Chapter 7 - THE CHAPEL AT MIDNIGHTBianca did not look like the polished woman from the mansion.
Her hair was loose. Her makeup was gone. There was blood on the sleeve of her silk blouse.
Evelyn raised both hands.
“Where is Marcus?”
“Unconscious.”
“Where is Adrian?”
“Still searching for you.”
“Why are you helping Stefano?”
Bianca’s laugh was hollow. “Helping him?”
She stepped closer.
“You think I chose this?”
“You helped him.”
“I was born into it.”
“So was Adrian.”
“Adrian was born to inherit. I was born to be traded.”
Bianca’s gun remained pointed at Evelyn.
“My father promised Stefano that I would marry Adrian. It would unite the families. When Adrian rejected me, Stefano blamed me. He said I had failed.”
“You helped him anyway.”
“I tried to survive.”
Evelyn understood that answer more than she wanted to.
“Why bring me here?”
“Because you have the evidence.”
“And you want it.”
“I want my freedom.”
“Stefano won’t give you freedom.”
“No,” Bianca said. “But he will give me enough money to disappear.”
Evelyn watched her carefully.
“Where is the chapel?”
Bianca’s eyes narrowed.
“You know about it?”
“Stefano told Adrian to send me there.”
“You’re going willingly?”
“I’m going to end this.”
Bianca almost smiled. “You sound like Adrian.”
“I sound like myself.”
An hour later, Evelyn entered the abandoned chapel beneath the old cemetery.
The building had once belonged to the Bellini family. Its stained-glass windows were cracked, and ivy covered the stone walls. Candles burned along the altar.
Stefano waited near the front pew.
Two men stood behind him.
Adrian was on his knees beside the altar, his hands bound.
Evelyn’s heart stopped.
His white shirt was torn. Blood ran from his temple. His eyes lifted to hers.
“Go,” he said.
Stefano pressed a gun against the back of his head. “How touching.”
Evelyn walked forward.
“You wanted me here.”
“I wanted the locket.”
She removed it.
Stefano’s gaze sharpened.
“Throw it.”
She placed it on the floor between them.
One of the men moved to retrieve it.
“Stop,” Evelyn said. “The microfilm is useless without the key.”
Stefano smiled. “Your father always believed he was clever.”
“He was clever.”
“He was sentimental.”
“He hid the key in the song.”
Stefano’s expression changed.
Evelyn knew she had guessed correctly.
The melody her father wrote contained the final code. The notes corresponded to account numbers, and the numbers identified every person involved.
Stefano took a step forward.
“Sing it.”
“Untie Adrian.”
“You are not negotiating.”
“I am.”
Stefano looked at Adrian.
Adrian’s eyes remained fixed on Evelyn.
“Do not sing,” he said.
Evelyn ignored him.
Stefano nodded toward the men. One cut the rope around Adrian’s wrists.
Adrian rose slowly.
The moment he stood, he attacked.
He drove his shoulder into the nearest guard, sending both of them into the pews. Bianca appeared behind Evelyn and fired at Stefano.
The bullet struck the altar.
Chaos erupted.
Evelyn ran toward Adrian.
A guard grabbed her from behind.
She slammed her head backward into his face. He cursed and released her.
Adrian fought like a man who had nothing left to lose. He disarmed one guard and struck the other across the jaw.
Stefano fled through a side door.
Adrian started after him.
“Adrian!” Evelyn shouted.
He turned.
She pointed toward the bell tower.
“He’s going for the roof.”
They chased Stefano through the narrow staircase.
Rain fell through broken tiles. The city lights glittered beyond the cemetery walls.
Stefano reached the roof and turned with his gun raised.
Adrian pushed Evelyn aside as the shot fired.
The bullet struck his shoulder.
He staggered.
Evelyn screamed.
Adrian fell against the stone railing.
Stefano ran toward the opposite side of the roof.
Evelyn grabbed a fallen iron candle stand and swung it.
It struck Stefano’s hand.
His gun fell.
He lunged at her.
For a man in his sixties, he was terrifyingly strong. He seized Evelyn by the throat and drove her against the wall.
“You ruined everything,” he hissed.
Evelyn clawed at his wrist.
“You murdered my father.”
“Your father destroyed himself.”
“You murdered Adrian’s parents.”
“He was weak.”
“You used the entire family.”
“I built the family.”
Adrian appeared behind him.
His left shoulder was bleeding heavily.
Stefano released Evelyn and turned.
Adrian held a gun against his chest.
“You built nothing,” Adrian said. “You poisoned everything.”
Stefano laughed. “You won’t shoot me.”
“No.”
The older man smiled.
Adrian lowered the gun.
Then he struck Stefano across the face.
Stefano fell to his knees.
Adrian leaned over him.
“I’m giving you to the police,” he said. “You will live long enough to hear every charge read aloud.”
Stefano spat blood. “You think the police will protect you?”
“They don’t have to.”
Adrian looked toward Evelyn.
“She will.”
Sirens rose in the distance.
Bianca had called them.
Within minutes, officers surrounded the chapel.
Stefano was arrested.
Bianca surrendered.
The guards were taken away.
Adrian remained on the roof with blood soaking through his shirt.
Evelyn approached him.
“You were shot.”
“It missed anything important.”
“That is not comforting.”
“You’re alive.”
“So are you.”
“Then we’re even.”
She pressed her hand over the wound.
Adrian winced.
“You’re angry with me,” he said.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Why?”
“Because if you stopped being angry, you might stop caring.”
Evelyn looked into his eyes.
Rain ran down his face.
“I was wrong about you carrying that package.”
“You were afraid.”
“I still am.”
“So am I.”
“You’re never afraid.”
“I’m afraid of losing you.”
The confession struck harder than the gunshot.
Adrian lifted his uninjured hand and touched her cheek.
“I don’t know how to be gentle,” he said.
“You can learn.”
“I don’t know how to trust.”
“You can learn that too.”
“I don’t know how to love someone without turning them into a weakness.”
Evelyn placed her forehead against his.
“Then love me as a strength.”
He kissed her beneath the rain.
May you like
This time, neither of them fought it.
Behind them, the old chapel bells began to ring.
