That evening Adrian moved Elena and Sofia into the rooms beside his own.
Four guards rotated outside the corridor.
No one entered without Marco’s permission.
Vivienne called the arrangement theatrical.
Adrian called it necessary.
At eleven, he found her in the library pouring wine.
“You frightened a child today.”
Vivienne turned.
“What?”
“The people you’re working with frightened a child.”
Her glass stopped halfway to her lips.
“You’ve lost your mind.”
“Have I?”
“Yes.”
Adrian closed the door.
“Tell me about the missing ledger page.”
For the first time, true fear touched her face.
It vanished quickly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Only three people have access to that safe.”
“Then perhaps Marco took it.”
“No.”
“You trust him more than the woman you intend to marry?”
“At the moment?”
Adrian walked closer.
“Yes.”
Vivienne set the wine down.
“I have given you two years of my life.”
“And I gave you access to mine.”
“You think I stole from you?”
“I think Bruno caught someone stealing from me.”
Vivienne looked away.
That was enough.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is he alive?”
Her eyes filled.
This time the tears were real.
“Adrian—”
“Is Bruno alive?”
“I think so.”
The answer hit him harder than a confession.
He stood completely still.
Vivienne covered her mouth.
“I never wanted anyone to hurt him.”
“But you knew.”
“My father came to me.”
“When?”
“Six weeks ago.”
“Why?”
“He owes money.”
“To whom?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know their names.”
“Try.”
“He said people had invested in a construction project that collapsed. He borrowed from someone in Montreal. Then someone in Miami. He kept borrowing to cover the last debt.”
“And he wanted information from me.”
Vivienne cried silently.
“He said one page from your ledger would clear everything.”
“So you opened my safe.”
“I thought it was numbers.”
“It was names.”
“I know that now.”
Adrian turned away because if he continued looking at her, his anger might become something he could not take back.
“What happened with Bruno?”
“He woke up.”
“When?”
“About two-thirty.”
“He saw you?”
“He stood between me and the office door.”
Adrian almost smiled despite himself.
Of course he had.
“What did you do?”
“I called my father.”
“And Damian came.”
Vivienne nodded.
“They said they would sedate Bruno and keep him somewhere for a few days.”
“You believed them?”
“I wanted to.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
“No.”
“Why not just put the page back?”
“My father already had a photograph.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
Every instinct told him to throw her out.
But Bruno was still missing.
And Sofia was still at risk.
“Where did Damian take him?”
“I don’t know.”
“Vivienne.”
“I swear.”
“Who called today?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“Who knew Sofia saw anything?”
“I did.”
Adrian turned.
Vivienne looked suddenly horrified by her own answer.
“I told my father.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“And hours later someone climbed my house to threaten her.”
“I didn’t know they would do that.”
“You keep saying that.”
She began sobbing.
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry is what people say after breaking a glass.”
Her hand went to her engagement ring.
“What are you going to do?”
“Find Bruno.”
“And then?”
Adrian looked at the diamond on her finger.
“Then I decide whether there is anything left between us worth saving.”
He walked out.
At one in the morning Marco found him in the garage.
“We located Damian.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Warehouse in Red Hook.”
Adrian grabbed his coat.
“No.”
Adrian looked at Marco.
“It could be a trap.”
“It probably is.”
“That isn’t a reason to walk into it.”
“It is if Bruno is there.”
Marco sighed.
Twenty minutes later they drove toward Brooklyn with two additional cars behind them.
The warehouse stood near abandoned industrial lots and dark water.
Damian Rusk was inside.
Bruno was not.
They found Damian sitting against a concrete pillar with a bruised face and one hand wrapped in a blood-soaked towel.
When he saw Adrian, he laughed bitterly.
“You’re late.”
Adrian crouched.
“Where is my dog?”
“Gone.”
“Where?”
“Your future father-in-law sold the information to people he shouldn’t have.”
“I asked about Bruno.”
Damian swallowed.
“I sedated him. Put him in the SUV.”
“Where did you take him?”
“A veterinary kennel in Queens.”
Adrian stood.
“Address.”
“They moved him yesterday.”
“Who?”
“The men Romano owes.”
“Names.”
“I only know one.”
Damian looked toward the warehouse windows as if expecting someone to appear.
“Victor Sayegh.”
Marco’s expression changed.
Adrian noticed.
“You know him?”
Marco nodded.
“Arms broker. Financial crime. Moves through Canada and Europe.”
Damian gave a weak laugh.
“He doesn’t care about the dog.”
“Then why move him?”
“Insurance.”
“Against what?”
“You.”
Adrian stared.
Damian continued.
“Romano promised them the ledger page. But the page was incomplete. Codes without the master list.”
Adrian understood.
“They want me to decode it.”
“Yes.”
“So Bruno is leverage.”
“Part of it.”
“What’s the other part?”
Damian stared at him.
“The kid.”
Adrian was already reaching for his phone.
Marco cursed.
No signal.
A jammer.
Then the warehouse lights died.
Gunfire shattered the windows.
Adrian dropped behind a concrete barrier.
Marco returned fire.
Outside, engines roared.
The attack lasted less than two minutes.
When it ended, one of Adrian’s security vehicles was burning.
Damian had been shot in the chest.
Adrian crawled toward him.
“Where are they keeping Bruno?”
Damian coughed blood.
“Old veterinary hospital.”
“Where?”
“North Shore. Closed place. Near Glen Cove.”
“Name.”
Damian struggled.
“Saint Francis.”
His eyes closed.
Adrian checked his pulse.
Gone.
Marco appeared beside him.
“We need to move.”
Adrian stood.
“Call the estate.”
Signal returned once they crossed the warehouse entrance.
Marco dialed.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Adrian called Elena directly.
She answered on the fourth ring.
Her voice was shaking.
“Mr. Moretti?”
“Where is Sofia?”
“With me.”
“Lock your door.”
“It is locked.”
“Do not open it for anyone.”
A sound came through the phone.
A knock.
Elena whispered, “Someone is outside.”
Adrian’s hand tightened around the phone.
“Who?”
A man’s voice sounded faintly beyond the door.
“Elena? It’s Salvatore Romano.”
Adrian’s blood turned to ice.
Vivienne’s father was inside his house.
And Adrian had never authorized him through the gate.
---