Chapter 2 - THE NIGHT HE RETURNED
Adrian remained standing.
“Who arranged it?”
Emma folded her arms around herself. “James came to my apartment in the
middle of the night. He was injured, frightened, and certain someone was
watching.”
“Four years ago?”
She nodded. “A year after the funeral.”
Adrian struggled to breathe. “You saw him?”
“I touched his face. I heard him say my name. He told me the warehouse
explosion hadn’t killed him. He had escaped before the building went up,
but someone found him on the road. He woke in a private clinic under
another name.”
“Why didn’t he come to me?”
“He didn’t know who he could trust. He believed the person who arranged
the attack had access to your security team and the family office.”
“Did he name anyone?”
“He said Victor had been moving money through companies James didn’t
recognize. He thought the explosion was meant to silence him.”
Victor Cole was their father’s younger brother. He had raised Adrian and
James after their parents died. He had handled the family businesses
while Adrian learned to lead.
“He could have told me,” Adrian said.
“He tried. He thought you had chosen Victor.”
Emma explained that James had left the clinic after recovering enough to
travel. He came to her apartment, held their baby daughter for less than
an hour, and gave her the lighter. Its broken hinge was repaired at
Harrow & Sons so the record would exist outside the family.
“He said it might one day prove he had returned,” she said. “Then he
left before sunrise. He told me to keep Nora away from the estate.”
“Why?”
“He feared she would become leverage.”
Adrian looked at the lighter. “And you let me believe she was someone
else’s child?”
“I didn’t know whether you were involved. A man came to my apartment and
threatened us. He knew where Nora slept. He wore a ring with the Cole
crest.”
Adrian called Gabriel.
“Find every record from the warehouse investigation. Medical reports,
witness statements, payments made after James’s death. No one informs
Victor.”
Gabriel’s expression sharpened. “You suspect him?”
“I suspect the story we’ve been told.”
Emma reached for Adrian’s sleeve.
“Please don’t turn this into a war.”
May you like
“I’m trying to find my brother.”
“And I’m trying to keep my daughter from losing another father.”
