14 Grant
“Every secret leaves a trail; you just have to know how to find it.”
The office was silent except for the quiet ticking of the antique clock mounted behind my desk.
Most people found silence boring, I found it useful.
Silence makes me think. Right now, I was thinking about Scarlett Vale, Thomas Vale, and how every answer we uncovered only seemed to create five more questions.
The dim glow from the monitors lit the dark office while files and surveillance photos sat spread across the massive black desk in front of me.
Wiretap transcripts. Financial reports. Security footage.
Notes from Zariah’s infiltration at Vale Enterprises. None of them fit together.
Not yet.
I leaned back slightly in my chair before picking up my phone and dialing the number Luca Morleti had personally given me days ago. The call connects on the second ring.
“Mr. Knight,” Luca said smoothly. “To what do I owe the pleasure this evening?” I stared out the office window toward the dark woods behind the property.
“We’ve run into complications.”
A pause.
“That doesn’t surprise me.” Interesting, no concern, no confusion, but like he expected it. I file that away immediately.
“Thomas Vale’s behavior toward Scarlett doesn’t track,” I said carefully. “A man worried about appearances is one thing. A man emotionally disconnected from his own daughter is another.”
Luca stays quiet for a beat too long. I notice.
“You’re a smart man, Mr. Morleti,” I continued calmly. “I’m assuming you already know where this conversation is heading.” When Luca finally spoke again, his voice was quieter.
“There are certain truths,” he said carefully, “that were never meant to surface.”
There it is. My expression hardens slightly.
“So, Thomas….
Luca exhales softly through the line.
“He is not her biological father.”,” he admitted finally.
I leaned forward slowly, resting my forearms against the desk.
“Did Scarlett’s mother know Thomas suspected?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“And she was terrified of what would happen if he ever found out the full truth.”
My jaw tightens.
“Which is?”
Silence.
Then—
“I made a promise a very long time ago,” Luca said carefully. “One I intend to keep.”
I hate evasive answers.
“People are dying, Luca.”
“And more will,” he replied grimly. “Especially if certain individuals discover who Scarlett truly is.”
That sentence settled heavily in the room. Not who she belongs to. Who she is. Every instinct I have immediately sharpens.
“What is Angel?” I asked suddenly.
For the first time during the entire conversation—
Luca Morleti goes completely silent. I could practically feel the tension through the phone.
“Where,” Luca asked carefully, “did you hear that name?”
So, he knows it. I kept my tone neutral.
“It came up on one of the wire taps.”
When Luca finally spoke again, his voice changs entirely. More cautious. Almost uneasy.
“If that name is resurfacing,” Luca said quietly, “then things are progressing far faster than they should be.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning Scarlett is in far more danger than you currently understand.”
My patience snaps slightly.
“Then explain it to me.”
“I can’t.”
“Bullshit.”
“I swore I wouldn’t.”
I stand and move toward the window overlooking the property.
“You hired us to protect her,” I said coldly. “That becomes difficult when everyone around her keeps speaking in riddles.”
“And yet,” Luca replies calmly, “your brother has managed to keep her alive this long.”
My grip tightens around the phone.
“What exactly was Scarlett’s mother hiding?”
This time Luca answered immediately.
“Everything.”
The line goes quiet again. Finally, Luca speaks once more.
“Keep her away from Thomas.” My eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
“Because if Thomas confirms what he suspects…” Luca stops himself. Then quietly adds—
“...there will be no turning back.”
The call disconnects. I stare at the phone in silence for several seconds before slowly setting it down on the desk. Every instinct I have was screaming now. Something was very wrong. A knock sounds against the office door before it swings open without waiting for permission.
“You look homicidal,” Andre Rossi says while walking inside carrying three tablets, an espresso, and what looked suspiciously like a dismantled drone. “Which usually means either Asher killed somebody again or you found something interesting.”
I look over at him.
Andre “Cipher” Rossi looks completely out of place inside Knightfall and somehow perfectly belongs here at the same time.
Tall and lean with rich dark skin and sharp intelligent eyes behind expensive, black-framed glasses, Cipher carries himself with the confidence of a man who knew he was smarter than almost everyone around him.
Clean twists are pulled loosely back from his face while tattoos disappear beneath the sleeves of his fitted black shirt.
The man looks like a billionaire tech CEO.
Unfortunately for the rest of the world, he is also one of the best hackers alive. I lean back in my chair.
“How fast can you trace a dead identity?”
Cipher smirks immediately.
“Oh, now we’re having fun.”
I slid one of the wiretap transcripts across the desk.
“I need everything on the word Angel.”
Cipher glances down at the file. Then slowly looks back up at me.
“Well,” he mutters while setting down his espresso, “that sounds ominous as fuck.”
“Yeah, you’re telling me.” I stand from my chair and grab my keys. “Pull everything you can find on Angel, Scarlett’s mother, Thomas Vale, and any connections between them. I don’t care how buried it is. If there’s a thread, I want it.” Cipher gives me a mock salute with his espresso.
“Roger that, boss. I’ll start digging.”
“When you find something, send it directly to my encrypted email. Keep me updated. I’m heading out.” That gets his attention.
“You driving all the way up there yourself?”
“Yeah.”
“You know you could just video call them like a normal person.”
“I’m not a normal person, and I feel like we are going to need more manpower on this that we originally thought.”
“Fair point.”
I grab the files I need from my desk and slide them into a leather messenger bag.
My laptop follows. Then I reach for the shoulder holster hanging on the coat rack beside the door and secure my pistol in place beneath my jacket.
Something about this assignment has shifted.
For weeks I’d been treating it like any other protection detail.
Keep the client alive. Identify the threat.
Neutralize the threat. Simple. Now? Nothing about Scarlett Vale felt simple.
The moment Luca Morleti hesitated on that phone call, I knew we had crossed into something entirely different.
“Drive safe,” Cipher calls after me.
I pause at the doorway.
“You’re impossible.”
“Yet lovable.”
“Debatable.”
His laughter follows me out into the hallway.
A few minutes later I step out into the cool evening air.
The sun has already disappeared behind the mountains, leaving the sky painted in shades of blue and gold.
My black Escalade waits at the end of the parking lot.
I toss the bag into the passenger seat before climbing behind the wheel.
The engine rumbles to life immediately. Normally I would have stayed and let the team handle things, but this was different.
Asher was emotionally involved; Declan was trying to hold the operation together.
Roman was one bad day away from putting a bullet in Thomas Vale and may or may not be fucking the best friend.
I pull out onto the highway and point the vehicle north.
Toward my brothers and Raven Hills and hopefully towards answers.
One thing had become painfully clear. Whatever secret Scarlett’s mother died protecting...
Someone was willing to kill to keep it buried.