lFor several seconds, Adrian didn't move.
Neither did I.
The man standing before us looked nothing like the monsters I had imagined from the stories about the Moretti family. Marcus Moretti wore an immaculate black suit, polished shoes, and a silver watch that probably cost more than my entire wardrobe.
He looked like a respectable businessman.
That somehow made him more terrifying.
"You're supposed to be dead," Adrian said.
Marcus smiled faintly. "And yet, here I am. Life is full of disappointments."
"You faked your death?"
"Your father was very good at making enemies. Someone had to disappear before the entire family paid for his mistakes."
Adrian raised his gun. "You expect me to believe that?"
"No. I expect you to listen."
Marcus gestured toward Victor, who stood beside the railway carriage with the brass key.
"Victor was never my employer, Adrian. He was my business partner."
My stomach twisted.
"And your father?" Adrian asked.
"Your father discovered our arrangement. He intended to turn himself in and take half the organization down with him. Naturally, I couldn't allow that."
"You killed him."
Marcus sighed. "I arranged a meeting. Victor handled the rest."
Adrian's hand tightened around his gun.
"And Elena's father?"
Marcus looked at me.
"Daniel discovered the same financial records. He stole the evidence and threatened to expose everyone involved. He should have understood that protecting his daughter would require more than hiding a few documents."
I felt sick.
"My father trusted you."
"No, sweetheart. Your father trusted the wrong people."
"Apparently, he wasn't the only one."
Marcus's expression sharpened.
Adrian stepped in front of me. "You don't speak to her."
"How touching," Marcus murmured. "You've inherited your father's worst habit."
"Which one?"
"Thinking love makes you invincible."
Before Adrian could respond, a sharp crack echoed across the station.
Marcus's gun flew from his hand.
He screamed, clutching his wrist.
Everyone turned toward the sound.
Lucian stood behind his captor, holding the man's fallen pistol. Blood ran down his temple, but his grin was unmistakable.
"Sorry I'm late," he announced. "Traffic was murder."
"Lucian!" Adrian shouted.
"Wonderful to see you too, brother!"
Chaos erupted.
Adrian fired at the nearest guard while I ducked behind the carriage. Lucian tackled another man, and within seconds the station became a storm of gunshots, shouting, and running footsteps.
I crawled toward the place where Marcus had dropped his weapon.
But before I could reach it, someone grabbed my ankle.
I screamed and kicked backward.
Victor emerged from beneath the carriage, his face twisted with fury. He seized my coat and dragged me toward the tracks.
"Give me the key!"
"You already have it!"
"Not that key!"
He ripped open my coat pocket and searched frantically.
I finally understood.
The brass key was only one piece of the puzzle.
My father's letter had mentioned names behind the transactions. The photograph showed our fathers standing beside Victor. But there had been something else inside the bank's envelope—a small metal tag engraved with the numbers 1906.
I had assumed it was an identification number.
Victor stared at my face.
"Where is it?"
I said nothing.
His hand tightened around my throat.
"Your father gave you something before he died. Something you don't even remember receiving."
My heart hammered.
A memory flickered through my mind: my father's hand closing around mine, his voice whispering something through the smoke and confusion of that terrible night.
Never give them the little silver key.
I had been six years old.
And I remembered a silver pendant he had fastened around my neck.
I hadn't seen it in years.
Victor's expression changed as realization dawned.
"You have it," he whispered.
A gunshot rang out behind us.
Victor released me and turned.
Adrian stood several feet away, his weapon aimed directly at him.
"Take your hands off her."
Victor laughed bitterly. "You still don't understand, do you? That girl isn't merely the daughter of a dead accountant."
He looked at me one final time.
"She's the only person who can unlock the truth about both your fathers."
Then he smiled.
"And when she discovers what Adrian did that night, she'll wish she'd never met him."
Adrian's face went pale.
I slowly turned toward him.
"What did you do, Adrian?"
He lowered his gun.
For a moment, I thought he might lie.
Instead, he said the one thing I had never expected to hear.
"I was there when your father died."
My world tilted.
"And I didn't save him."