Chapter 5 - The Brother in the Grave
There are ghosts, and then there are men who know how to pretend to be one.
My brother had been dead for seven years.
I had carried his coffin myself.
I had watched the grave being sealed.
I had been the one who told Julian to stand beside me during the funeral.
Lucian Valenti was dead.
Yet he was on the screen.
Smiling.
“Hello, Matteo.”
My stomach dropped.
The recording continued.
“You always did believe what people told you.”
I looked at Julian.
He was pale.
“You knew?”
“No.”
“Don't lie to me.”
“I didn't know.”
Giovanni smiled.
“This is the part I enjoy.”
I turned on him.
“Where is my brother?”
“Alive.”
“Where?”
Giovanni stepped closer.
“You're asking the wrong question.”
I grabbed his collar.
“Where is he?”
Giovanni didn't resist.
“The question is why did he fake his death?”
He pointed toward the screen.
“Lucian wasn't killed.”
“He was removed.”
“By whom?”
Giovanni looked at Julian.
“Ask your beloved protector.”
Julian's jaw clenched.
“I had nothing to do with Lucian's disappearance.”
“Then tell him.”
Julian looked at me.
“Lucian discovered the ledger.”
“What ledger?”
“The original.”
Emma whispered,
“The one Daniel copied.”
Julian nodded.
“Your brother found it first.”
I stepped backward.
“Then why did he disappear?”
“Because your father wanted him dead.”
“Why?”
“Because Lucian was going to expose him.”
I shook my head.
“My father never would have done that.”
Giovanni smiled.
“You still defend a dead man.”
I turned toward the files.
“What does the original ledger contain?”
Julian answered.
“Names.”
“Whose?”
“Everyone.”
He walked to a metal drawer.
“Judges.”
He opened another.
“Police chiefs.”
Another.
“Bankers.”
Another.
“Politicians.”
Then he stopped.
“Kings.”
I stared at him.
“Kings?”
“Not literal kings.”
He looked at me.
“Men powerful enough to make governments move.”
Emma's voice was barely audible.
“Why does Lily have the key?”
Julian looked at her.
“Because Daniel knew someone would eventually find the ledger.”
“And Lily?”
“He trusted that his daughter would survive.”
Emma hugged Lily.
My chest tightened.
A child had been carrying the key to a war nobody had known was still alive.
I turned back to Giovanni.
“You said Lucian was alive.”
“Yes.”
“Bring him to me.”
Giovanni laughed.
“Not yet.”
“Then what do you want?”
“The ledger.”
“We don't have it.”
“You do.”
I frowned.
Giovanni looked at Lily.
“No.”
Emma pulled her daughter closer.
Giovanni's gaze stayed on the rabbit.
“The ledger is hidden in the one place nobody would search.”
The rabbit.
I tore open the remaining seam.
A narrow strip of plastic slid from the lining.
I unfolded it.
Numbers.
Coordinates.
A location.
Julian read them.
Then his face changed.
“Where is that?”
I asked.
He didn't answer.
“Julian.”
“My father's old summer estate.”
I stared.
“The one burned down?”
“Yes.”
“There's nothing there.”
Julian shook his head.
“That's why it works.”
Giovanni stepped backward.
“You have six hours.”
“For what?”
“To bring me the ledger.”
“And if I don't?”
Giovanni smiled.
“Then Lucian kills Emma.”
Emma stiffened.
“Where is he?”
Giovanni reached the door.
“Closer than you think.”
He disappeared into the tunnel.
I moved to follow.
Julian stopped me.
“Don't.”
I turned.
“You're going to tell me to let him go?”
“No.”
Julian looked toward the corridor.
“I'm going to tell you that Giovanni wasn't bluffing.”
“How do you know?”
Julian pointed toward the screen.
The recording had ended.
But one frame remained.
Lucian.
And behind him stood Emma's old house.
There was a man standing outside.
Julian's scar was visible.
But this time the scar was not on Julian.
It was on Lucian.
I stared.
Two identical scars.
One man.
Or two.
Then Lily whispered,
“That's not the bad man.”
I turned.
“Who is it?”
May you like
She pointed at the screen.
“The man who smiles.”
