Chapter 16 - Adrian Vale
1278 Words
The sound of the departing car faded into the distance.
Sofia remained staring at the photograph.
Adrian Vale.
The name meant nothing to her.
And yet, somehow, it felt familiar.
Perhaps because she'd heard it before.
Perhaps because her father had mentioned it when she was young.
Or perhaps because the man in the photograph had been present during the most important night of her life.
She looked at Alessandro.
"You know where he is."
It wasn't a question.
Alessandro folded the photograph.
"I know where he used to live."
"That's not what I asked."
"I don't know where he is now."
Sofia crossed her arms.
"Then let's find out."
Alessandro studied her.
"You should sleep."
"I'm not sleeping."
"Sofia."
"My mother is alive. My uncle is alive. Someone has been following me for years, and apparently the man my father trusted most may have betrayed him."
She took a breath.
"So no, Alessandro. I'm not going to bed."
Something almost resembling amusement crossed his face.
"You really don't know when to stop."
"Neither do you."
"True."
Luca walked into the room.
"I might have something."
Alessandro turned.
"What?"
"Adrian Vale."
Sofia immediately stepped closer.
"What did you find?"
Luca placed a tablet on the table.
"Not much. Which is unusual."
He pulled up an old file.
"Adrian Vale disappeared eleven years ago."
Sofia frowned.
"Just like everyone else."
"Exactly."
Alessandro studied the screen.
"What about before that?"
"He worked for both families."
"Doing what?"
"Security, negotiations, intelligence."
Sofia looked at him.
"So he knew everything."
"Almost everything."
Luca scrolled.
"He was one of the few people who had access to both Moretti and De Luca records."
Sofia's eyes narrowed.
"Which means he could have known about my father's plans."
"And your father's enemies," Alessandro added.
Luca nodded.
"There is one problem."
"What?"
"His records stop six months before your father's disappearance."
Sofia frowned.
"Why?"
"No explanation."
"Someone erased them."
"Probably."
Alessandro stared at the screen.
"Find out who."
"I already tried."
"And?"
Luca hesitated.
"The records were removed using De Luca credentials."
Silence.
Sofia slowly turned toward Alessandro.
His face had become unreadable.
"Whose credentials?"
Luca looked at him.
"Your father's."
Sofia felt the tension immediately.
"Your father erased Adrian's records?"
Alessandro didn't answer.
"I don't know."
She watched him carefully.
"That's becoming a pattern."
He looked at her.
"I know."
---
Later that morning, Sofia sat in the library with an old box of family documents spread across the table.
She had spent the last hour searching for Adrian's name.
Nothing.
No letters.
No photographs.
No business records.
It was as though someone had deliberately removed every trace of him.
Then she found something.
A handwritten note tucked inside an old ledger.
Her father's handwriting.
She recognized it immediately.
Sofia unfolded the paper.
Only one sentence had been written.
If Adrian disappears, trust the man who keeps his silence.
She read it twice.
Then again.
"What does that mean?"
Alessandro stood behind her.
She hadn't heard him enter.
He leaned over the table.
His eyes moved across the note.
"Where did you find this?"
"Inside my father's ledger."
He took the paper.
"Your father wrote this?"
"Yes."
He studied it.
"Then he knew Adrian was going to disappear."
"Or he knew Adrian had already betrayed him."
Alessandro looked at her.
"Possibly."
Sofia pointed at the sentence.
"Who is the man who keeps his silence?"
He didn't answer.
She looked at him.
"You?"
"No."
"Your father?"
"No."
"Then who?"
Alessandro folded the note.
"I don't know."
Sofia sighed.
"Of course."
He placed the note on the table.
"But there's something we can do."
"What?"
"Find out where Adrian was six months before your father disappeared."
"Why six months?"
"Because that's when his records stopped."
Sofia nodded.
"Where do we start?"
"His old office."
"You know where it is?"
"Yes."
She smiled.
"Then let's go."
He shook his head.
"You're staying here."
"No."
"It's dangerous."
"So is sitting in this house waiting for someone to break in again."
"Sofia—"
"I want answers."
"So do I."
"Then take me with you."
He stared at her.
She stared back.
Neither moved.
Finally, Alessandro sighed.
"Fine."
Her smile returned.
"But you're staying beside me."
"Wasn't planning on anything else."
---
Adrian's old office was located in the financial district.
The building looked ordinary.
Too ordinary.
Sofia glanced upward.
"This is it?"
"Yes."
"Your father's friend worked here?"
"Officially."
"And unofficially?"
Alessandro opened the door.
"That's what we're here to find out."
The office had been empty for years.
Dust covered the desk.
Old files remained stacked on shelves.
Sofia walked slowly through the room.
"Nobody cleared this out?"
"Apparently not."
"That's strange."
"Very."
Alessandro checked the desk.
Nothing.
Sofia opened a cabinet.
Empty.
Another.
Empty.
Then she noticed something behind a bookshelf.
A small gap.
"Alessandro."
He came over.
She pointed.
He moved the shelf.
A hidden compartment appeared.
Inside was a black notebook.
Sofia reached for it.
Alessandro stopped her.
"Wait."
He checked the compartment carefully.
Nothing.
"You can take it."
Sofia opened the notebook.
Most pages were blank.
Then she found a list.
Names.
Dates.
Locations.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Elena De Luca.
Sofia looked at Alessandro.
"Your mother."
He took the notebook.
His expression changed.
"These dates..."
"What?"
"They're after the night she supposedly died."
Sofia's pulse quickened.
"Meaning?"
"Someone was meeting her."
"Who?"
He turned the page.
A name had been written beneath hers.
M. Vieri.
Sofia whispered,
"Matteo."
Alessandro nodded.
There were three more entries.
The final one was dated only three weeks ago.
Sofia stared at it.
"Three weeks ago."
Alessandro's eyes narrowed.
"Your mother."
The entry contained a location.
Nothing else.
Sofia pointed to it.
"That's where she is."
"Possibly."
"Then let's go."
Alessandro closed the notebook.
"We need to think."
"We've been thinking for hours."
"This could be a trap."
"Everything is a trap."
He looked at her.
"Exactly."
Sofia stepped closer.
"What are you afraid of?"
"That I'll take you somewhere dangerous."
"And?"
"That I'll lose you."
The words hung between them.
Sofia's expression softened.
She reached for his hand.
"You won't."
He looked down at their joined hands.
"You can't promise that."
"No."
She stepped closer.
"But I can promise I'll fight."
His eyes lifted.
"For yourself?"
"For myself."
A pause.
"And maybe for you too."
His mouth curved into a faint smile.
"Maybe?"
She smiled.
"Don't push your luck."
He leaned closer.
"Too late."
Their faces were inches apart.
Sofia could feel his breath.
Then she whispered,
"Alessandro..."
His gaze dropped to her lips.
"Tell me to stop."
She didn't.
Instead, she closed the remaining distance.
Their lips met.
This kiss was deeper than the others.
Still gentle.
Still restrained.
But no longer uncertain.
Alessandro's hand settled at her waist.
Sofia's fingers curled into his shirt.
Then he pulled away.
Both were breathing harder.
"We really need to stop doing this."
Sofia smiled.
"Do we?"
His eyes darkened.
"No."
She laughed softly.
"Good."
His forehead rested against hers.
"But we're going to get ourselves killed."
"Then we'll have to be careful."
"Very."
Neither noticed the small piece of paper that had fallen from the notebook.
It landed beneath the desk.
And written across it in Adrian Vale's handwriting were six words:
The truth is inside the first grave.
Outside, a black car waited across the street.
Someone sat behind the wheel.
Watching.
Waiting.
And when Alessandro and Sofia finally walked out of the building, the driver lifted a phone.
"She's with him."
A pause.
Then a man's voice answered.
"Good."
The driver smiled.
"What's next?"
The voice on the other end was cold.
"Let them find the grave."
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