Chapter 6 - AdrianAdrian entered the mansion without firing a shot.
That frightened Leo more than an armed attack.
He walked through the shattered foyer wearing a charcoal suit, black gloves, and a calm expression.
He looked enough like Leo to make Beatrice uncomfortable.
Same dark eyes.
Same jaw.
Same controlled posture.
But where Leo's silence felt like restraint, Adrian's felt like calculation.
“Brother,” Adrian said.
Leo raised his gun.
“I don't have a brother.”
Adrian smiled.
“You do.”
Mateo's men surrounded him.
Adrian didn't care.
He looked past Leo.
Toward Lily.
The little girl hid behind Beatrice.
Adrian's smile disappeared.
“She looks exactly like Maria.”
Leo stepped in front of them.
“Don't look at my daughter.”
Adrian sighed.
“You always were protective.”
“Say what you came for.”
“Your father left something.”
Leo narrowed his eyes.
“What?”
“The Rossi inheritance.”
“We already settled the estate.”
“Not the real one.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“The money wasn't the important part.”
He tapped his temple.
“The information was.”
Leo's face hardened.
“What information?”
“The names.”
“What names?”
“Every politician, judge, police commander, union leader, and criminal organization your father controlled.”
Beatrice felt cold.
Adrian continued.
“Your father built an empire on secrets. He hid them in one place.”
Leo knew immediately.
“The estate.”
Adrian nodded.
“The key is Lily.”
Leo's expression changed.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Leave my daughter out of this.”
“You don't understand.”
Adrian looked at Beatrice.
“She isn't the key.”
Beatrice froze.
“Then who is?”
Adrian smiled.
“You are.”
The room went silent.
Beatrice shook her head.
“That's impossible.”
Adrian pulled out another photograph.
It showed Beatrice as a child.
Standing beside Maria.
Beatrice's mother stood behind them.
On Beatrice's wrist was a tiny silver bracelet.
The same bracelet she had worn for years.
Adrian pointed at it.
“You've been carrying the Rossi key your whole life.”
Beatrice touched her wrist.
The bracelet suddenly felt heavy.
Leo stepped closer.
“Take it off.”
Beatrice hesitated.
Leo softened his voice.
“Please.”
She unclasped it.
The bracelet opened.
Inside was a tiny metal compartment.
A microchip.
Everyone stared.
Adrian smiled.
“Now you understand.”
Leo took one step toward him.
“Where is my father’s vault?”
Adrian's eyes gleamed.
“Under the chapel.”
“There is no chapel.”
“There was.”
Leo remembered.
A ruined chapel on the far edge of the property.
He had never thought about it.
Now the pieces fit.
Adrian turned.
“Come with me.”
Leo raised his weapon.
“Why would I trust you?”
Adrian looked over his shoulder.
“Because if you don't, the people who killed Maria will kill Lily tonight.”
Before Leo could answer, every phone in the room vibrated.
Mateo checked his screen.
His face changed.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“There's a live feed.”
He handed Leo the phone.
Security footage showed Lily's bedroom.
The camera view was from inside.
A masked man stood over her bed.
But Lily was not alone.
Someone had already entered the room.
Beatrice's blood ran cold.
“That's my mother.”
Leo turned.
The old woman was gone.
Adrian smiled.
“She wasn't trying to find you.”
“She was baiting you.”
Then the video cut to black.
A message appeared.
BRING THE KEY TO THE CHAPEL.
May you like
COME ALONE.
OR THE GIRL DIES.
