Chapter 53 Adeline
Adeline's POV
The next morning, I wake up alone in bed. Percy had been up since 4 in the morning, fielding calls from Tiny and his contacts at the NYPD. When I walk into the living room, I find him standing by the coffee table while a detective and Tiny sit on the couch. They all stare at a laptop screen.
"Good morning," I say, and they all look up at me. Percy walks over to me to kiss my forehead. He looks tired but satisfied. "Did you find something?"
"There's coffee, and yes, we have the smoking gun."
"What is it?"
Detective Miller turns the laptop toward me. "We executed a search warrant on Mason Bernard’s cell this morning, and we found a burner phone sewn into his mattress."
"A phone?" I ask. "In maximum security?"
"Money can buy anything in prison, but he slipped up when he didn't wipe the sent folder." Tiny rumbles.
Miller presses a key, and a transcript of a text thread between my father and Mason appears.
"She’s getting comfortable. Break her legs again. Remind her who she belongs to."
Then two days after that. "Did you do it? Is she in the hospital?"
"Good. Now wait. Let her heal. Then ask for the money. Bleed the Akilov dry."
I read the messages again and again. Yet, I couldn't comprehend how comfortable they were both talking about hurting me physically.
"He ordered the hit-and-run from his cell," I whisper, nausea rolling in my stomach. "He’s been pulling the strings this whole time."
"And here is the payment," Percy says, pointing to a bank transfer record on the screen. "A shell company Mason set up years ago wired ten thousand dollars to an account in Ilya’s name the day after your accident. It's solid."
"So we have them," I say, looking at Percy.
"We have Mason," Percy corrects. "He’s getting moved to solitary confinement within the hour. He won't see the sun for the next twenty years. But Ilya..." He hesitates. "Ilya is still in the wind. He knows Mason has been compromised. He’s going to be desperate."
"Desperate men make mistakes," I say, trying to sound brave.
"Or they do desperate things," Percy says quietly. He squeezes my shoulder. "Which is why we’re doubling the guard on your mother today."
Later that afternoon, the district attorney had logged the new evidence and was already drafting the new charges. For the first time in a week, I feel a sliver of control. We know the enemy, and we have a plan.
I am in the living room when Percy sits down next to me.
"My mother called," he says.
"Lucia?"
"Yes."
I sit up straighter. "Oh?"
"She heard about everything that's been happening, and she wants to see me, see us."
He hesitates. "She wants to have dinner tonight here at the penthouse where it’s safe."
"That sounds... nice," I say. "I can tell she's a lovely woman."
"She is, and she also thinks that we need to rally together as a family, you know?"
"We should invite my mother," I say suddenly.
Percy raises an eyebrow. "Melissa? Are you sure?"
"We haven't spoken since the argument, I know, but we've established that Ilya is desperate and this place is safe, so I want her here. If Lucia is coming, maybe seeing a normal family dinner will help Mom see that we’re trying to build something real."
Percy considers this. "It’s risky. She might say no."
"She might," I agree. "But I have to try."
I pick up my phone and call before I can change my mind. It rang four times before she picked it up.
"Hello?" Her voice is guarded.
"Mom, it's Adeline. Don't hang up, please."
"I wasn't going to hang up, Adeline. I’m just tired."
"Alright. So Percy’s mother is coming into town tonight, and we're having dinner at the penthouse. I really want you to come."
"Percy’s mother?" she asks. "The biological one?"
"Yes, Lucia."
"And Richard won't be there?"
"No," I promise. "Just us. Family."
There is a long pause before she clears her throat. "I suppose I can clear my schedule," she says finally. "I can't promise I’ll be cheerful, Adeline. I’m still angry about the engagement."
"I know, Mom." I can't even be angry at her for that right now. "I just want to see you."
"7:00?" she asks.
"7:00. I’ll send a car for you. Please use the driver I send, Mom. It’s safer."
"Fine," she relents. "I’ll see you then."
I hang up and look at Percy with a huge smile. "She said yes."
"Good," Percy smiles. "Tonight, we eat, drink, and forget about him for a few hours."
By 7:30, the table is set and the candles are lit.
Lucia is here, looking elegant in a navy dress. She looks exactly as I thought she would. She's a beautiful, warm woman, and I couldn't help the few thoughts that came to mind about my own mother. I quickly dispel that comparison and focus on the stories she's been telling me. It's hard to be fully taken by her story, though, when I'm constantly checking my phone for updates on my mother.
"She’s late," I tell Percy as I check my watch for the nth time. "It’s almost 8, and traffic isn't that bad."
"She’s Melissa," Percy says from the bar. "She likes to make an entrance."
My phone buzzes, and I grab it, expecting a text from my mom, but it is a call from an unknown contact. My blood runs cold, and the room seems to tilt in my face.
"Percy," I whisper. "It's an unknown number."
He freezes mid-pour and sets the bottle down, his face hardening into that terrifying lawyer mask. I stare at the screen numbly, and my thumb hovers over the answer button. My hands are shaking so hard I can barely hold the device.
"Please no. Please don't be him," I chant desperately in my mind. I answer and put it on speaker.
"Mom?" I choke out, terrified of the voice I might hear.
"Good evening, is this Miss Adeline Volkev?" A man's smooth voice comes through, and I pause. It's not my father’s voice.
"Who is this?" Percy demands, leaning over the phone.
"This is Gary, ma'am, the driver for Empire Limo," the voice says. "I’m downstairs with your mother, Ms. Volkov. The doorman is giving us a hard time about the guest list. He says she’s not cleared for the penthouse elevator."
I let out a breath that sounds like a sob, and the room stops spinning.
"Gary," I whisper. "She’s... she’s with you? She’s safe?"
"Yes, ma'am. She’s right here. She’s actually quite annoyed about the delay."
"Put her on," Percy says, his shoulders slumping in relief.
There is a rustling sound before her voice comes on. "Adeline? This is ridiculous. I have been standing in this lobby for five minutes. Do you want me to come up, or should I just go home?"
I cover my mouth to stifle a hysterical laugh. I have never been more glad to hear her annoying voice as long as she's safe.