Chapter 4 - THE BROTHER SHE NEVER KNEW
Natalie spent thirty-two years believing she had been an only child.
Then a dead man’s voice told her Adrian Mercer was her brother.
Except Adrian immediately shook his head.
“No.”
Natalie looked at him.
“You heard the tape.”
“I heard a conversation.”
“Your father said—”
“Victor said Daniel wasn’t my biological father.”
“He said Daniel was.”
“That doesn’t make it true.”
Gabriel wisely stepped away.
Natalie folded her arms.
“You want a DNA test?”
“Yes.”
“Fine.”
Adrian looked almost angry at her agreement.
“You’re taking this remarkably well.”
“I’m in a bank vault at four in the morning with a mafia boss while listening to my dead father explain your birth. I’m past normal reactions.”
That almost made him smile.
Almost.
They arranged a private test.
Results would take hours.
While waiting, Adrian read the ledger.
Payments.
Names.
Dates.
Then he found something.
Ethan Cole.
Natalie’s stomach twisted.
“He’s in there?”
Adrian turned the book.
A payment from ten months earlier.
E. COLE — locate Vale heir.
Natalie stared.
“He didn’t meet me by accident.”
“No.”
The date was three weeks before Ethan first approached her at a charity event.
“He was sent.”
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
The ledger used initials.
R.M.
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“You recognize them?”
“Maybe.”
“Who?”
“Richard Mercer.”
Natalie frowned.
“Your uncle?”
“My father’s younger brother.”
“The senator?”
“Former senator.”
“Why would he hire Ethan to find me?”
Adrian closed the ledger.
“We’re going to ask.”
Richard Mercer lived in a Fifth Avenue penthouse filled with old money and newer lies.
He welcomed Adrian with a smile.
Then saw Natalie.
The smile vanished.
“Well.”
Adrian noticed.
“You know her.”
Richard poured himself a drink.
“I know who she resembles.”
“Daniel?”
“No.”
Natalie felt cold.
“Who?”
Richard looked at her.
“Claire.”
“My mother.”
“Yes.”
“You knew her?”
Richard laughed softly.
“Everyone knew Claire Vale.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“Did you hire Ethan Cole?”
Richard took a sip.
“No.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Your initials are in the ledger.”
“Then someone wanted you to think I did.”
“Who?”
Richard’s gaze shifted toward Natalie.
“Ask her mother.”
Natalie stared.
“My mother has been living under federal protection for twenty years.”
“Has she?”
“What does that mean?”
Richard smiled sadly.
“Claire disappeared from protection twelve years ago.”
Natalie went pale.
“No.”
“She never told you?”
“She calls me every Sunday.”
Richard’s expression sharpened.
“From where?”
“Connecticut.”
“No, she doesn’t.”
Natalie’s pulse hammered.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Richard walked to a desk and opened a drawer.
He removed a photograph.
Claire Vale.
Taken six months earlier.
Standing outside a hotel in Washington, D.C.
Beside her stood Ethan Cole.
Natalie felt physically sick.
Adrian took the photograph.
“You’re saying her mother knows Ethan.”
Richard nodded.
“She recruited him.”
Natalie shook her head.
“That’s impossible.”
Richard looked directly at her.
“Emily, your mother isn’t hiding from the people who killed your father.”
May you like
He paused.
“She works for them.”
