Chapter 4 - THE TORN COAT
“She took Lily.”
Adrian’s voice wasn’t angry. It was dead. That was worse.
He threw the SUV into drive, the tires spinning on the wet asphalt before catching traction. We tore down the highway, the speedometer needle climbing past ninety.
“Call Marcus,” Adrian ordered.
I fumbled for his phone in the center console. I dialed his capo’s number.
Marcus answered on the first ring. “Boss.”
“Is Lily in her room?” Adrian asked.
The silence on the other end lasted two seconds. It felt like an hour.
“Her door is locked from the inside, sir,” Marcus said. “But Victoria’s car just came through the back gate. She’s packing a bag.”
“Break Lily’s door down.”
We listened to the heavy thud of Marcus kicking the solid oak door. A splintering crash.
Then, a sharp intake of breath.
“Boss,” Marcus said, his voice tight. “The window is open. She’s gone.”
Adrian hung up.
He didn’t punch the dashboard. He didn’t scream.
He just pressed his foot harder onto the gas pedal.
When we reached the mansion, it was swarming with men in dark suits.
Adrian walked through the front doors like a ghost.
Victoria was standing in the foyer, surrounded by four of Adrian’s guards. A leather duffel bag sat at her feet.
She looked at Adrian, her chin high, though her hands trembled.
“Where is she?” Adrian asked.
Victoria didn’t flinch.
“Safe. Somewhere you and your lifestyle can never hurt her.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“She’s Maria’s daughter!” Victoria screamed, the elegant facade finally shattering. “Elena couldn’t have children! She faked the pregnancy to keep you happy, to keep the peace between the families! When Maria went to prison, Elena took the baby. And I swore I would protect her if Elena couldn’t.”
“By kidnapping her?” I stepped forward. I couldn’t help it. I was just a maid, but I remembered the terror in Lily’s eyes.
Victoria sneered at me. “By getting her away from a man who is about to be indicted by the FBI. You think I wanted to marry a mob boss? I stayed to watch the girl.”
Adrian stepped closer to Victoria.
“Who shot at us at the hotel?”
Victoria looked genuinely confused. “What?”
“Someone was waiting for us at the Lakeview. They put a bullet through the windshield. If you were just trying to take Lily, why set an ambush?”
“I didn’t set an ambush!” Victoria insisted, her eyes widening in actual panic. “I went to the hotel earlier to get the green box, but it was already broken into! I left it there. I swear, Adrian, I only took Lily to—”
“Boss.”
Marcus stepped into the foyer. He was holding something.
A child’s yellow raincoat.
Lily’s coat.
“We found this by the east gate,” Marcus said quietly.
Adrian took the coat.
He stared at it.
There was a jagged tear along the right sleeve.
And it was stained with fresh blood.
Victoria gasped, covering her mouth. “No. No, I told him not to hurt her.”
Adrian’s head snapped up.
“Told who?”
Victoria backed away, tears spilling over her mascara.
“I didn’t take her, Adrian. I packed a bag to go get her. He called me an hour ago. He said if I wanted the girl to live, I had to bring the green box to the docks.”
“Who?” Adrian roared, his control finally breaking.
Victoria shook her head, sobbing.
“I don’t know his name. He only gave me a location and a photograph to prove he had her.”
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled Polaroid.
Adrian snatched it.
I looked over his shoulder.
It was Lily. She was tied to a chair in a dark, concrete room.
But she wasn’t looking at the camera.
She was looking at the man standing behind her.
We couldn’t see his face.
But we could see his hand resting on her shoulder.
On his wrist was a very specific, custom-made silver watch.
The exact match to the one I found in the green box.
My grandfather’s watch.
I stumbled backward, the breath knocked out of my lungs.
“That’s impossible,” I whispered.
May you like
Adrian looked at me, his eyes dark with lethal realization.
“Anna,” he said slowly. “Your grandfather died three years ago. Who is wearing his watch?”
