Chapter 45 COMPARING NOTES

Chapter 45 COMPARING NOTES


Adeline's POV

We spent the next three hours in Kayden's study.

Laptops open, files spread across the desk. Everything we'd both found about Grey laid out between us.

For the first time since this marriage began, we were working together. Really working together.
No secrets, no holding back.

"Okay," Kayden said. "Let's start from the beginning. What do we actually know?"

I pulled up my notes. "Grey Falvetti is a fake identity, built on the names of Robert and Margaret Falvetti, a couple who died fifteen years ago with no children."

"His real name is Grayson Falco, arrested at fourteen for aggravated assault against a thirteen-year-old girl. Records were sealed by Judge Bellamy."

"The same judge your family uses to bury inconvenient cases."

"Right. And my father was listed as his guardian, he took responsibility for him after the arrest."

"So your father has known him since he was a teenager, protected him and kept him close."

"Two years ago, Grayson worked for us under his real name as a security consultant for three months, then disappeared."

"And now he's back, under a new identity and dating my sister."

We looked at each other.

"This was planned," Kayden said. "From the beginning. My father created the Grey identity, funded the shell company, set him up with fake credentials."

"And sent him after Annabelle. The coffee shop meeting wasn't by chance, it was orchestrated."

"But why? What does my father gain from this?"

"Control over me. If Grey is embedded with Belle, your father can threaten her anytime I step out of line. It's leverage."

"There has to be more. My father doesn't plan this elaborately just for basic leverage."

I thought about it. "What if it's not just about control? What if Grey has another purpose? Another mission?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know. But your father doesn't do anything without multiple angles. Grey dating Belle gives him access to her. To me. But also..."

"To this house, to the family, to our operations."

"Exactly. Grey has been here multiple times, even late at night. What was he doing?"

"Meeting with my father, probably. But also maybe gathering information….assessing vulnerabilities…preparing for something."

"Preparing for what?"

"I don't know. But we need to find out."

I pulled up the security logs Marco had sent.
"Grey was here last week at 2 AM. He stayed three hours. Where in the house did he go?"

"East wing. That's where my father's private office is. The one even I don't have access to."

"What's in there?"

"Files..records. Things my father doesn't want anyone seeing. Including me."

"So Grey has access to your father's most sensitive information. Information you don't even have."

Kayden's jaw tightened. "Which means my father trusts him more than he trusts me."

"Or uses him for things he won't involve you in."

"Either way, it's clear Grey is more than just a pawn. He's an active participant, a partner."

"Which makes him even more dangerous. If he's working with your father willingly, if he has his own agenda..."

"Then Belle is in serious danger."

We sat in silence.
"We need to know what Grey is planning," I said. "What he's after. What his endgame is."

"Then we watch him, follow him. See where he goes when he's not with Belle."

"Surveillance."

"Together. We can't risk doing this separately anymore. There's too much room for error."

"Agreed. When do we start?"

"Tonight. Grey usually meets with Belle on Thursdays. After he drops her off, we follow him. See where he goes."

At 9:47 PM, we were parked outside Belle's apartment building.

Grey's car was still in the lot. He'd been inside for over an hour.

"Think they're fighting?" Kayden asked.

"Or he's being extra attentive. Playing the perfect fiancé."

"You really think this is all an act? That he doesn't care about her at all?"

"I think he's good at pretending. Whether he cares or not doesn't matter. What matters is why he's doing this."

At 10:15, Grey emerged from the building alone and got into his car.

"Here we go," Kayden said, starting the engine.

We followed at a distance, careful not to get too close.

Grey drove through the city, not toward his apartment, or toward Meridian Financial.
But east, toward the waterfront.

"Where's he going?" I asked.

"Industrial district. Nothing out here but warehouses and shipping facilities."

"Some of which your family owns."

"Some. But not all."

We followed Grey deeper into the district. The streets got darker, emptier.

He turned into a parking lot in front of an old warehouse and shut off his engine.

We parked a block away and watched.

Grey sat in his car for five minutes. Then his phone lit up. He answered and talked for a moment. Then got out and walked toward the warehouse entrance.

"We should follow on foot," I said.

"Agreed. But carefully. If he spots us.."

"He won't."

We got out and moved quietly toward the warehouse.
Grey used a key to enter through a side door and disappeared inside.
Kayden and I approached. We found a window. It was grimy but partially see-through.

Inside, the warehouse was mostly empty with concrete floors, high ceilings and dim lighting.

Grey stood in the center, waiting.

"Who's he meeting?" Kayden whispered.

"I don't know. But—"

A figure emerged from the shadows.
A tall male moving with authority.

As he stepped into the light, my blood froze.
Russio Gravano.

"Fuck," Kayden breathed.
We watched as Russio and Grey talked. Too far away to hear. But their body language was telling.

Familiar, comfortable, like they'd done this many times before.

Russio handed Grey something. An envelope.

Grey opened it, looked inside and nodded.
They talked for another few minutes. Then Russio clapped Grey on the shoulder, like a father would a son and left through a different door.

Grey stood there alone for a moment. He looked at the envelope again, then tucked it inside his jacket.

"We need to go," Kayden said. "Before they see us."

We hurried back to the car, sat there, processing what we'd just seen.

"My father is actively working with Grey, meeting him in secret, paying him."

"Whatever they're planning, it's big. Your father doesn't take these kinds of risks for small operations."

"We need to know what was in that envelope."

"And what they're planning. What Grey's real mission is."

Kayden pulled out his phone. "I'm calling Marco. Having him tail my father. See if he goes anywhere else tonight, if he meets anyone else."

"And I'll have my contact track Grey. See where he goes next."

We made our calls.
Then sat there in the dark, watching the warehouse.

Grey emerged ten minutes later, got in his car and drove away.

We didn't follow. It was too risky now that we knew Russio was involved.

"This changes everything," Kayden said.

"Your father is using Grey for something. Something he doesn't want you knowing about."

"And Belle is caught in the middle. A pawn in whatever game they're playing."

"We need to warn her. Get her away from Grey before—"

"Before what? We still don't have proof of anything concrete. Just suspicions and a secret meeting."

"Then we get proof. We break into that warehouse. Find out what they're using it for."

"It's too dangerous. If my father catches us—"

"We won't get caught, we need answers now. Before this goes any further."

Kayden was quiet. "Okay, but we do this smart. We plan it properly, scout the location, find the best way in and out."

"Tomorrow night?"

"Tomorrow night."

We drove home in silence. Both of us knowing we'd just crossed a line.

We committed to investigating Russio directly, to going against the head of the Gravano family, and there was no going back now.

At home, we parked and sat in the car for a moment.
"Are you sure about this?" Kayden asked.
"Once we break into that warehouse, once we find whatever's there, we can't un-know it. Can't unsee it."

"I'm sure. We need to protect Belle. And we need to know what your father is planning."

"Even if it means destroying my relationship with him? Destroying my place in this family?"

"Even then."

He nodded slowly. "Okay then. We do it together."

"Together."

We went inside and found Marco waiting in the foyer.

"Where have you two been?"

"Out," Kayden said. "Why?"

"Boss was looking for you. Said he needs to see you first thing tomorrow morning. Both of you."

My stomach dropped. "Did he say why?"

"No. But he seemed..." Marco paused. "Agitated. Like something happened."

Kayden and I exchanged a look.
"We'll be there," Kayden said.
Marco left.

"He knows," I said quietly. "He knows we followed Grey."

"Maybe. Or it's something else. Something unrelated."

"In this family? Nothing is unrelated."

"Then tomorrow we find out what he wants. And tomorrow night, we find out what's in that warehouse."

"And if he tries to stop us? If he threatens Belle?"

"Then we protect her. Whatever it takes."

We headed upstairs. But I couldn't shake the feeling that we were running out of time.

That whatever Russio and Grey were planning was about to happen.
And we were nowhere near ready to stop it.