Chapter 9 - THE MAN WHO KNEW THE TRUTH
Adrian Mercer contacted Roman three days later.
Not through lawyers.
Not through intermediaries.
He walked into one of Roman's downtown restaurants at lunchtime.
Tall.
Dark-haired.
Gray-eyed.
The resemblance was unmistakable.
Roman stood from his table.
Adrian stopped.
For a moment, neither man spoke.
Then Adrian smiled faintly.
“Well.”
Roman stared.
“You look like me.”
Adrian laughed.
“Technically, you look like me.”
Roman didn't smile.
“Sit down.”
Adrian did.
He ordered coffee.
Then looked at Roman.
“I assume you've found the box.”
Roman went still.
“You know about it?”
Adrian nodded.
“Mother's been looking for it for years.”
Roman leaned forward.
“Where is she?”
Adrian's smile vanished.
“I was hoping you knew.”
Roman stared.
Adrian continued.
“She disappeared six months ago.”
“From where?”
“Portugal.”
Roman frowned.
“She was living in Portugal?”
“For a while.”
“Under what name?”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“Which one?”
Roman looked at him.
Adrian set down his coffee.
“Roman, our mother has spent most of her life becoming whoever she needed to be.”
“Why?”
“Money. Influence. Survival.”
Roman's jaw tightened.
“And our father?”
Adrian looked away.
“Daniel loved her.”
Roman swallowed.
“Did she love him?”
Adrian hesitated.
“I think she loved what he could give her.”
Silence.
Then Roman asked, “Why did she fake her death?”
Adrian stared at him.
“Because she was about to be arrested.”
Roman froze.
“For what?”
Adrian's expression darkened.
“Financial fraud. Identity theft. And involvement in the disappearance of a federal witness.”
Roman felt cold.
Adrian continued.
“Daniel helped her disappear to protect you.”
Roman stared.
“And Arthur?”
“Arthur saw her afterward. Daniel feared he'd tell the wrong person and put you in danger.”
Roman looked down.
For twenty-two years, he'd believed his father had been weak.
Now he understood the terrible choices Daniel had made.
Not all of them right.
Not all of them forgivable.
But made from fear.
Adrian leaned forward.
“There's something else.”
Roman looked up.
“What?”
“Mother didn't contact you because she missed you.”
Roman's expression hardened.
“Then why?”
Adrian swallowed.
“Because someone is using her old identity to move money through Kane Holdings.”
Roman stared.
“Who?”
Adrian shook his head.
May you like
“I don't know.”
Then he added, “But whoever it is has access to your private accounts.”
