down!”
Roman pulled Meera and Evan behind a wall.
Their guards fired back.
Cars screeched outside.
Victor's men had found them.
Evelyn opened a hidden floor panel.
“Take the tunnel.”
Roman looked at her.
“What about you?”
“I'm staying.”
“No.”
“You need to go.”
She pushed a key into his hand.
“Your father's vault.”
Roman stared.
“What vault?”
“The one even Victor never found.”
They escaped through the tunnel.
At the end, they reached an abandoned church.
Beneath the altar was another hidden door.
Roman used the key.
A room opened.
Inside were documents.
Recordings.
Letters.
And a video of Roman's father.
He looked tired.
Older.
Terrified.
“If Roman sees this, then Victor has finally made his move.”
Roman stood frozen.
His father's voice continued.
“I lied about Adrian's death.”
Roman closed his eyes.
“He survived.”
A second video showed Adrian.
A young man.
Roman's brother.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Roman, I don't know when you'll see this.”
He smiled.
“If you're watching, don't trust the people who tell you I hated you.”
Roman's eyes filled.
“I never did.”
The screen went black.
Another video started.
Victor.
“You're both too dangerous.”
Then static.
Roman stepped back.
Meera put her hand on his arm.
He didn't move.
For the first time, the feared mafia boss looked like a son.
Not a king.
Not a killer.
Just a man learning how much of his life had been built on lies.
Evan walked toward him.
“Mr. Black?”
Roman looked down.
“What?”
“You're sad.”
Roman swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Me too.”
“Why?”
“Because Mommy cries when she's scared.”
Meera's eyes filled.
Roman knelt beside her.
“You shouldn't have to be scared anymore.”
She shook her head.
“Don't make promises you can't keep.”
Roman looked at her.
“I intend to.”
Then Evan pointed toward the vault wall.
“There.”
A faint hum.
Roman listened.
He couldn't hear it.
Evan could.
Behind the wall was another device.
A remote detonator.
Connected to the hotel.
Roman stared at it.
Victor had planted explosives throughout the Black Crown.
The gala was not canceled.
The attack was already underway.
Roman's phone rang.
Trent.
“Roman,” he said calmly.
“You have ten minutes.”
“Until what?”
“Until your hotel becomes a graveyard.”
The call ended.
Roman looked at Meera.
May you like
Then Evan.
“We have ten minutes.”
