His Dangerous Obsession

Chapter 5: The Dead Man's Secret

For several seconds, nobody moved.

Elena couldn't look away from Adrian.

His father was dead.

The man whose photograph had been beside her own father sixteen years ago.

The man whose family name had been appearing throughout the documents Adrian had shown her.

The man her mother had warned her about.

Dead.

Inside the mansion.

"Where?" Adrian asked.

His voice was frighteningly calm.

The guard pointed toward the study.

"Downstairs, sir."

Adrian immediately turned.

"Lock the estate down."

"Yes, sir."

"No one leaves."

The guard hesitated.

Adrian's gaze sharpened.

"No one."

The guard nodded and disappeared.

Elena turned toward her mother.

"You knew."

Isabel looked at her.

"I knew he was coming."

"You knew Adrian's father was going to die?"

"No."

Her mother's voice broke.

"I knew someone was going to kill him."

Elena's chest tightened.

"Who?"

Isabel glanced at Adrian.

He was already walking toward the stairs.

"Adrian."

He stopped.

Elena followed him.

"You can't just walk away."

"I need to see the body."

"I'm coming."

"No."

"I'm coming."

He looked at her.

"This isn't something you should see."

"My entire life just turned out to be a lie. I think I've earned the right to see what's happening."

His jaw tightened.

"Stay behind me."

Elena nodded.

They descended the staircase.

Isabel followed them.

Adrian glanced back at her.

"You shouldn't be here."

"I have more right to be here than you think."

He ignored her.

The study doors were open.

Two guards stood outside.

Inside, Adrian's father's body lay beside the desk.

Elena stopped at the doorway.

The room smelled faintly of smoke.

There was blood on the carpet.

A broken glass sat near the fireplace.

Adrian crouched beside the body.

He examined the wound without touching it.

"Gunshot?"

The guard nodded.

"One shot."

"Weapon?"

"Not found."

Adrian looked around the room.

"Windows?"

"Locked from the inside."

"Door?"

"Locked too."

Adrian stood.

Elena stared at him.

"So whoever did this was already inside."

"Yes."

Her stomach twisted.

The mansion suddenly felt much smaller.

Adrian walked toward the desk.

Something caught his attention.

A small black envelope lay beneath a lamp.

He picked it up.

There was no name on it.

Only one symbol.

A circle divided by a vertical line.

Isabel saw it.

Her face went white.

"No."

Adrian looked at her.

"You recognize it."

She shook her head.

"Isabel."

"I haven't seen that symbol in years."

Elena stepped closer.

"What is it?"

Her mother looked at her.

"The Black Rose."

Adrian's expression darkened.

"I thought they were gone."

"They were never gone."

Elena frowned.

"Who are they?"

Neither answered.

"Someone please tell me what's happening."

Isabel took a breath.

"The Black Rose was an organization."

"What kind?"

Her mother hesitated.

"The kind your father tried to destroy."

Elena stared at her.

"My father?"

"Your father discovered what they were doing."

"What were they doing?"

Isabel looked toward Adrian.

Adrian answered.

"Buying people."

Elena frowned.

"Buying people?"

"Politicians. Police officers. Judges. Businessmen."

His voice was flat.

"Anyone with enough power to protect them."

Elena looked at the dead man on the floor.

"And your father?"

Adrian's expression hardened.

"He was one of them."

Silence.

Elena looked at Isabel.

"You said my father tried to destroy them."

"He did."

"Then why was he working with Adrian's father?"

Isabel looked away.

"Because things weren't always what they appeared to be."

Adrian suddenly looked toward the doorway.

Everyone fell silent.

A faint sound came from the hall.

Footsteps.

One.

Two.

Three.

Someone was walking toward them.

Adrian raised his weapon.

The guards did the same.

Elena stepped behind him.

The footsteps stopped.

Then a man's voice came from the darkness.

"Adrian."

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

"Show yourself."

A man stepped into the light.

Elena didn't recognize him.

He was tall, dressed in a dark coat, with a thin scar running from his left eyebrow toward his cheek.

He smiled.

"Still protecting her."

Adrian's gun remained steady.

"Who are you?"

The man laughed quietly.

"You really don't remember me?"

Adrian's expression didn't change.

"Should I?"

"I suppose your father kept certain memories from you."

The man's eyes moved toward Isabel.

"And apparently so did your mother."

Isabel stepped forward.

"Don't."

The man's smile disappeared.

"You don't get to tell me what to do anymore."

Adrian's finger tightened around the trigger.

"Last warning."

The stranger looked at Elena.

"Your mother never told you what happened that night, did she?"

Elena's heart began racing.

"What night?"

"Elena," Isabel said sharply.

"Don't listen to him."

The man laughed.

"She really is good at that."

Adrian moved between Elena and the stranger.

"Say what you came to say."

The man looked at him.

"Your father wasn't killed because of the Black Rose."

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

"Then why?"

"Because he was going to tell her the truth."

He pointed at Elena.

Her blood ran cold.

"Tell me what?"

The stranger's smile returned.

"Who your real father was."

Elena froze.

Adrian turned slightly toward her.

"Don't."

She stared at him.

"Don't what?"

"Listen."

"Why?"

Because Adrian didn't answer.

And that was enough.

Elena looked at her mother.

"Is he telling the truth?"

Isabel's eyes filled with tears.

"Elena..."

"Is he?"

Her mother whispered:

"Your father wasn't the man you think he was."

Elena felt as though the floor had disappeared beneath her.

She shook her head.

"No."

"I'm sorry."

"No."

The stranger stepped forward.

"Your biological father was a member of the Black Rose."

Elena's breath caught.

"My father?"

"Yes."

"And Adrian's father knew?"

"Of course."

"Then why did they work together?"

The stranger looked at Adrian.

"Because your fathers made a deal."

Adrian's face became unreadable.

"What deal?"

The stranger smiled.

"They agreed to hide you."

Elena stared at him.

"Hide me from who?"

The man didn't answer.

Instead, he looked at Adrian.

"Tell her."

Adrian remained silent.

"Tell her what happened sixteen years ago."

Adrian's jaw tightened.

The stranger's smile widened.

"Tell her why her father died."

Elena turned toward Adrian.

"You know."

He looked at her.

"Yes."

Her eyes burned.

"You knew all this time."

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I was trying to protect you."

"From what?"

Adrian stepped closer.

"From the people who killed your father."

Elena backed away.

"And who are they?"

Before Adrian could answer, the stranger suddenly pulled a small device from his coat.

A red light blinked.

Adrian's expression changed.

"Everyone down!"

He grabbed Elena and threw her to the floor.

A deafening explosion shook the mansion.

Glass shattered.

The lights flickered.

Smoke filled the hallway.

Elena screamed.

She felt Adrian's body covering hers.

His arm protected her head.

For several seconds, all she could hear was ringing.

Then Adrian lifted himself.

"Elena?"

"I'm here."

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

He looked at her quickly, checking her arms and face.

Then he stood.

"Stay here."

"Adrian—"

He was already moving.

The stranger was gone.

So was Isabel.

Elena's heart stopped.

"Mom?"

She scrambled to her feet.

Adrian turned.

"Elena!"

She ran toward the hallway.

"Mom!"

No answer.

Then she saw something on the floor.

A small silver necklace.

She knew it immediately.

Her mother had worn it in every photograph Elena remembered from childhood.

She picked it up with trembling fingers.

There was a tiny compartment hidden beneath the pendant.

Inside was a photograph.

Elena stared at it.

It showed three people.

Her mother.

Her father.

And Adrian.

But Adrian was only thirteen.

Standing beside them was a fourth person.

A man Elena had never seen before.

On the back of the photograph were six words.

He is alive. Find him before Adrian does.

Elena slowly looked up.

Adrian was standing at the end of the corridor.

His face had gone completely still.

"Give me the photograph."

Elena closed her fingers around it.

"No."

His eyes darkened.

"Elena."

"Who is he?"

Adrian didn't answer.

She took a step backward.

"Who is the man in the photograph?"

Still nothing.

Then, finally, Adrian whispered:

"My father's brother."

Elena frowned.

"I thought he was dead."

"He was supposed to be."

The mansion fell silent around them.

Adrian looked toward the broken window.

Then back at Elena.

"He is the one person I've spent the last sixteen years trying to find."

Elena's grip tightened around the photograph.

"Why?"

Adrian's expression was colder than she had ever seen.

"Because he killed your father."

A pause.

"And tonight..."

He looked toward the darkened hallway where Isabel had disappeared.

"...he came back for your mother."