CHAPTER 2- THE SENTENCE.
1423 Words
Maria waited until she heard their footsteps disappear.
Then she attacked the door.
She pulled the handle.
Nothing.
She twisted it again.
Still nothing.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
She kicked the door.
Pain shot through her toes.
“Ouch!”
Maria hopped backward, holding her foot.
“Okay. Bad idea.”
She looked around the room again.
There had to be another way out.
She searched the windows first.
Locked.
She checked the bathroom.
Nothing.
Closet.
Nothing.
She even looked under the bed, though she wasn't sure what she expected to find.
A secret tunnel, perhaps.
A helicopter.
Maybe a friendly little man holding a spare key.
Nothing.
“Wonderful.”
Maria sat on the edge of the bed.
Her hands were shaking now.
She had tried to be brave since waking up, but the truth was beginning to sink in.
She had been kidnapped.
She had no idea where she was.
Her phone was gone.
Nobody knew where she was.
And three dangerous men had just told her she wasn't going home.
Maria swallowed hard.
“Dad…”
She hadn't said his name out loud in years.
Her father had supposedly died when she was twelve.
She remembered the funeral.
The black clothes.
The crying relatives.
Her mother's pale face.
The coffin.
Everything.
How could Adrian Blackwood possibly claim her father was alive?
Unless—
Maria stood abruptly.
“No.”
She shook her head.
There had to be another explanation.
The door opened.
Maria spun around.
Adrian stood there.
This time, he wasn't alone.
Roman and Lucien were behind him.
Maria crossed her arms.
“Can't you people knock?”
Roman looked at Adrian.
“She has a point.”
Adrian ignored him.
“Come with us.”
“No.”
His eyes hardened.
“I wasn't asking.”
“And I wasn't agreeing.”
Roman covered a smile with his hand.
Lucien gave him a warning look.
Adrian walked into the room.
“You want answers.”
Maria stared at him.
“Yes.”
“Then come.”
She hesitated.
Going anywhere with them was probably stupid.
Staying inside this room wasn't much better.
Maria walked past Adrian.
“If you try anything—”
Roman interrupted.
“You'll scream?”
“I'll bite.”
Roman grinned.
“I believe her.”
Adrian gave him a look.
Roman raised both hands.
“I'm quiet.”
“You've never been quiet in your life,” Lucien muttered.
Maria glanced at him.
It was the first full sentence Lucien had spoken.
She almost smiled.
Almost.
They walked through a long hallway.
Maria noticed the mansion properly for the first time.
It was enormous.
Paintings covered the walls.
The floors were polished marble.
Security cameras were positioned in almost every corner.
Men in black suits stood near several doors.
Maria's stomach tightened.
This wasn't just a rich man's house.
It was a fortress.
They entered a large study.
Adrian walked behind a massive desk.
Roman sat on the edge of a table.
Lucien remained standing near the window.
Maria stayed in the middle of the room.
“Talk.”
Adrian opened a drawer.
He removed a brown file.
Then he dropped it onto the desk.
Maria stared at it.
“What is that?”
“Your father's file.”
She approached slowly.
Adrian opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Documents.
Newspaper clippings.
Maria picked up the first photograph.
Her father stood beside an older man.
The older man looked familiar.
She studied his face.
Then her eyes widened.
“That…”
“That's my father,” Adrian said.
Maria looked at him.
“You knew him?”
“He worked with him.”
She picked up another photograph.
Her father was shaking hands with Adrian's father.
They looked like friends.
Close friends.
Maria's confusion deepened.
“My father told me he never knew your family.”
“He lied.”
She looked at the documents.
There were pages filled with numbers and names.
“I don't understand.”
Adrian leaned against the desk.
“Your father was part of a private investment operation controlled by my family.”
“Investment?”
“Money laundering.”
Maria looked up sharply.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“My father wasn't a criminal.”
Roman's voice was softer now.
“You didn't know him as well as you thought.”
Maria glared at him.
“You didn't know him at all.”
Roman didn't argue.
Adrian continued.
“Eleven years ago, your father disappeared with evidence that could destroy several powerful people.”
“And you think I have it?”
“We know he gave something to you.”
Maria laughed bitterly.
“I was twelve.”
“You were twelve when he disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“He had time to prepare.”
Maria stared at him.
“What exactly are you looking for?”
Adrian's eyes stayed on hers.
“A black key.”
Maria frowned.
“A key?”
“Not an ordinary key.”
Lucien finally moved away from the window.
“It opens a vault.”
Maria looked at him.
“What vault?”
“The Blackwood vault.”
Roman sighed.
“And before you ask, yes, it sounds ridiculously dramatic.”
Maria almost laughed.
She stopped herself.
Adrian continued.
“Your father stole the key and disappeared. We spent years looking for him.”
“And now you've decided to kidnap me?”
“He contacted you.”
Maria froze.
“What?”
Adrian's expression remained cold.
“Three days ago, someone sent you a package.”
Maria's heart skipped.
She remembered it.
The small black box that had arrived on her birthday.
She had opened it that morning.
Inside had been an old silver necklace.
Nothing else.
“How do you know about that?”
Lucien stepped forward.
“Because we intercepted the message that came with it.”
Maria's eyes narrowed.
“What message?”
Lucien looked at Adrian.
Adrian nodded.
Lucien placed his phone on the desk.
He pressed play.
A man's voice filled the room.
Maria stopped breathing.
She knew that voice.
She knew it better than anything.
Her father's voice.
“Maria, if you're hearing this, it means they found you.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“No…”
The recording continued.
“I need you to listen carefully. Do not trust the Blackwood brothers.”
Roman's expression changed.
Adrian became completely still.
Lucien watched Maria.
Her father's voice continued.
“The key is not what they think it is.”
Maria stepped closer to the phone.
“Dad?”
The recording ended.
Silence.
Maria stared at the phone.
Her knees felt weak.
Her father was alive.
He had contacted her.
And he had warned her about the three men standing in front of her.
She slowly looked up.
“Where is he?”
Adrian said nothing.
“Where is my father?”
Still nothing.
Maria's voice broke.
“You said he was alive. Where is he?”
Adrian's face hardened.
“We don't know.”
Maria stared at him.
“Then find him.”
“We're trying.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“You kidnapped me because of him. You dragged me into this nightmare because of him. So you're going to find him.”
Roman watched her carefully.
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“You don't give orders here.”
Maria wiped the tears from her face.
“Then maybe you should have thought about that before you made me part of your war.”
Nobody answered.
Maria looked at the three brothers.
For the first time, she wasn't simply afraid of them.
She was angry.
And beneath that anger was a question she couldn't ignore.
Why had her father warned her not to trust them?
And what exactly was inside the Blackwood vault?
Adrian closed the file.
“You will stay here until we find the key.”
Maria looked at him.
“And if I don't have it?”
Adrian's gaze remained fixed on her.
“Then someone else does.”
A chill ran through her.
“Who?”
Adrian didn't answer.
Instead, Lucien looked toward the window.
His face suddenly changed.
“What?”
Everyone turned to him.
Lucien's hand went to his phone.
“Someone just breached the outer security.”
Roman stood.
“Who?”
Lucien looked directly at Maria.
His voice was quiet.
“They're not coming for the key.”
A pause.
“They're coming for her.”
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