Chapter 6 - THE MAN BESIDE ME
I couldn't speak.
Julian took the phone.
“Who are you?”
The caller laughed.
“You really don't recognize my voice?”
Julian's face went pale.
He handed the phone back.
“Alexander.”
“What?”
“Don't go.”
“I have to.”
“No.”
“He has Grace.”
Julian grabbed my arm.
“He wants you.”
“He has my niece.”
“He wants you more.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because you're the final piece.”
I didn't understand.
Then I remembered the contract.
Grace was the legal heir.
But I was the executor.
If I died—
control transferred.
Someone had engineered the entire system.
“Where's Vincent?”
Julian's eyes darkened.
“Exactly where he wants us to think he isn't.”
We returned to the mansion.
The security gates were open.
Every guard was gone.
The front door stood unlocked.
Inside, the house looked untouched.
Except for one thing.
My father's portrait had been removed.
Behind it was a message.
BASEMENT.
We descended.
Vincent stood in the center of the room.
His hands were raised.
Hannah was tied to a chair.
Grace was nowhere.
I raised my weapon.
“Where is she?”
Vincent looked exhausted.
“I don't have her.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because they made me come.”
“Who?”
He looked at Julian.
Then whispered:
“The Crown.”
Julian stepped forward.
“You've been working for them.”
“For thirty years.”
My jaw tightened.
“You killed my brother?”
“No.”
Vincent's eyes filled with tears.
“I saved him.”
“What?”
“Your brother's car exploded eighteen months ago.”
Julian nodded.
“I wasn't inside.”
Vincent continued.
“The man who died was a body double.”
I stared.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because they were watching you.”
He pointed toward the ceiling.
“Every room.”
I looked up.
Hidden cameras.
Dozens.
My entire life had been watched.
Vincent took a small drive from his pocket.
“Your father left this.”
I took it.
“What is it?”
“Everything.”
I connected it to the computer.
Files appeared.
Names.
Payments.
Murder orders.
Political deals.
Blackmail.
Then I saw my own name.
I opened the file.
My birth certificate.
Julian's.
Then another document.
Alexander Caruso — Designated Successor.
Under it:
Julian Caruso — Contingency Asset.
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
Vincent answered.
“Your father raised you to inherit the empire.”
“And Julian?”
“To destroy it if you ever became corrupted.”
I looked at my brother.
He lowered his head.
“So that's why Dad kept us apart.”
“Yes.”
Hannah suddenly screamed.
“GRACE!”
We turned.
The nursery door had opened.
Grace was inside.
Standing.
For the first time.
Holding onto the crib.
But she wasn't alone.
A woman stood behind her.
I knew her.
Claire.
She smiled.
“Hello, Alexander.”
I raised my gun.
“Step away from my niece.”
Claire laughed softly.
“I've spent six years waiting for you to say that.”
Julian moved beside me.
Claire looked at him.
“Hello, dead man.”
Julian's expression hardened.
“What do you want?”
“Not what I want.”
She looked at Grace.
“What they want.”
“And what do they want?”
Claire's smile disappeared.
“The Caruso bloodline.”
Then she lifted a remote.
May you like
Every door in the mansion locked simultaneously.
And the house began filling with smoke.
