Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
I slapped Luca.
The sound echoed through the bus terminal.
Dante looked away.
Luca didn’t move.
“You knew my mother was alive.”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Eleven days.”
My chest hurt.
“And you said nothing.”
“I needed confirmation.”
“She is my mother!”
“I know.”
“No, you know files. Photographs. Assets. Threats. You don’t know what it means to bury your mother when you’re twelve years old.”
His face tightened.
“I know exactly what it means to bury a mother.”
That stopped me.
Only for a second.
“Where is she?”
“Swedish Medical Center. Private wing.”
“Take me.”
“Ava—”
“Now.”
We drove through the rain in silence.
Every memory of my childhood rearranged itself.
The funeral.
The closed casket.
My grandfather refusing to let me see her.
His explanation that the accident had been too severe.
Had he lied?
Why?
At the hospital, Luca took us through a private entrance.
A doctor named Helen Reeves met us.
She looked nervous when she saw me.
“You’re Evelyn’s daughter.”
My knees weakened.
“You know who I am.”
“Yes.”
“Then start talking.”
Nineteen years earlier, my mother had survived a car bombing.
The explosion killed another woman traveling with her.
My grandfather had believed the attack was intended for Evelyn because she had discovered financial records connecting Victor Sloane to stolen money inside North Sound Development.
Samuel Carter had made a decision.
He let the world believe his daughter died.
Evelyn received a new identity.
For years, she lived quietly in Oregon.
Then three weeks ago somebody found her.
She was attacked outside her home and suffered a traumatic brain injury.
“Why didn’t she contact me?”
Dr. Reeves looked at Luca.
I followed her gaze.
“Tell me.”
Luca answered.
“Because your grandfather made her promise.”
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
The phrase made me sick.
Everyone kept destroying my life to protect me.
“Can I see her?”
Dr. Reeves nodded.
My mother looked smaller than I remembered.
Older, obviously.
Silver threaded through her brown hair.
A scar crossed her temple.
But she was alive.
I sat beside her.
“Mom?”
Nothing.
I touched her hand.
Her fingers moved.
I started crying.
Not graceful tears.
The kind that tore through my chest.
“I thought you left me.”
Her eyelids fluttered.
“I thought you were dead.”
Her lips moved.
I leaned closer.
“Ava.”
My mother said my name.
Behind me, Luca quietly left the room.
I stayed nearly an hour.
She drifted between sleep and consciousness, but eventually managed a few sentences.
My grandfather had hidden documents.
Jake had learned about them.
Someone named “Caleb” had helped him.
“Caleb who?”
Fear entered her eyes.
“Trust… no Castellano.”
I went still.
“What?”
Her fingers tightened around mine.
“No Castellano.”
“Mom, Luca?”
Her monitor accelerated.
“No.”
“Matteo?”
She struggled.
“Father.”
Luca’s father.
According to Luca, his father had gone to prison.
I left the room and found Luca in the hallway.
“Is your father alive?”
His expression changed.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Federal prison.”
“My mother just warned me about him.”
Luca stared through the glass at her.
“That complicates things.”
“You think?”
He ignored the sarcasm.
“My father hasn’t had outside contact with the organization in years.”
“You’re certain?”
“No.”
At least he was honest.
“What was his name?”
“Antonio Castellano.”
My mother’s doctor approached.
“She needs rest.”
I nodded.
Then my phone vibrated.
The device was supposed to be secure. Dante had replaced my old phone at the mansion.
Unknown number.
A video message.
I opened it.
Jake appeared on screen.
He looked thinner.
Older.
Terrified.
“Ava, if you’re seeing this, Castellano found you first.”
Luca stepped beside me.
Jake continued.
“You think I stole your money because I was greedy.”
I felt nauseated.
“I took it because I found the trust.”
He looked over his shoulder.
“Your grandfather left something inside the original deed. Something worth more than the shares.”
The camera shook.
“I tried to sell the information. I screwed up.”
No surprise there.
“But Emma was never supposed to be involved.”
His voice cracked.
“Ava, listen to me. Luca isn’t protecting you because he’s some hero.”
Luca became motionless.
“He needs your signature.”
I looked at him.
Jake leaned closer to the camera.
“North Sound can’t be redeveloped without the Carter vote. Luca needs that land just as badly as everyone else.”
My stomach dropped.
“Ask him what happens to Castellano Shipping if the redevelopment deal fails.”
The video ended.
I turned toward Luca.
“Well?”
He didn’t lie.
“My company loses approximately forty million dollars.”
I laughed bitterly.
“There it is.”
“Ava.”
“An investment.”
I repeated the word he had used in the SUV.
“That’s what you called helping me.”
“I said that because I knew charity would make you refuse.”
“Was I wrong?”
He didn’t answer quickly enough.
I stepped back.
“You need my vote.”
“Yes.”
“And you were going to tell me?”
“Yes.”
“When? After I fell in love with the safe bedroom and free doctors?”
His eyes flashed.
“I have never asked you to sign anything.”
“Yet.”
I turned away.
He caught my hand, then released it immediately when I glared.
“I came to Marino’s because Jake was watching you.”
“And because you need twenty-two percent.”
“Both can be true.”
That was the problem.
I believed him.
Partly.
And partial trust was more dangerous than none.
We returned to the mansion near dawn.
I checked Emma twice.
She was sleeping.
I sat beside her until exhaustion won.
A noise woke me sometime later.
The bedroom door.
Opening.
I reached for the lamp.
A hand covered my mouth.
I fought violently.
“Quiet.”
Jake.
I froze.
He looked terrible.
Bruised face.
Blood on his collar.
A gun in his hand.
“How did you get in here?”
“I used to work for the people who designed Castellano’s security.”
My stomach sank.
“What do you want?”
“To save Emma.”
“From who?”
“Everybody.”
I moved between him and the bed.
“You stay away from her.”
“Ava, I know I destroyed everything.”
“You stole from us.”
“I know.”
“You abandoned your daughter.”
Pain crossed his face.
“I know.”
“Then leave.”
“I can’t.”
He reached inside his coat.
I tensed.
He produced a small brass key.
“Your grandfather gave this to your mother.”
I stared.
“Where did you get it?”
“From the man who tried to kill her.”
Footsteps sounded outside.
Jake shoved the key into my hand.
“Pier 47. Storage room twelve.”
The door handle moved.
Jake backed toward the balcony.
“Don’t trust Luca’s father.”
“My mother said the same thing.”
Jake’s face went white.
“She’s awake?”
Before I could answer, the bedroom door opened.
Luca stood there with a gun.
Jake raised his.
For one terrible second, both men aimed directly across me.
Then Jake said the words that changed everything.
“Ask your brother why he paid me to find Ava.”
Luca’s eyes went cold.
“What?”
Jake smiled bitterly.
“Matteo hired me eighteen months ago.”
May you like
And pulled the trigger.
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