Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN HE CHOSEAdrian Moretti had spent his adult life believing that hesitation got people killed.
He made decisions quickly.
He trusted his instincts.
He never questioned an order once he gave it.
But standing in my childhood bedroom, listening to a stranger explain that Lily Monroe's medical emergency had been manufactured, he looked like a man discovering that his instincts had betrayed him.
"Who gave her the medication?" he asked.
Evelyn hesitated.
"I can't prove that yet."
"Where are you?"
"Not somewhere I'm willing to tell Adrian Moretti."
He stiffened.
I held up my hand.
"Then talk to me."
A pause.
"Claire, I worked at Mercy North's private treatment wing. Lily Monroe arrived with an emergency response physician and two security officers."
"Was she conscious?"
"Yes."
"Did she need treatment?"
"She needed observation. Her oxygen saturation was normal when she arrived."
I closed my eyes.
I remembered Lily's desperate gasping.
The way Adrian's expression changed.
The moment he chose her.
Evelyn continued.
"The original blood panel showed a sedative and a drug capable of causing temporary breathing distress. The chart was altered the following morning."
"By whom?"
"Someone using the hospital administrator's credentials."
Adrian leaned closer.
"Send me the records."
"No."
His jaw tightened.
"Miss Price—"
"No," she repeated. "The last person who promised to protect me disappeared yesterday."
My stomach dropped.
"Who?"
"Daniel Cross."
The room went silent.
Evelyn's voice shook.
"He contacted me because he wanted copies of the records. He said he was trying to correct a terrible mistake."
I stared at the phone.
"Daniel helped kidnap us."
"Yes."
"Then why would he help you?"
"I don't know. He told me he had been lied to about what would happen to you."
I looked at Adrian.
He looked back.
For the first time since the kidnapping, we were frightened by the same thing.
Evelyn lowered her voice.
"Claire, there is another reason I called."
"What?"
"Your name appears in an old patient file connected to the Moretti family."
I froze.
"My name?"
"From nineteen years ago."
My father's death.
"What kind of file?"
"I haven't opened it yet. I was afraid the access would be logged."
Adrian spoke.
"Send Claire everything you have. We can arrange protection."
Evelyn hesitated.
Then said, "I'll contact her attorney."
The call ended.
I lowered the phone.
Adrian looked at me.
"Claire, I didn't know."
I laughed.
It was a terrible sound.
"You didn't know Lily was pretending to die?"
"She wasn't necessarily pretending. Someone drugged her."
"Then find out who."
"I will."
"Good."
I moved toward the door.
He stepped aside.
Then said quietly, "I would never have left you if I'd known."
I stopped.
My back was to him.
"That's the problem, Adrian."
He said nothing.
"You keep talking about what you knew."
I turned.
"Did you know my ankle was broken?"
"No."
"Did you know I had a concussion?"
"No."
"Did you know the kidnappers were going to move me?"
"No."
"Then you didn't know I was safe."
His face tightened.
"No."
"But you told yourself I could survive because I was strong."
He lowered his eyes.
"Yes."
I swallowed.
"You made my strength an excuse to leave me."
For a moment, I thought he might argue.
Instead, he whispered, "You're right."
The words stunned me.
Six years of marriage.
And I couldn't remember the last time Adrian Moretti had admitted he was wrong without adding a reason.
He looked at me.
"I am sorry, Claire."
My eyes burned.
I wanted those words.
I had wanted them in the hospital.
I had wanted them at my parents' doorway.
I had wanted them every night I lay awake remembering the laptop screen going black.
But now that he had finally said them, I discovered something devastating.
An apology could acknowledge a wound.
It couldn't erase it.
"I believe you," I said.
Hope flashed across his face.
Then I added, "But I still want the divorce."
That evening, Adrian returned to his office and summoned Lily Monroe.
She arrived wearing a cream-colored coat and carrying a leather portfolio.
"You wanted to see me?"
He gestured toward the chair.
"Sit."
She smiled nervously.
"You're frightening me."
"Good."
Her smile vanished.
Adrian placed a hospital document on the desk.
"Explain this."
Lily glanced down.
Her face remained carefully blank.
"What is it?"
"Your bloodwork."
She picked it up.
"Where did you get this?"
"Answer the question."
"I don't understand."
"You were drugged before the kidnapping."
Lily went still.
Adrian watched her closely.
"Who gave it to you?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Adrian, I was kidnapped."
"I know."
"They tied me to a chair."
"I know."
"I thought I was going to die."
"Then help me understand why you met Daniel Cross two days earlier."
He slid the parking garage photograph across the desk.
Lily stared at it.
Her breathing changed.
"Where did you get that?"
"Who was the man with the serpent tattoo?"
She looked up sharply.
Adrian saw it.
Recognition.
Fear.
He leaned forward.
"Tell me."
Lily's voice trembled.
"You're making a mistake."
"Then correct it."
She looked toward the door.
Adrian pressed the intercom.
"Nobody enters or leaves this floor without my authorization."
Lily's expression changed completely.
The tears disappeared.
"You're becoming your father," she said.
Adrian stared at her.
"What did you say?"
Lily folded her hands.
"Vittorio would have understood why Claire had to be there."
Adrian felt something cold settle in his chest.
"Why Claire had to be where?"
Lily smiled faintly.
"In that chair."
He stood so suddenly that his desk chair struck the wall.
Lily didn't move.
"Careful, Adrian."
"Who planned it?"
She looked directly into his eyes.
"Ask your father."
May you like
Then she added, almost gently:
"He planned the first kidnapping, too."
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