Chapter 6 - The BetrayerHis name was Adrian Cross.
My brother in everything but blood.
We had fought wars together.
Built the first version of the syndicate together.
Buried enemies together.
He had stood beside me when everyone else ran.
And now he was the Cardinal.
I stared at the screen.
“No.”
My mother didn't answer.
Thorne whispered, “Sir…”
I raised a hand.
The screen showed Adrian standing behind Caroline.
She looked terrified.
“Julian,” Adrian said.
I hated the sound of his voice.
Because it still sounded familiar.
Still sounded like home.
“You always were the difficult one.”
“Where is my daughter?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“You know what I want.”
“My empire?”
Adrian smiled.
“No.”
That single word frightened me more than anything else.
“Then what?”
“Your surrender.”
I stepped closer to the screen.
“You've always been afraid of me.”
“Not afraid.”
He smiled.
“Concerned.”
“With what?”
“With what Lily could become.”
My jaw tightened.
“You won't touch her.”
“I don't need to.”
He turned the camera.
Lily appeared.
Alive.
Sleeping.
Adrian looked at her.
“She already knows.”
“Knows what?”
“Who her father really is.”
I looked at the screen.
Lily stirred.
“Daddy?”
My heart broke.
“I’m here.”
She looked toward the camera.
“Daddy…”
Adrian leaned closer.
“She asked why people are afraid of you.”
I said nothing.
“She deserves the truth.”
“Don't.”
“She deserves to know that her father isn't Julian Vance.”
“Adrian.”
“He is the Architect.”
I froze.
Lily looked confused.
“Daddy?”
Adrian smiled.
“Tell her.”
I stepped toward the screen.
But Lily spoke first.
“I know.”
Adrian's smile vanished.
“What?”
She looked at the camera.
“My daddy fixes clocks.”
A pause.
“Bad men don't fix clocks.”
Thorne almost smiled.
Adrian's expression hardened.
“She doesn't understand.”
“She understands more than you think.”
Adrian stared at me.
“You underestimate children.”
“No.”
I answered quietly.
“You underestimate mine.”
The screen went black.
My mother looked at me.
“You're going after him.”
“Yes.”
“You can't.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian wants that.”
“Then I will give him exactly what he wants.”
Thorne stepped forward.
“What is the plan?”
I looked at the monastery.
“We don't attack the Cardinal.”
Thorne frowned.
“We erase his foundation.”
My mother shook her head.
“You don't understand. Adrian has infiltrated governments.”
“I know.”
“He owns judges.”
“I know.”
“Bankers.”
“I know.”
“Generals.”
“I know.”
“Then how can you win?”
I looked at her.
“By remembering what he forgot.”
“What?”
“The system.”
I opened the Black Ledger.
“We built him.”
Thorne's eyes narrowed.
“And you know how to dismantle what you built.”
I nodded.
“Every empire has a skeleton.”
I turned the first page.
“Let's break his.”
But before we could move, a new alert appeared.
One of Adrian's accounts had transferred funds.
Not to Europe.
To New York.
Specifically:
THE VANCE ESTATE.
I stared.
“He's going back.”
My mother whispered.
“Why?”
I already knew.
Because the estate contained one final secret.
May you like
One Adrian had been searching for since the beginning.
And I had forgotten it existed.
