Chapter 12 - The House of ViscariThe Viscari estate stood north of the city behind iron gates and winter trees.
Adrien had not returned since his father’s funeral.
Now we approached the house knowing the dead man had been alive all along.
The original drive was hidden in the lining of my coat.
Marco led a federal tactical team through the woods surrounding the property. Crane coordinated from a command vehicle. Sofia and Vincent stayed behind only after I made them promise not to follow.
Marcus came with us.
Adrien hated it.
I did not trust Marcus either.
But Emily Blake was inside, and Marcus knew the underground rooms built by his grandfather.
“The east wing has a service passage,” he said. “It leads beneath the library.”
Adrien looked through binoculars.
“My father sealed that passage when I was twelve.”
“Judge Blake reopened it.”
Adrien lowered the binoculars.
“How often did your family enter my home without my knowledge?”
Marcus looked toward the estate.
“More often than you want to know.”
We split into groups.
Adrien, Marcus, and I entered through the service tunnel.
The passage smelled of damp stone. Old children’s drawings covered one wall.
Adrien stopped before a faded picture of three figures holding hands.
“My mother drew that with me.”
I looked at the childish letters beneath it.
MAMA. ADRIEN. PAPA.
Vittorio’s figure had been crossed out with black paint.
“Did you do that?” I asked.
“No.”
Caterina had returned to the tunnel at some point.
She had crossed her husband out of the family she wished she had saved.
We reached the library.
No guards.
No alarms.
That was worse.
Vittorio wanted us inside.
The estate looked preserved in another century. Dark wood. Marble floors. Oil paintings of men who believed fear made them immortal.
A fire burned in the drawing room.
Vittorio sat beside it.
He looked almost seventy, but his posture remained straight. Surgical scars altered his jaw, though his eyes were identical to Adrien’s.
Dr. Bell stood behind Caterina’s wheelchair.
Emily sat tied to another chair.
Vittorio smiled.
“My children.”
Adrien raised his gun.
“Release them.”
“Is that how you greet your father?”
“My father died when I learned what he was.”
Vittorio’s gaze moved to me.
“Sofia’s daughter.”
“Vincent’s daughter.”
His smile thinned.
“Yes. The prosecutor was always sentimental.”
“You killed Thomas Reed.”
“He refused to tell me where the drive was.”
“You tortured a dying man.”
“I gave him opportunities to cooperate.”
Rage shook through me.
Adrien stepped slightly in front of me.
Vittorio noticed.
“Interesting.”
“There is nothing interesting about her,” Adrien said. “She is not part of this family.”
It should have sounded like rejection.
Instead, I understood.
He was trying to remove me from Vittorio’s obsession.
Vittorio laughed.
“Every person in this room is part of my family. Blood, loyalty, fear, debt. These bonds are stronger than love.”
“No,” I said. “They are easier than love.”
His eyes narrowed.
Marcus moved toward Emily.
Dr. Bell raised the syringe.
“One more step.”
Marcus stopped.
Emily looked at him.
Her face was bruised.
“You came.”
“Of course I came.”
“You always said I was weak.”
“I was wrong.”
She began to cry.
Vittorio leaned back.
“The drive, Lena.”
“Release them first.”
“You are in no position to negotiate.”
“Then why am I still alive?”
He smiled.
Smart answer.
“You have something I need.”
“And I can destroy it.”
“You would destroy evidence against me?”
“I would destroy your ability to rewrite it.”
His smile vanished.
I removed the drive.
Dr. Bell watched closely.
Vittorio held out his hand.
“Bring it.”
I walked across the room.
Adrien’s voice followed me.
“Lena.”
I did not look back.
When I reached Vittorio, I placed the drive on the table.
He touched it.
Then I drove Thomas’s old fountain pen into his hand.
Vittorio shouted.
Adrien fired.
The bullet struck Dr. Bell’s shoulder before he could inject Caterina.
Marcus tackled the doctor.
Emily threw herself sideways, tipping the chair.
Gunfire erupted from the hallway as Marco’s team entered.
Vittorio grabbed me by the hair and pressed a knife beneath my jaw.
“Everyone stop!”
The room froze.
Blood ran from his wounded hand.
Adrien aimed at him.
Vittorio pulled me against his chest.
“You will lower the gun, son.”
Adrien’s eyes stayed on mine.
“No.”
The knife cut my skin.
“You think she wants you to sacrifice her?”
“No,” Adrien said. “I think she wants me to trust her.”
I understood.
My heel came down on Vittorio’s foot.
I drove my head backward into his face.
He lost his grip.
Adrien fired.
The bullet struck Vittorio’s knife hand.
I dropped.
Marco’s agents surrounded him.
Vittorio fell to his knees.
For the first time in decades, the most feared man in New York was powerless.
Adrien approached him.
Vittorio looked up.
“You will regret letting the government take me.”
“You will not reach trial,” Adrien said.
Everyone looked at him.
Vittorio smiled.
“You are my son after all.”
Adrien crouched.
“No. You misunderstand.”
He opened Vittorio’s coat.
A red light flashed beneath the fabric.
A bomb.
Thirty seconds remained.
Vittorio began laughing.
“You came to bury me twice.”
Adrien tore at the device.
“Everyone out!”
The doors locked automatically.
Steel shutters slammed over the windows.
The timer reached twenty-four seconds.
Dr. Bell crawled toward a wall panel.
“I can open the doors.”
Marcus grabbed him.
“Do it.”
Bell entered a code.
ACCESS DENIED.
Twenty seconds.
Caterina looked at the bomb.
“There’s a manual release beneath the east fireplace.”
Adrien ran to it.
The stone panel opened.
Inside was a single lever.
He pulled it.
Nothing happened.
Vittorio smiled.
“The system requires a Viscari fingerprint.”
Adrien placed his thumb on the scanner.
IDENTITY REJECTED.
Vittorio laughed harder.
“You were never my blood.”
Adrien stared at him.
The timer reached ten seconds.
Caterina rose unsteadily from the wheelchair.
She placed her finger on the scanner.
The locks released.
Everyone ran.
Adrien carried his mother.
Marcus lifted Emily.
May you like
I reached the doorway as the timer hit two.
Then the world turned white.
