Chapter 6 - THE MAN WHO KNEW WHY HIS MOTHER DIED
Elias’s men raised their weapons immediately.
Salvatore did not.
The pistol remained pointed toward the ground.
“Put them away,” the old man said.
Elias didn’t blink.
“Why are you armed?”
“Because Vincent tried to kill me an hour ago.”
Salvatore opened his coat.
Blood stained his side.
Adeline gasped.
“You’re hurt.”
“I’ve had better mornings.”
Elias signaled his men to lower their weapons.
Salvatore sat against a stone monument.
“Your father lied to you, Elias.”
“So everyone keeps telling me.”
“Not because he hated you.”
“That’s comforting.”
Salvatore looked at him.
“He lied because your mother begged him to.”
Elias’s expression shifted.
“My mother died when I was seven.”
“No.”
Adeline’s stomach dropped.
Again.
Another death that apparently had not happened when everyone believed.
Elias stared.
“My mother died from an aneurysm.”
“Your mother disappeared.”
“Don’t.”
“I carried the coffin.”
“It was empty.”
Elias crossed the distance between them.
“Be very careful, Salvatore.”
The old man looked exhausted.
“Maria Ferrante discovered Roberto had fathered another child.”
Elias stopped.
“Lorenzo.”
“Yes.”
“With whom?”
Salvatore closed his eyes.
“Claire Marsh.”
Adeline felt the world tilt.
“My mother?”
Elias turned toward her.
Neither spoke.
Salvatore continued.
“Claire and Roberto had an affair.”
Adeline backed away.
“No.”
“It ended before Lorenzo was born.”
“My mother would have told me.”
“She was terrified.”
Salvatore looked toward Elias.
“Maria discovered the affair but did not blame the child. She wanted Roberto to protect Lorenzo.”
“What happened?”
“Vincent learned Lorenzo existed.”
“Why did he care?”
“Because Roberto planned to divide control of Ferrante Shipping equally between his sons.”
Elias stared into the distance.
“So Vincent would lose influence over me.”
“Yes.”
“He decided Lorenzo had to disappear.”
Salvatore nodded.
“Claire took the boy and ran.”
“And my mother?”
“She helped her.”
Elias’s face changed.
Salvatore’s voice softened.
“Maria staged her own death because Vincent had threatened you.”
Elias seemed unable to speak.
“She abandoned me?”
“No. She protected you from a distance.”
“For thirty-one years?”
Salvatore shook his head.
“Not thirty-one.”
Elias stared.
“She died nine years ago.”
Silence.
“Where?”
“Switzerland.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
Elias turned away.
Adeline could see fury in every line of his body.
Salvatore continued quietly.
“She wrote to you every year.”
Elias spun back.
“I never received anything.”
“Vincent intercepted the letters.”
The old man reached into his coat.
He handed Elias a small waterproof packet.
Inside were three envelopes.
All addressed to Elias.
All in his mother’s handwriting.
His hands shook for the first time Adeline had ever seen.
He opened the final letter.
My beautiful boy,
If Vincent ever loses control of you, he will use Lorenzo against you.
Your brother is not your enemy.
Find Claire Marsh.
She knows where he is.
Elias looked at Adeline.
Her eyes filled.
“My mother may still be alive.”
Salvatore nodded.
“And if she is, Vincent is looking for her.”
Marco’s phone rang.
He answered.
“Boss, we got a hit on Claire Marsh.”
Adeline stopped breathing.
“Where?”
“A private medical facility in Connecticut.”
“Alive?”
Marco stared at the screen.
“Yes.”
Adeline covered her mouth.
Elias stepped closer.
“How recent?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
Hope flashed across Adeline’s face.
Then Marco’s expression darkened.
“There’s another vehicle registered at the facility.”
“Whose?”
Marco looked at Elias.
“Vincent Aldridge.”
Adeline’s hope turned instantly to fear.
May you like
Her mother had been alive for twenty-four years.
And the man who had already tried to kill her had just found her first.
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