Chapter 7 - THE MAN INSIDE THE HOUSEThe darkness lasted less than a second.

But it was long enough.

When the emergency lights came on, Nico was gone.

The window behind the desk stood open, curtains snapping in the wind. Damon was already moving, weapon drawn.

“Don’t,” I said.

He froze.

“The baby,” I continued. “I can’t run.”

“Stay in the study.”

“I’m not staying anywhere alone.”

His eyes met mine. “Then stay behind me.”

We entered the hall. Guards rushed from both ends, weapons raised, but Damon silenced them with one gesture.

“Lock the house,” he ordered. “No one leaves.”

“Nico is one of ours,” a guard said.

“He is also holding evidence connected to my brother’s murder.”

The guard’s face tightened. “You think he betrayed us?”

“I think someone in this house did.”

That sentence spread through the halls faster than fear.

Every guard looked at every other guard.

I had spent six months hiding from shadows. Now I understood why shadows were so dangerous. Anyone could stand inside one.

Damon led me toward the library. A floorboard creaked above us.

He pushed me against the wall and raised his gun.

A figure dropped from the balcony.

Damon fired, but the man rolled behind a bookcase. Glass shattered. Books fell. A second shot struck the wall beside my head.

I screamed and covered my stomach.

Damon crossed the room in three strides.

The attacker ran through a hidden panel behind the shelves.

“There,” I said.

Damon found the opening. A narrow service passage ran behind the library walls, old enough for the bricks to smell of dust and damp earth.

“You’re not going inside,” I said.

“I need to find him.”

“Then send your men.”

“My men may be the problem.”

He was right, and I hated it.

We entered together.

The passage narrowed behind us. I heard footsteps ahead, then a door slam. Damon moved faster, but I caught his sleeve.

“Listen.”

From the darkness came a faint metallic ticking.

The watch.

We followed the sound to a small room filled with old trunks. Nico stood beside the far wall, blood running from his temple. A man held a knife against his throat.

The attacker wore no mask.

I knew him.

He was Gabriel Rusk, Damon’s legal adviser. I had seen him at the restaurant, seated beside Celeste’s father.

“You,” Damon said.

Gabriel smiled. “I was wondering how long it would take you.”

“Put the knife down.”

“You’re giving orders as though this is still your house.”

“It is my house.”

“No, Damon. It was your father’s house. You merely inherited the furniture.”

Nico tried to move. Gabriel pressed the knife harder.

“Don’t,” he warned.

I stepped forward. “What do you want?”

Gabriel’s eyes moved to me. “The watch.”

“You already had it.”

“Nico took it from my office.”

I looked at Nico.

He shook his head slightly.

“He was the one who sent the courier,” Nico said. “He arranged the shooting at the restaurant.”

Gabriel’s smile vanished.

“And he ordered Eli’s murder,” Nico continued.

Damon’s face became empty.

That frightened me more than rage would have.

“You killed my brother,” he said.

“Your brother was a liability.”

“He was family.”

“Family is a weakness when it starts asking questions.”

Damon raised his weapon.

“Let Nico go.”

“You won’t shoot. You’re still sentimental.”

I noticed the room behind Gabriel. A narrow brass pipe ran along the wall, connected to an old heating system. Beside it lay a heavy iron lever.

“Damon,” I said quietly.

His eyes flicked to mine.

He understood that I had seen something.

“Give him the watch,” I said.

“Adriana—”

“Give it to him.”

Gabriel extended his free hand.

I pulled the watch from my pocket and held it out.

“Come get it.”

He released Nico just enough to reach.

Damon fired at the ceiling.

Gabriel flinched.

I grabbed the iron lever and pulled.

Steam exploded from the pipe.

Gabriel screamed and stumbled backward. Nico drove his elbow into Gabriel’s wrist. The knife fell. Damon crossed the room and slammed Gabriel against the stone wall.

“Where is the ledger?” Damon demanded.

Gabriel laughed through the pain. “You still don’t understand. The ledger is not under the hotel.”

“Miriam said—”

“Miriam lied.”

“Where is it?”

Gabriel looked at me.

“Inside the baby’s inheritance.”

My skin went cold.

“What does that mean?”

“Eli placed the ledger’s final proof in a trust account. The account belongs to his unborn child.”

I stared at him.

“That’s impossible.”

“Eli knew the child would be born into danger. He needed a name no one could challenge.”

Damon’s grip tightened.

“What name did he use?”

Gabriel’s eyes gleamed.

“Kalas.”

The word struck the room silent.

“Your brother made the child a legal heir to the Kalas family,” Gabriel said. “That is why the Marquettis want him dead. That is why Damon’s enemies want him dead. And that is why your new wife must disappear before the baby is born.”

Damon slammed him into the wall again.

“You’re lying.”

“Ask your banker.”

“Which banker?”

“The one who has been transferring money into the account every month.”

I thought of the small deposits that had appeared in my motel account after Eli died. I had assumed they were refunds from his employer. They had paid for food, rent, and prenatal care.

Eli had been protecting us from beyond the grave.

“Where is the account?” I asked.

Gabriel smiled at me. “Ask the baby.”

Then a gunshot erupted from the passage.

Gabriel’s body jerked.

Blood spread across his shirt.

The bullet had entered beneath his ribs.

Damon turned toward the doorway.

For one second, I saw the shooter.

Silver hair.

Black coat.

Miriam Vale.

She lowered her weapon.

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“He was about to tell you the wrong name,” she said.

Then she disappeared into the darkness.