Chapter 8 - The Man Who Wore My Brother's Face
Every corpse had a story. Some were simply staged better.
His name was Ethan Harper.
Daniel's younger brother.
Emma stared at him as if she had seen a ghost.
“I thought you died.”
“So did everyone.”
“Daniel told me you were killed.”
Ethan laughed.
“Daniel was protecting me.”
I kept my gun trained on him.
“Why take Lily?”
“Because she's the only person your father never managed to control.”
“What does that mean?”
Ethan looked at her.
“Her bloodline.”
Emma stepped forward.
“What bloodline?”
He stared at her.
“You never told Matteo.”
Emma said nothing.
I felt something inside me crack.
“What haven't you told me?”
Ethan smiled.
“Daniel wasn't Lily's biological father.”
Emma closed her eyes.
Lily looked confused.
I stared at Emma.
“Then who is?”
She didn't answer.
Ethan did.
“Lucian.”
Silence.
I looked toward the road.
“My brother?”
“Yes.”
“That is impossible.”
“Your brother wasn't buried in that grave.”
“What grave?”
“The one you visited.”
My breath caught.
Ethan stepped closer.
“Your father buried another man.”
Emma whispered,
“Matteo, please.”
“Don't.”
I looked at her.
“How much of my life have you been lying about?”
“I was trying to protect Lily.”
“From whom?”
She swallowed.
“From your family.”
I laughed once.
It sounded bitter.
“You moved into my house.”
“I had nowhere else.”
“You knew Julian.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my father.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Lucian.”
“Yes.”
“And you never thought I deserved to know?”
“I was afraid.”
“Of me?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Emma looked toward the woods.
“Everyone.”
A gunshot cracked.
Ethan dropped.
Blood sprayed across the road.
Lily screamed.
I grabbed her.
Emma ran to Ethan.
A second shot hit the tree beside us.
“Get down!”
Julian appeared from the woods.
Alive.
Breathing hard.
His shirt was torn.
Blood covered his hand.
He shot twice toward the trees.
Then he reached us.
“Are you hurt?”
I shoved him away.
“Who are you?”
“Later.”
“Answer me.”
“Later!”
Another bullet struck the ground.
Julian dragged Emma and Lily toward the ruined house.
I followed.
We barricaded ourselves inside.
Julian locked the door.
I pointed my gun at him.
“Take off your jacket.”
He stared at me.
“Now.”
He slowly removed it.
“Your shirt too.”
Emma looked confused.
Julian obeyed.
No prosthetics.
No hidden face.
No makeup.
Same body.
Same scar.
Same man.
He looked at me.
“Happy?”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Julian Carver.”
“The real one?”
“Yes.”
“Then who was following us?”
Julian looked at Emma.
“The man you saw was not Ethan.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Ethan died fourteen years ago.”
Emma went pale.
Julian continued.
“Daniel had two brothers.”
I felt my chest tighten.
“Two?”
“One was Ethan.”
“The other?”
Julian looked at me.
“Samuel.”
A name from my father's files.
Samuel Harper.
Presumed dead.
Julian whispered,
“That's the man hunting Lily.”
Emma began crying.
“Why?”
“Because Samuel was the original architect of the Black Archive.”
I stared.
“And my father?”
Julian nodded.
“Your father used it.”
“But Samuel built it.”
“Yes.”
“And Lucian?”
Julian looked toward me.
“Lucian stole it.”
Everything connected.
The list.
The ledger.
The scar.
The fake identities.
The dead men who weren't dead.
The man who smiled.
I lowered the gun.
“Where is Lily's real key?”
Julian looked at her.
“Ask her.”
We both turned.
Lily was holding the stuffed rabbit.
She reached inside.
Pulled out a tiny brass key.
And smiled.
“I kept the real one.”
Julian's expression changed.
“That key opens the underground vault.”
“What vault?”
He looked at me.
“The place where your father kept the names of everyone he betrayed.”
Then the house shook.
An explosion tore through the front wall.
And someone outside shouted,
May you like
“MATTEO!”
The voice belonged to Lucian.
