Chapter 5 The Fragile Alliance

They sat in the quiet of the SUV, the rain pounding out a frantic rhythm on the roof. The world was closing in around them.

"We've been fighting the wrong war," Aria whispered, her eyes on the photograph.

"Or we've been duped," Luca said. He looked tired, the weight of a decade of hatred falling suddenly away. "If your mother and my father were both running from the same man..."

"Then the merger wasn't an acquisition," Aria said, her mind racing. "It was a shield. They were trying to combine the two companies to create a barrier."

Luca turned the car back on, his movements slower now, more deliberate. "We have to get back to the estate. My servers are more secure than any police station. We're going to crack that drive, Aria. Together."

"And if it's just a diary?"

"Then I've spent five years of my life hating a woman who was just as much a victim as I was."

They came to the estate as the dawn began to seep into the horizon a battered purple and grey. The house was different now. Less like a prison, more like a bunker.

In the private study, Luca connected Aria's drive to a huge, multi-tiered computer system.

"This will take time," he said, typing furiously at the keyboard. "The encryption is old, but deep."

Aria stood by the window, watching the sun rise. She felt a presence behind her. Luca was standing a few feet away, holding two cups of coffee. He offered her one.

"Your cheek is swelling," he said quietly. He reached out, his thumb lightly touching the bruised skin.

Aria didn't move away this time. The sensation was different, not from the clinical examination of a prisoner, but something more human.

"Why didn't you tell me about the SEC investigation?" she asked.

"I had to be sure," Luca said. "I thought you were the one cleaning the money. If I told you, you'd have scrubbed the trail."

"And now?"

Luca glanced at the screen, where code was racing by in a blur. "Now I think someone else has been using Hale accounts for years. Someone who knows the system better than you do."

"My uncle," Aria breathed. "He's been the CFO since the fire."

Luca nodded slowly. "And my head of security was the one who let those kidnappers into the gala tonight."

They looked at each other as two heirs of empires, standing on a foundation of lies.

"We can't trust anyone," Aria said.

"Only each other," Luca said. He moved closer, and the distance between them disappeared. "The contract says one year, Aria. But I don't think we have that long. They're coming for us."

He reached out, his hand slipping into her hair, turning her face up to him. For a second, the space between them was charged, the hate giving way to a desperate heat that they both felt.

The computer suddenly emitted a high-pitched "ping."

"It's open."

They turned to look at the screen. It was not a diary. It was not source code. It was a video file. Aria pressed play. Her mother's face appeared on the screen. She was pale and frightened. "If you're watching this, I'm already dead. And Luca's father is likely next. To my daughter, Aria... I'm so sorry. I've hidden the truth inside the Veridian vault. But you must be careful. The man who is doing this... he's already in the room with you."

The screen went dark. Aria felt a shiver run down her spine. She turned to Luca. But he was not looking at her. He was looking at the doorway. Standing in the doorway was Luca's younger brother, Julian. Julian was holding a silenced pistol. Julian was smiling. "You always were the smart one, Luca. But you were always too distracted by a pretty face."

He leveled the gun at Aria's head.

"Give me the drive, or I'll see if she looks as good in red as she does in emerald."