Chapter 2 - THE BROTHER I BURIED
I had imagined seeing Luca again thousands of times.
Usually in dreams.
Sometimes he was laughing.
Sometimes he blamed me.
Sometimes he was still burning.
Never once did I imagine him standing in the basement of a ruined church accusing me of trying to murder him.
I slowly lowered my gun.
“What did you say?”
Luca laughed bitterly.
“You heard me.”
Beatrice stepped between us.
“Mr. Vale, please.”
My eyes stayed on my brother.
“Get out of the way, Beatrice.”
“No.”
Nobody told me no.
She did.
And she didn't move.
Luca looked thinner than I remembered. Older than thirty-six.
Pain had added twenty years to him.
His left hand shook slightly.
There were scars on his neck.
“Luca.”
“Don’t.”
His voice cracked.
“You don't get to say my name like that.”
My chest tightened.
“We buried you.”
“No. You buried an empty box.”
“I thought you were dead.”
“You ordered it.”
The room went silent.
I stared at him.
“Ordered what?”
“The warehouse.”
“You think I—”
“I heard your name before the explosion.”
“From who?”
He took one step closer.
“Lorenzo.”
My blood turned cold.
I said nothing.
Luca smiled.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“That look.”
“What look?”
“The one men get when the lie they built their life on starts cracking.”
Beatrice grabbed Luca’s arm.
“Enough.”
“No.”
He pulled away.
“I spent twelve years hiding because of him.”
I moved closer.
“I never ordered anybody to kill you.”
“You signed the authorization.”
“What authorization?”
“The transfer order sending me to Warehouse Seventeen.”
My mind raced.
Warehouse Seventeen had belonged to our shipping company.
Officially.
Unofficially, it held cash, weapons, and records my father wanted moved before federal investigators found them.
Luca had gone there on December eighteenth.
At 2:13 a.m., the building exploded.
Everyone inside died.
Or so I had believed.
“I never signed that order.”
Luca stared at me.
“I saw it.”
“Then it was forged.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I don't care what you believe. I'm telling you what happened.”
His fist slammed into my jaw.
Beatrice screamed.
I stumbled backward.
My hand reached for my gun out of instinct.
Then stopped.
Luca stood there breathing hard.
“Do it,” he said.
“Luca—”
“Shoot me. At least this time look me in the eyes.”
I straightened.
Blood filled my mouth.
“You want to hit me again?”
His eyes flashed.
“Yes.”
“Then do it.”
He swung.
I caught his wrist.
For one second, we were brothers again.
Young.
Fighting in our father’s backyard.
Then Luca drove his shoulder into me.
We crashed into a folding table.
Food scattered across the floor.
Beatrice slapped both hands against Luca’s chest.
“STOP IT!”
Her voice shattered.
Luca froze.
She looked at him.
“You survived twelve years for this?”
He stepped back.
Beatrice turned to me.
“And you. You're supposed to be so powerful. Start acting like it.”
I almost laughed.
Nobody had spoken to me like that since my mother died.
Beatrice looked between us.
“The men who attacked Luca knew he survived.”
I slowly looked at her.
“What?”
Her face tightened.
“They found him at the hospital.”
Luca went still.
Beatrice continued.
“I was there.”
“You?”
“I worked nights as a nursing assistant before my husband died.”
Everything clicked.
Her age.
Her familiarity with Luca.
The fear.
She swallowed.
“An ambulance brought him in without identification. Burns. Broken ribs. Head trauma. He couldn't remember his name.”
I looked at Luca.
“How did you know who he was?”
“I didn't.”
Beatrice's eyes filled.
“Not until men came looking for him.”
“What men?”
“One wore a Vale security badge.”
My stomach dropped.
She continued.
“They weren't there to protect him.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I heard one of them say, ‘If Room 314 is breathing, correct the mistake.’”
Luca stared at the floor.
Beatrice whispered, “I moved him.”
“You hid him?”
“For twelve years.”
“Why?”
“Because I watched one of those men murder the nurse who tried to stop them.”
A cold rage settled inside me.
“What was his name?”
“The man who gave the order?”
“Yes.”
Beatrice hesitated.
Then looked toward the doorway behind me.
Her expression changed.
Terror.
I spun around.
Nothing.
Only darkness.
Then footsteps echoed upstairs.
Beatrice whispered, “You were followed.”
I pulled my gun.
Luca grabbed a metal pipe.
The church lights suddenly went out.
And from the darkness above us came Lorenzo’s voice.
“Adrian?”
My heart stopped.
“Boss?”
Luca looked at me.
Beatrice covered her mouth.
May you like
Lorenzo called again.
“I know you're down there.”
