Chapter 13 - THE LAST THING MARTIN WANTED
Martin called me that night.
Not Adrian.
Me.
“Nora.”
I hated hearing my name in his voice.
“What do you want?”
“You know.”
“No.”
“The trust.”
“It isn’t mine.”
“I know.”
“Then leave me alone.”
He laughed.
“You really think Adrian will return twenty-three million dollars?”
I looked across the library.
Adrian stood beside Grant and Elise.
The call was on speaker.
“Yes.”
Martin paused.
“You’re naive.”
“Maybe.”
“Adrian Vale became powerful by taking.”
I looked at Adrian.
His expression gave nothing away.
Martin continued.
“Men like him don’t change because a woman chooses a cheap frame.”
That landed harder than I wanted.
Then Adrian spoke.
“Try me.”
Silence.
Martin hadn’t realized Adrian was listening.
“Cousin.”
“Where are you?”
“You know I won’t answer.”
Adrian’s voice stayed calm.
“You stole my mother’s photograph.”
“I borrowed a key.”
“What do you want?”
“Nora.”
My stomach dropped.
Adrian’s face changed.
“No.”
Martin laughed.
“Then you don’t get the trust.”
I spoke before Adrian could.
“Where?”
“Nora.”
Adrian’s voice was warning.
I ignored him.
Martin gave an address.
Old shipping warehouse near the Delaware River.
Of course.
Adrian immediately said no.
I said yes.
We argued for ten minutes.
Finally, Elise stopped us.
“He needs Nora alive to activate the trust.”
“That doesn’t make it safe,” Adrian said.
“No.”
Elise looked at me.
“But it gives her leverage.”
For the first time in my life, I had leverage against men who believed money made them untouchable.
We made a plan.
Lawyers contacted federal investigators already reviewing Elena’s records.
Grant coordinated security.
I would enter wearing a wire.
Adrian hated every second.
Before I left, he stopped me in the service corridor.
Same hallway.
Same empty nail where the frame had hung.
“You don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I do.”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“You keep saying that word as if it changes reality.”
His jaw tightened.
Then softened.
“Nora.”
“What?”
“If something happens—”
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
I had never seen Adrian Vale afraid.
Not at guns.
Not at betrayal.
Not at family secrets.
But he was afraid now.
For me.
I touched his hand.
Just once.
“I’ll come back.”
His fingers closed around mine.
“You better.”
I almost smiled.
Then I went.
Martin waited inside the warehouse with two men.
On a table sat the wooden frame.
He had removed the photograph.
Behind it was a flat brass key.
“Activate the trust.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“You came all this way to say no?”
“I came to understand.”
“Understand what?”
“Why twenty-three million is worth destroying everyone around you.”
His smile disappeared.
“It’s not the money.”
“What is it?”
“Control.”
There it was.
The truth.
Martin wanted the trust because once activated publicly, it would expose every old account linked to Dominic.
Including Martin’s.
He didn’t want to steal the money.
He wanted to erase the evidence.
Then he made his mistake.
He said:
“I already killed one woman over that ledger. I won’t hesitate over another.”
My blood froze.
“Elena?”
He laughed.
“No.”
“Elise?”
Still alive.
Then I understood.
“My mother.”
May you like
Martin smiled.
And outside the warehouse, Adrian heard every word.
