Chapter 12 - Secrets Laid Bare
"Ricardo, let me explain—" Clara started, taking a frantic step toward him.
"You went through my private safe," Ricardo said, his voice terrifyingly quiet. He stepped into the room, closing the heavy oak double doors behind him with a decisive click. "You didn't just come to this house to save Leo. You came looking for blood."
"No! That's not true!" Clara pleaded, clutching the file to her chest. "I didn't know! Someone sent an envelope to the penthouse four days ago with Lucas's picture and a police report linking your logistics company to his death! I thought... I thought you had murdered my brother!"
Ricardo froze. The cold anger in his eyes flickered, replaced by a sudden, razor-sharp realization.
"Who sent the package?" he demanded.
"There was no name! Just a note saying he didn't die by accident!" Clara’s voice broke, tears finally spilling down her cheeks. "I was terrified, Ricardo! I was falling in love with you, and every second I looked at you, I felt like I was betraying my own family! I had to know the truth!"
The word hung suspended in the heavy air between them.
Falling in love with you.
Ricardo’s jaw twitched. The iron posture he maintained against the world seemed to crack for a fraction of a second. He walked over to the desk, his movements slow and deliberate, and picked up the photograph of Lucas that Clara had placed inside the folder.
"Lucas was the only honest cop in Brooklyn," Ricardo said softly, his voice heavy with old grief. "He came to me two years ago because he realized his own precinct commander was on Volkov's payroll. We were setting a trap to take Volkov down together. But someone leaked Lucas's undercover cover sheet. The night he crashed, my men arrived five minutes too late to pull him out of the burning car."
He looked up at Clara, his dark eyes burning with pain.
"I promised him before he died that I would make sure you were taken care of," Ricardo continued. "I bought your family's debt so the loan sharks wouldn't touch you. I bought Le Miroir so I could keep guards posted near your shifts. When Leo broke down in that restaurant, and you stepped forward... I thought God had finally shown mercy on this cursed house. I thought you chose us."
"I did choose you!" Clara cried, crossing the room and grabbing his lapels, forcing him to look at her. "I didn't know who you were when I knelt down in front of Leo! I didn't care about the Moretti name or the money! I loved that boy from the second he held my hand, and I love you, you stubborn, infuriating idiot!"
Ricardo stared down at her tear-streaked face. His hands came up, cupping her cheeks with an intensity that bordered on reverence.
"You love me?" he whispered.
"Yes," she sobbed. "Even with all your blood. Even with all your monsters."
Before Ricardo could pull her into his arms, the red emergency beacon above the study door flashed violently.
May you like
A loud explosion rocked the lower levels of the penthouse. The heavy glass windows shuddered, and the sound of automatic gunfire erupted from the private elevator foyer.
Marco’s voice screamed through the intercom: "Boss! It's Volkov! They hit the lobby with a truck bomb and rode the maintenance elevator up! They have twenty heavy shooters! Fall back to the panic room!"
