Chapter 4 - The Brother Adrian Never Mentioned
Adrian Vescari had a brother.
That was the first secret I learned after discovering my father was alive.
His name was Matteo Vescari.
He'd been twenty-eight when he disappeared during a business trip to France.
The official story was a boating accident.
No body was ever recovered.
Adrian had spent fifteen years believing his brother died somewhere off the Mediterranean coast.
Now my father was telling him to question that story.
I stood beside the library window.
Adrian sat behind his desk, staring at an old photograph.
Two young men stood on the deck of a yacht.
One was Adrian.
The other looked almost identical.
Dark hair.
Gray eyes.
The same sharp jawline.
"Matteo was older," Adrian said quietly.
I looked at him.
"How much older?"
"Four years."
He smiled sadly.
"He taught me to drive. To negotiate. To survive our father's temper."
I remained silent.
Then Adrian looked toward the photograph.
"When he disappeared, Vincent was the person who brought me the news."
My stomach tightened.
"Vincent?"
Adrian nodded.
"He said Matteo's boat had capsized."
"And you believed him?"
"I had no reason not to."
The words hung between us.
I thought about my father.
The man who vanished while I believed he'd abandoned his family.
Adrian had lost his brother the same way.
Through a story told by someone he trusted.
Then the attorney entered.
"We have a possible match for Matteo."
Adrian stood.
"Where?"
"A private property outside Marseille."
My heart raced.
Marseille.
The same city where I'd spent part of my childhood.
The attorney placed several photographs on the desk.
One showed a man standing beside a waterfront warehouse.
His face was partially hidden.
But the resemblance to Adrian was unmistakable.
Adrian stared.
"Matteo."
The attorney nodded cautiously.
"We're verifying the identity."
Then another photograph appeared.
Matteo standing beside Daniel Vale.
My father.
Both men were looking toward the camera.
The date was six months earlier.
I covered my mouth.
"They know each other."
Adrian nodded.
"Apparently."
For the first time, I saw something other than suspicion in his face.
Hope.
Dangerous hope.
The kind that could shatter a person if it proved false.
Then the attorney opened a third file.
A financial record.
Matteo's name appeared as a beneficial owner of a shipping trust.
The same trust Vincent had used to secure the pending deal.
Adrian leaned forward.
"That account was supposed to be closed."
The attorney nodded.
"It wasn't."
My heart pounded.
"How much money?"
The attorney swallowed.
"Approximately two billion dollars in disputed assets."
Silence.
Then the final document appeared.
A transfer agreement.
It would move the trust into Vincent Moretti's control if Adrian signed the contract that evening.
The deal wasn't designed to save Adrian's empire.
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It was designed to steal his brother's inheritance.
And Vincent had nearly convinced Adrian to sign it.
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