CHAPTER TWO: THE NAME BENEATH THE MONSTER
The next morning, Lucas ordered every file opened.
Not the empire.
Not the money.
The past.
Anna Carter’s name appeared within hours.
Former legal assistant.
Whistleblower witness in a sealed federal case.
Case name: The Moretti Internal Purge Investigation — 7 years earlier
Lucas stared at the file longer than he had stared at any enemy in his life.
Because buried inside it were photographs.
His wife Isabella.
His son Daniel.
And the burned remains of a car accident that had been officially closed.
But the report below it said something else:
Cause of incident: targeted elimination.
Authorization suspected within internal circle.
Witness protection failure.
Lucas’s hand tightened on the paper until it crumpled.
Behind him, Vincent spoke softly.
“You said you wanted out of the family business,” Vincent reminded him. “They don’t let men like you retire. They erase them.”
Lucas stood slowly.
“No,” he said. “They erased my family.”
Downstairs, Lily wandered through the hallway again, barefoot, holding her stuffed rabbit.
She stopped when she saw Lucas.
He was no longer the dying man on the floor.
He was something colder.
Something awake.
“Are you better now?” she asked.
Lucas looked at her for a long moment.
“Yes,” he said quietly. “Because of you.”
Lily nodded like that made perfect sense.
Then she tilted her head.
“Did I save you like I save Mama when she coughs?”
Lucas knelt slowly so he was at her eye level.
“Yes,” he said. “You did.”
A pause.
Then Lily whispered something that froze him completely.
“The bad men came before too. When I was little. Mama said not to remember.”
May you like
Lucas’s breath stopped.
Vincent, watching from the end of the hall, went very still.
