Chapter 7 - THE MAN WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD
The first SUV stopped ten feet from the warehouse.
The second blocked the road.
The third remained behind them.
Men stepped out.
Luca's security team raised their weapons.
Rafael looked at him.
"Don't shoot."
Luca stared at his father.
"Why?"
"Because they want you to."
Luca's jaw tightened.
"Who are they?"
Rafael looked toward the vehicles.
"The men I failed to destroy."
A man stepped from the center SUV.
Silver hair.
Black overcoat.
Calm smile.
Luca recognized him from old photographs.
Alexander Cole.
Vivian gasped.
"Dad."
Alexander looked at her.
"Come here."
Vivian shook her head.
"No."
His smile disappeared.
"You were always difficult."
Luca stepped between them.
"Stay away from her."
Alexander laughed.
"Still protecting people who betray you."
"You killed my father."
Alexander looked at Rafael.
"Did I?"
Rafael slowly stood.
"Tell him."
Alexander shrugged.
"Tell him what?"
"Tell him why you kept him alive."
Luca looked between them.
Alexander's expression became almost affectionate.
"Your father and I were partners."
"Partners?"
"We built everything together."
Rafael shook his head.
"We built a legitimate business."
Alexander smiled.
"And I built the organization."
Luca's eyes narrowed.
"What organization?"
"The one you inherited."
Rafael said:
"The one he corrupted."
Alexander sighed.
"You were always naïve."
Luca raised his weapon.
Alexander didn't flinch.
"If you shoot me, you'll never know what happened to your mother."
Luca froze.
"What?"
Alexander smiled.
"Yes."
He reached into his coat.
Pulled out a photograph.
Isabella.
Alive.
Young.
Standing beside Alexander.
Luca stared.
"When was this?"
"Twenty-eight years ago."
Rafael spoke.
"He's lying."
Alexander ignored him.
"Your mother wasn't the innocent woman you think she was."
Luca looked at Isabella's face in the photograph.
Alexander continued.
"She made a deal."
"With whom?"
"With me."
Rafael shook his head.
"Don't listen."
Alexander laughed.
"You still protect her."
"Because she protected our son."
Alexander turned to Luca.
"Ask her what happened the night your father disappeared."
Luca looked at Rafael.
"Tell me."
Rafael's eyes lowered.
"Your mother made a deal to save you."
Luca went still.
"What deal?"
Rafael answered:
"She agreed to make the world believe I was dead."
"Why?"
"Because the council wanted you."
Luca's expression hardened.
"Why me?"
Rafael looked at Alexander.
"Because you were the heir."
Alexander interrupted.
"Not just the heir."
He pointed at Luca.
"The key."
Luca frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Alexander smiled.
"Your father hid something before he disappeared."
"The ledger."
"No."
Alexander's smile widened.
"The money."
Luca stared.
"What money?"
Rafael said:
"Your grandfather built a private reserve."
"How much?"
Alexander laughed.
"Enough to start a war."
The warehouse fell silent.
Vivian stepped forward.
"You told me it didn't exist."
Alexander looked at her.
"Because you didn't need to know."
She stared at him.
"You used me."
"Of course."
Her face broke.
Luca looked at her.
"Where is the money?"
Rafael answered.
"Under Saint Mary's."
Luca remembered the chapel.
"The room beneath the altar."
Rafael nodded.
"The reserve was protected by a biometric lock."
"What does that have to do with me?"
Alexander answered.
"Your father's bloodline."
Luca realized.
"My blood."
Alexander smiled.
"Exactly."
Luca looked at Vivian.
"Then why was Vivian trying to get Ma to sign?"
"Because the account requires two family members."
Rafael's voice was weak.
"Your mother and your sister."
Luca stared.
"Vivian."
Alexander nodded.
"But after you married her, the council could control everything."
Vivian whispered:
"So that's why."
Alexander looked at her.
"Unfortunately, you became sentimental."
"You wanted me to marry him."
"I wanted you to control him."
Vivian's eyes filled with tears.
"I loved him."
Alexander's face hardened.
"And that made you useless."
He raised his weapon.
Luca reacted instantly.
He fired.
Alexander ducked.
Chaos erupted.
Gunfire filled the warehouse.
Luca grabbed Vivian.
Rafael tackled one of Alexander's men.
Naomi pulled Vivian behind a concrete pillar.
"Stay down!"
A bullet struck the wall above them.
Vivian screamed.
Luca fired again.
One of Alexander's men fell.
The rest retreated.
Alexander ran toward the SUVs.
Luca chased him.
But Rafael grabbed his arm.
"Don't!"
"Let go!"
"He's leading you away."
Luca stopped.
A terrible realization struck him.
"Where is Ma?"
Rafael's face changed.
"The mansion."
Luca immediately called his security chief.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
He called Naomi.
She was standing beside him.
"Your phone."
She checked it.
"No signal."
Rafael looked toward the road.
"They've cut the network."
Luca's blood went cold.
They hadn't come for him.
They had come for Isabella.
He turned toward his vehicle.
"Drive."
They reached the mansion twenty minutes later.
The gates were open.
No guards.
No lights.
No alarms.
Luca ran inside.
"Ma!"
Silence.
He rushed into the music room.
The wheelchair was overturned.
The piano was open.
The black box was gone.
Naomi found something on the floor.
A single piece of paper.
Luca took it.
Only six words.
COME TO SAINT MARY'S ALONE, SON.
Rafael stared at it.
"He's taking you to the chapel."
Luca looked at him.
"Then we're going."
Rafael shook his head.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because that's where your father died."
Luca's expression changed.
"What?"
Rafael looked at the altar in the old chapel through the rain-streaked windshield.
"I didn't survive the first time."
Luca stared at him.
May you like
Rafael whispered:
"Tonight, neither of us may."
