Z

Luca knew exactly who Damian meant.

That was becoming an unpleasant pattern.

We were sitting inside Rachel Kim’s office at the federal courthouse.

When I repeated Damian’s words, Luca went completely still.

“The girl in the blue dress.”

Rachel leaned forward.

“Who?”

Luca rubbed his jaw.

“Her name is Anna Mercer.”

“Mercer?” I asked.

“As in Charles Mercer?”

“No relation. At least I don’t think so.”

“Who is she?”

“Raymond Vale’s daughter.”

Silence.

I stared at him.

“Damian has a sister?”

“Half sister.”

Rachel immediately began typing.

“No public record.”

“There wouldn’t be.”

“Why?”

“Her mother was Raymond’s mistress.”

“And you took her?”

I asked the question carefully.

Luca looked at me.

“Yes.”

My stomach tightened.

“Define took.”

“Rescued.”

Damian would probably define it differently.

“How old?”

“Sixteen.”

“When?”

“Twelve years ago.”

“What happened?”

Luca looked at Rachel.

“This stays protected.”

“If it involves kidnapping—”

“It involves trafficking.”

Rachel stopped typing.

Luca continued.

“Raymond owed money to an Eastern European organization. He offered Anna as part of a deal.”

I felt sick.

“What did Damian do?”

“He tried to stop it.”

That surprised me more than almost anything I had heard.

“Damian?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“She was his sister.”

Of course.

Even monsters loved someone.

Sometimes.

“Damian contacted me because Raymond wouldn’t listen to him.”

“You worked together?”

“For one night.”

I almost laughed at the absurdity.

“What did you do?”

“We took Anna from a hotel before Raymond’s men could move her.”

“And then?”

“I sent her away.”

“Where?”

“I’m not telling you.”

“Luca.”

“No.”

My anger rose.

He continued before I could speak.

“This isn’t my secret.”

That stopped me.

“She’s alive?”

“Yes.”

“Safe?”

“Yes.”

“Does Damian know?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Anna asked me never to tell him.”

“Why?”

“Because Damian killed three men the night we rescued her.”

I closed my eyes.

There it was.

“He scared her.”

“Yes.”

“And you respected her choice.”

“Yes.”

“Even from her brother.”

“Yes.”

I understood.

For once, Luca’s secrecy wasn’t about controlling my knowledge.

It was protecting someone else’s.

“Why does Damian want you?”

“He probably wants Anna.”

“He said he wants a conversation.”

“With me.”

Rachel frowned.

“Maybe he thinks you’ll tell him where she is.”

“He’s tried before.”

“Why now?”

Luca looked at me.

“Because Grant is afraid.”

I understood.

“Anna knows something.”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“I don’t know.”

That afternoon, Rachel arranged the meeting.

Damian and Luca.

Federal interview room.

Recorded.

Observed.

I watched from behind one-way glass.

Damian was brought in first.

Orange jumpsuit.

Handcuffs.

Luca entered wearing black.

The contrast was almost theatrical.

Neither man sat.

For a long time, they only stared at each other.

Then Damian smiled.

“Twelve years.”

Luca said nothing.

“You’ve known where she is for twelve years.”

“Yes.”

“Is she alive?”

“Yes.”

Damian closed his eyes.

For one second, the terrifying Damian Vale disappeared.

Only a brother remained.

Then the armor returned.

“Where?”

“No.”

Damian laughed bitterly.

“Still self-righteous.”

“She asked me not to tell you.”

“She was sixteen.”

“She’s twenty-eight now.”

“Have you spoken to her?”

“Yes.”

“How recently?”

“Three days ago.”

My eyes widened.

Luca hadn’t told me.

Then I remembered.

Not his secret.

Fair.

Damian’s hands tightened.

“Does she know I’m here?”

“Yes.”

“Does she hate me?”

Luca paused.

“She’s afraid of you.”

That landed hard.

Damian looked away.

Behind the glass, I felt something uncomfortable.

Sympathy.

Not forgiveness.

Those were different.

“Raymond found her,” Damian said.

Luca’s expression changed.

“What?”

“Two months ago.”

“Impossible.”

“He found everyone.”

“How?”

“Grant.”

Of course.

Damian continued.

“Grant tracked Anna because Raymond needed leverage.”

“Where is she?”

“I don’t know.”

Luca stepped forward.

“Damian.”

“She disappeared six weeks ago.”

The room seemed to shrink.

Luca’s voice became deadly.

“You said nothing.”

“I was in federal detention.”

“You have lawyers.”

“I didn’t know whether you still cared.”

Luca slammed both hands onto the table.

“WHERE IS SHE?”

Guards moved.

Rachel raised a hand.

Wait.

Damian looked at Luca.

“For twelve years you kept my sister from me.”

“Because she asked.”

“And now you want me to trust you?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m the man who saved her the first time.”

Damian stared at him.

Then slowly sat.

“The recording you want is with Anna.”

My heart stopped.

“What?” Luca asked.

“Our father gave it to her years ago.”

“Why?”

“Insurance.”

“Against Grant?”

“Yes.”

“She kept it?”

“I think so.”

“Where?”

“If I knew, Grant would know.”

Luca sat across from him.

“What do you have?”

Damian looked toward the mirror.

Toward me.

He knew I was there.

“Isabella.”

Rachel frowned.

Damian smiled at his own reflection.

“I know you’re watching.”

I stepped closer to the glass.

“Your mother helped Anna once.”

My breath caught.

Damian continued.

“Caroline found her crying outside one of Raymond’s clubs when she was eleven.”

Luca looked stunned too.

“She gave her money. Her card. Told her if she ever needed help, call.”

The connections never stopped.

“Anna kept the card,” Damian said.

“Years later, when Raymond tried to sell her, she called the number.”

Luca understood.

“The foundation.”

“Yes.”

“But Caroline was dead.”

“The call went to someone else.”

“Who?”

Damian looked directly toward the mirror.

“Emily Bennett.”

My aunt.

Again.

Everything connected to Emily.

“Where is Anna?”

Damian leaned back.

“Find Emily.”

Rachel immediately began giving orders.

Three hours later, Adrian found a property registered to a shell company in northern Wisconsin.

The same company Samuel Pierce had used to rent his storage locker.

We had a location.

Luca grabbed his coat.

I grabbed mine.

He looked at me.

“This could be dangerous.”

“I know.”

“You don’t have to go.”

“I know.”

A year ago, he would have told me to stay.

Now he waited.

I put on my coat.

“I’m going.”

He nodded.

“Okay.”

We reached Wisconsin just before dawn.

The house sat alone beside a frozen lake.

No lights.

No cars.

Federal agents surrounded the property.

Rachel knocked.

Nothing.

They entered.

Empty.

Almost.

In the upstairs bedroom, we found a blue dress hanging on the closet door.

And beneath it, written across the mirror in red lipstick:

LUCA MORETTI LIED TO ALL OF YOU.

I stared at the words.

Then the bathroom door opened behind us.

A woman stepped out holding a gun.

Dark hair.

Gray eyes.

Twenty-eight.

She pointed directly at Luca.

“You should have left me dead.”