Chapter 10 - SOFIA’S LAST BETRAYAL
Z
I did not tell Adrian immediately.
That was a mistake.
Not because he owned the decision.
Because kidnapping negotiations were not exactly a skill I had developed while restoring paintings.
I told Rachel.
Rachel told Agent Crane.
Agent Crane called the FBI.
Within thirty minutes, six people were discussing surveillance strategies while I sat at a conference table wondering how Sofia Russo had managed to become the center of my life again.
“Vale wants you to arrange a meeting?” Crane asked.
“Yes.”
“Location?”
“He’ll text it.”
“And he specifically demanded original documents?”
“Yes.”
“That doesn’t make sense if he knows we already have copies.”
“I know.”
Crane looked at me carefully.
“He may not care about the evidence anymore.”
“What does he care about?”
“Adrian.”
I hated that answer.
Lucien wanted to punish my husband.
And apparently I was the weapon.
My phone rang.
Adrian.
Of course.
I ignored it.
It rang again.
Agent Crane raised an eyebrow.
“He’ll find out.”
“I know.”
“Better from you.”
I answered.
“Hi.”
“Why are federal vehicles outside Rachel Morgan’s office?”
I closed my eyes.
“How do you know that?”
“My attorney saw them.”
Right.
For once he wasn’t secretly tracking me.
“Lucien called.”
Silence.
“What did he say?”
“He has Sofia.”
Another silence.
Then Adrian’s voice became dangerously calm.
“What does he want?”
“Me.”
“No.”
There it was.
The command.
Automatic.
Immediate.
I almost snapped.
Then he corrected himself.
“I’m sorry. What are the authorities proposing?”
The correction mattered.
“Controlled meeting.”
“No.”
“Adrian.”
“I’m trying, Claire, but no.”
Despite everything, I nearly laughed.
“Excellent progress.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
“He’ll kill you.”
“He might kill Sofia.”
“Sofia made her choices.”
“So did I.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I choose whether I help.”
“Claire—”
“You don’t have to agree.”
His breathing became heavy.
“I can’t lose you because of her.”
“You aren’t losing me because of Sofia.”
“I already lost you because of Sofia.”
“No.”
My voice hardened.
“You lost me because of you.”
The line went quiet.
Finally: “You’re right.”
It took the fight out of me.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.”
“I know you’re scared.”
“I am.”
That admission was rare.
“Then trust me.”
Adrian laughed once.
Not happily.
“I trust you.”
“Good.”
“I don’t trust Vale.”
“Neither do I.”
The meeting was arranged at an abandoned freight terminal outside Windsor.
I wore a wire.
Body armor beneath my coat.
Agents surrounded the area.
Marcus stayed close.
Adrian was explicitly told not to attend.
I knew he would hate it.
For once, I believed he might actually listen.
I should have known better.
Vale arrived at midnight.
Three vehicles.
Six men.
And Sofia.
She looked exhausted but alive.
Her hands were tied.
Lucien Vale stepped out behind her.
He was not what I expected.
Mid-fifties.
Silver hair.
Expensive coat.
He looked like a university professor.
“Claire Bennett.”
“You know my name.”
“I knew your grandmother.”
That stopped me.
“You met her?”
“She ruined my father.”
“Your father stole art from murdered families.”
His expression changed.
“History is usually more complicated than people with clean hands prefer.”
“My hands aren’t clean.”
He smiled.
“That’s Adrian talking.”
“No.”
I stepped forward.
“That’s me.”
Lucien’s eyes narrowed.
“Where are the documents?”
“Safe.”
“I asked you to bring them.”
“You asked me to come.”
He glanced toward Sofia.
“You’re brave for someone who left her husband because he embarrassed her.”
Anger moved through me.
“You know nothing about my marriage.”
“I know Adrian Moretti crossed an international border because you scraped your knee.”
“He came because you sent men after me.”
“He came before that.”
I froze.
Lucien smiled.
“He was in Toronto before Sofia called him.”
I already knew.
But then Lucien continued.
“He had been there for two days.”
That contradicted Adrian.
He told me he arrived that morning.
My pulse changed.
“You’re lying.”
“Am I?”
He pulled out a phone.
Displayed photographs.
Adrian outside my hotel.
The day after I landed.
My stomach dropped.
He had known where I was almost immediately.
He had lied.
Again.
Lucien watched my face.
“There she is.”
“What?”
“The woman who realizes powerful men always call surveillance love.”
I wanted to deny it.
Then headlights appeared behind the terminal.
A black vehicle.
Adrian stepped out.
Of course.
Lucien smiled.
“Perfect timing.”
“Let Sofia go,” Adrian said.
“Still giving orders.”
“Your issue is with me.”
“My issue has always been with you.”
Lucien pulled Sofia closer.
Then everything happened at once.
Sofia twisted suddenly.
She slammed her head backward into Lucien’s face.
He stumbled.
A gunshot cracked through the terminal.
Agents moved.
Marcus shoved me behind concrete.
More gunfire.
Shouting.
Then silence.
When I looked up, Sofia was on the ground.
Blood spread across her coat.
“Sofia!”
I crawled toward her before Marcus could stop me.
She had been shot near the ribs.
Her eyes found mine.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t talk.”
“I knew he’d use me.”
“Stay awake.”
“I knew.”
Her hand caught mine.
“Claire.”
“What?”
“He offered me money again.”
I stared.
She coughed.
“To tell him when you left the hotel.”
My stomach twisted.
“Did you?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
For the first time since I met Sofia Russo, I believed her without question.
Sirens filled the distance.
Agents restrained Lucien.
Adrian appeared beside me.
His face was pale.
Sofia looked up at him.
“You always loved her.”
Adrian said nothing.
Sofia smiled weakly.
“I was so stupid.”
Then paramedics arrived.
She survived.
Barely.
But as Adrian and I stood outside the hospital hours later, one thing mattered more than Lucien’s arrest.
I turned to my husband.
“How long did you know where I was?”
He went still.
May you like
And that was the moment Adrian understood that the most dangerous thing Lucien Vale had brought into that warehouse wasn’t a gun.
It was the truth.
