The Key

Chapter Thirteen

Damien didn't move.

Neither did I.

The room suddenly felt much smaller than it had a moment ago.

My fingers were curled tightly around the key inside my pocket.

My father's breathing was shallow.

And Damien was staring at me with an expression I couldn't read.

"Nothing?" he repeated.

I nodded.

"Nothing."

His eyes dropped briefly toward my pocket.

Then returned to my face.

"You just lied to me."

My stomach twisted.

"I—"

"You know the first rule."

"I know."

"Then why?"

I looked at my father.

He closed his eyes.

He looked exhausted.

Scared.

And I understood that whatever was inside that locker was more dangerous than I could imagine.

"I can't tell you."

Damien's jaw tightened.

"Can't?"

"Won't."

The word surprised even me.

His expression changed.

For a moment, I thought he'd become angry.

Instead, he became frighteningly calm.

"Everyone leave."

The doctor standing near the door immediately disappeared.

The nurse followed.

Within seconds, only the three of us remained.

Damien closed the door.

He didn't lock it.

He didn't need to.

His presence alone made the room feel sealed.

He walked toward my father's bed.

"What did you give her?"

My father stared at him.

"Nothing that belongs to you."

Damien's eyes hardened.

"You don't get to make that decision."

"I already did."

I stepped between them.

"Stop."

Damien looked at me.

"Move."

"No."

His eyebrows lifted slightly.

"I won't hurt him."

"I know."

"Then move."

"I said no."

For several seconds, we stared at each other.

Then Damien stepped back.

It was such a small gesture.

But I noticed it.

He was letting me stand between them.

He was letting me choose.

My father looked at me.

"Lena, you need to leave."

"No."

"You need to go."

"I just got you back."

"And I want you to stay alive."

My throat tightened.

"I don't understand."

My father looked at Damien.

"Ask him about his father."

Damien went still.

I turned toward him.

"Your father."

"What about him?"

"What did he do?"

His expression became unreadable.

"Who told you?"

"My father."

Damien's eyes moved to him.

"You've been awake for less than two days."

"And I've been waiting years to tell her."

"Tell her what?"

My father swallowed.

"The truth."

Damien's voice was cold.

"What truth?"

My father looked at me.

"Your mother didn't die in an accident."

I stopped breathing.

I knew my mother's death had always been described as an accident.

A car crash.

Rain.

A slippery road.

That's what I'd been told.

That's what I'd believed.

"What are you saying?"

My father squeezed his eyes shut.

"She was killed."

I stared at him.

"No."

"Lena..."

"No."

I shook my head.

"That's not true."

"I'm sorry."

"No."

I backed away.

"You said the road was wet."

"It was."

"You said she lost control."

"That's what everyone was supposed to believe."

My heart pounded.

"Who killed her?"

My father looked at Damien.

Damien's face had become completely still.

"His father."

Silence.

I turned toward Damien.

He looked as shocked as I felt.

"You knew?"

His eyes met mine.

"No."

My father continued.

"Your mother discovered what the De Luca family was doing. She was going to expose them."

Damien's voice was barely audible.

"My father killed her?"

"Yes."

He looked at my father.

"Why?"

"Because she had evidence."

"What evidence?"

"The ledger."

Damien's eyes darkened.

"And the key?"

My father nodded.

"The ledger is still intact."

Damien stared at him.

"Where?"

"I told you."

"Tell me again."

"I won't."

Damien stepped closer.

"Do you understand what you've done?"

My father gave a bitter smile.

"I've spent twenty years understanding."

Damien's breathing changed.

I had never seen him look like this.

Not angry.

Not cold.

Lost.

His entire world had shifted.

He turned toward the window.

His hands were clenched.

I watched him silently.

Then I asked:

"Why did you kill that man?"

He didn't turn.

"Because he was responsible for what happened to your mother."

My heart stopped.

"You knew?"

"Not everything."

He finally looked at me.

"I knew his name."

"Did you know he was involved with my mother?"

"No."

"Then why did you kill him?"

"He owed me money."

I frowned.

"And?"

"He was going to sell information."

"What information?"

Damien looked at my father.

"The ledger."

My stomach dropped.

"So everything connects."

"Yes."

My father sighed.

"That's why they're coming for you."

Damien looked at me.

"Who?"

"The people who want the ledger."

"Who are they?"

My father hesitated.

Then whispered:

"The Black Circle."

Damien's expression changed.

I'd never heard the name.

But he had.

"What?"

My father nodded.

"They were the people behind your father's operations."

Damien's eyes narrowed.

"I thought they were destroyed."

"So did I."

"How many?"

"Enough."

Damien stared at him.

"How do you know?"

"Because I worked for them."

I felt sick.

"You said you worked for the De Lucas."

"I did."

My father looked at me.

"But the De Lucas weren't the top."

I stared at him.

"Then who was?"

"The Black Circle."

The room went silent.

Damien rubbed his jaw.

"Why didn't my father tell me?"

"Because you weren't supposed to know."

"Why?"

"Because your father wanted you to believe you were in control."

Damien gave a bitter laugh.

"And I wasn't."

"No."

I looked at Damien.

For the first time, I saw something vulnerable in his eyes.

He had spent his entire life believing he was the man at the top.

Now he was discovering that someone had been above his father.

Above him.

And that person might still be alive.

My phone vibrated.

All three of us looked at it.

Unknown number.

My stomach tightened.

Damien held out his hand.

"Don't."

I looked at him.

"Let me see it."

I hesitated.

Then unlocked the screen.

One message.

You have the key.

My blood went cold.

Another appeared.

Good girl.

Damien's face became terrifyingly calm.

"Give me the phone."

I did.

He read the messages.

Then another arrived.

Bring it to the old train station at midnight.

A photograph followed.

I opened my mouth.

Damien's eyes narrowed.

It was a photograph of my father.

Taken moments ago.

From inside the hospital.

He was asleep in his bed.

The caption appeared underneath.

Come alone, or he dies.

My hands began shaking.

Damien looked at me.

"No."

"I have to go."

"No."

"They'll kill him."

"They won't."

"How do you know?"

"Because they need the key."

"What if you're wrong?"

"I'm not."

I looked at my father.

His face was pale.

"I can't risk him."

Damien stepped toward me.

"You aren't going anywhere."

"You can't stop me."

"I can."

"Damien—"

"No."

His voice cracked like a command.

"I am not letting you walk into a trap."

"But it's my father."

"And he's my responsibility too."

I froze.

"What?"

Damien looked toward my father.

Then back at me.

"You think I don't understand?"

He lowered his voice.

"I know what it's like to have one person left."

Something inside me broke.

I stepped closer.

"What happened to her?"

He looked away.

"My sister."

I blinked.

"You said the person you lost was someone you loved."

"She was."

"What happened?"

"My father used her."

My stomach twisted.

"For what?"

"To control me."

I stared at him.

"He threatened her."

Damien's expression was distant.

"She tried to run."

"What happened?"

"He found her first."

Silence.

I understood.

"I'm sorry."

Damien looked at me.

"That's why I won't let them use your father against you."

"But they already are."

"Then we'll take that advantage away."

He took the key from my pocket.

I hadn't even realized I'd allowed him to get close enough.

He looked at it.

"Your father was right."

I frowned.

"About what?"

"This is dangerous."

He closed his fingers around it.

"But he was wrong about one thing."

"What?"

"You don't have to face this alone."

I looked at him.

"I thought you didn't trust anyone."

"I don't."

"Except me."

His eyes held mine.

"Except you."

My heart skipped.

He stepped closer.

"We're going to find the ledger."

"How?"

"Your father knows where it is."

"I don't."

"Neither does anyone else."

I stared at the key.

"Then why did they tell me to bring it to the station?"

"Because they think you'll come."

"And if I don't?"

"They'll try something else."

My phone vibrated again.

Damien looked at it.

Another message.

Midnight. Alone.

Then:

Bring the key.

Damien's expression hardened.

"We have a few hours."

"Until midnight."

"Yes."

"What are we going to do?"

He looked toward Victor, who had appeared silently at the doorway.

"Prepare."

Victor nodded.

"How many men?"

"None."

Victor frowned.

"Boss?"

Damien looked at him.

"If they expect her to come alone, that's exactly what they'll get."

I stared at him.

"You're not seriously going to let me go."

"No."

He looked at me.

"I'm going instead."

I shook my head.

"They'll know."

"Probably."

"Then they'll kill you."

A faint smile touched his lips.

"They'll have to try."

I stared at him.

"You really think you're invincible."

"No."

The smile disappeared.

"I just have more experience being hunted."

I looked at the clock.

Seven thirty.

Five hours until midnight.

Five hours until someone expected me to choose between my father's life and Damien's.

But there was one thing they didn't know.

They didn't know about the conversation we'd just had.

They didn't know Damien had discovered the truth about his father.

And they certainly didn't know that the frightened nineteen-year-old dancer they had been following was no longer alone.

I looked at Damien.

"There's something else."

"What?"

"If we're going to do this..."

I took a breath.

"I need to know everything."

His eyes narrowed.

"Everything?"

"About your family. The murder. My mother. The ledger."

I stepped closer.

"And about you."

He studied me.

Then nodded.

"All right."

"All right?"

"All of it."

He held out his hand.

I looked at it.

Then placed mine in his.

His fingers closed around mine.

"We do this together."

For the first time since this nightmare began, I believed him.

But neither of us noticed the tiny red light blinking inside the smoke detector above the hospital door.

Someone was listening.

Someone had heard everything.

And whoever was on the other side of that hidden microphone now knew exactly where Damien planned to be at midnight.