Chapter 14 - THE MEMORY OF THE NIGHT
Adrian couldn't sleep.
Neither could Claire.
At 3:17 a.m., she found him in the library.
“You heard it too.”
He nodded.
“What did Vincent do to you?”
“I don't know.”
“You will.”
Claire sat beside him.
“Adrian, whatever happened when you were fourteen isn't your fault.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
He looked at her.
“I remember being afraid.”
“What else?”
“A room.”
“Which room?”
“Basement.”
Claire's eyes widened.
“Blackridge.”
Adrian nodded.
“I remember Vincent.”
The memories returned violently.
A basement.
A metal chair.
Vincent shouting.
Adrian's father arguing with him.
And Claire.
She had been hiding behind a furnace.
Adrian had tried to protect her.
Vincent had found them.
He had threatened to kill Claire's mother.
Then he had told Adrian something that broke the boy's trust in his own mind.
“If you tell anyone, Claire disappears.”
Adrian had remained silent.
But there was more.
Vincent had drugged him.
The hospital had called it trauma.
But it wasn't.
Someone had deliberately erased parts of his memory.
Claire listened in silence.
“I thought you abandoned me,” Adrian whispered.
“I thought you forgot me.”
“I never forgot you.”
She reached for his hand.
“I know.”
The moment was interrupted by an explosion.
The windows shook.
Adrian immediately pulled Claire behind the desk.
Daniel rushed inside.
“West gate.”
Another explosion.
“The estate is under attack.”
Adrian drew his weapon.
“Get Lily.”
Claire grabbed his arm.
“No.”
“I'll protect her.”
“We both will.”
The security team moved through the house.
Three attackers breached the outer wall.
Adrian's men stopped them.
But the attackers weren't there to kill.
They were searching.
For the ledger.
Adrian realized it immediately.
“Burn it.”
Claire stared at him.
“What?”
He opened the ledger.
“I don't want Vincent to get it.”
Claire stopped him.
“No.”
She took the book.
“This is evidence.”
“It's a death sentence.”
“Then we make it a weapon.”
Adrian looked at her.
She had changed.
The quiet woman who had once cleaned his estate now stood in front of him holding the most dangerous book in Chicago.
“What are you thinking?”
“We don't run.”
She opened the ledger.
“We expose him.”
Adrian smiled.
“That sounds like something I would say.”
“No.”
Claire looked at him.
“It's something your old friend would say.”
He understood.
She was remembering the girl she had been.
The girl who once promised him she would never run.
Adrian touched her cheek.
“I loved you then.”
Claire's breath caught.
“And now?”
He leaned closer.
“Now I know what love costs.”
Their lips met.
It was gentle.
Not desperate.
Not rushed.
A promise rather than a surrender.
Then Lily appeared at the doorway.
“Are you two kissing?”
Adrian immediately stepped back.
Claire laughed.
Lily frowned.
“You're supposed to ask first.”
Adrian looked at Claire.
“She's right.”
Claire smiled.
“She's always right.”
For the first time in years, Adrian laughed.
Then Daniel entered.
“Boss.”
Adrian's expression changed.
“What?”
“We found the person who gave Vincent access to the estate.”
“Who?”
May you like
Daniel hesitated.
“Someone who has been inside this house for twenty years.”
