Chapter 12 - Camila Vega
They found Camila twenty minutes later.
She was inside the terminal control room.
Alone.
No guards.
No weapon.
Only a laptop.
And the microchip.
Julian entered first.
Elena stayed behind him.
Camila looked up.
For a moment, neither sibling spoke.
Then Julian said the only thing he could.
“What happened to our mother?”
Camila lowered her eyes.
“She died protecting me.”
Julian’s jaw tightened.
“When?”
“Twelve years ago.”
“That doesn’t answer me.”
Camila looked up.
“Three months after the funeral you attended.”
Julian flinched.
She continued.
“She escaped the clinic.”
“How?”
“A nurse helped her.”
“Who?”
Camila looked toward Henry, who had followed them into the room.
Julian turned.
Henry lowered his eyes.
“My mother.”
Silence.
Elena stared.
Henry continued.
“She was a night nurse.”
“She realized the woman in the private room wasn’t terminally ill.”
“She found the altered records.”
“She helped her escape.”
Julian looked at him.
“And you?”
“I was seventeen.”
Henry swallowed.
“My mother made me drive.”
Julian stared.
“You knew my mother?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Giovanni threatened mine.”
Julian’s face hardened.
Henry continued.
“We moved your mother between safe houses.”
“She gave birth in Austria.”
“A girl.”
Camila.
Julian looked at her.
Camila’s eyes filled.
“She named me Emilia.”
Julian stopped.
His mother had always loved that name.
He remembered her saying it when he was a child.
If I ever had a daughter, I’d call her Emilia.
Camila smiled faintly.
“I changed it later.”
“Why?”
“To disappear.”
Julian stepped closer.
“What happened to her?”
Camila looked down.
“Giovanni found us.”
Julian looked toward his father, now seated under guard in the main warehouse.
“When?”
“I was three months old.”
Camila’s voice broke.
“He sent men.”
“Mother got me out through the back of the house.”
“She gave me to Henry’s mother.”
“She stayed behind.”
Julian already knew the ending.
“She died.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Camila’s eyes hardened.
“The house burned.”
Elena covered her mouth.
Julian’s voice became quiet.
“Giovanni burned it?”
Camila looked at him.
“We could never prove he gave the order.”
“But?”
“But the man who arranged it still works for him.”
Julian turned toward Henry.
Henry nodded.
“I know who.”
“Who?”
“Victor Dane.”
Julian knew the name.
Head of Rossi corporate security for twenty years.
The man who had protected Julian as a teenager.
The man who had driven him to his mother’s fake funeral.
Julian almost laughed at the cruelty of it.
“Where is he?”
Camila turned the laptop.
A tracking map appeared.
“He’s coming here.”
Elena frowned.
“How do you know?”
Camila looked at Giovanni’s phone.
“I cloned it.”
Julian stared at her.
“You planned all of this.”
“Yes.”
“Marco?”
“A useful coward.”
Henry almost smiled.
“Bellweather?”
“My company.”
“Built with Giovanni’s money.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Camila leaned back.
“He funded an investment vehicle through shell accounts.”
“He thought he controlled it.”
“He didn’t realize I had changed the ownership structure.”
Julian looked at her.
“And Elena?”
Camila’s expression softened.
“That was never part of my plan.”
Elena stared.
“You sent the pendant.”
“Yes.”
“You put the chip inside it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Camila looked at Julian.
“Because I needed the evidence somewhere Giovanni would never destroy it.”
Julian’s face hardened.
“You used my pregnant wife as a storage device.”
Camila flinched.
“I didn’t know she was pregnant.”
“You knew she was trapped at the Alcazar.”
“Yes.”
“You could have helped her.”
Camila looked ashamed.
“I thought keeping her there kept her alive.”
“That was your justification?”
“No.”
Her eyes filled.
“That was my mistake.”
Elena stepped forward.
“Why did you send the pendant to me?”
“Because Henry told me you were trying to escape again.”
Camila’s voice softened.
“I thought if you made it out, you would eventually reach Julian.”
“And the evidence would reach him with you.”
Elena shook her head.
“You could have sent it directly.”
“No.”
Camila looked at Julian.
“His father monitored everything.”
“His offices.”
“His home.”
“His staff.”
“Even Adrian was watched.”
Julian frowned.
“Adrian?”
“Yes.”
“He was clean.”
“But his communications weren’t.”
Julian looked toward the warehouse.
All this time.
His empire had been a cage.
He simply owned the furniture.
Camila closed the laptop.
“Victor will be here in twelve minutes.”
Julian looked at her.
“What does he want?”
“To kill everyone who can connect Giovanni to Mother’s death.”
Elena touched her stomach.
Julian immediately looked at her.
“No.”
Camila nodded.
“Yes.”
Julian’s expression changed.
Then Adrian’s voice came through Julian’s hidden earpiece.
“Boss.”
Julian almost smiled.
“Finally.”
Adrian continued.
“We’re in position.”
Camila stared at him.
“You brought security?”
Julian looked at her.
“I told Marco I would come alone.”
“I never promised anyone else.”
Adrian’s voice returned.
“Six vehicles approaching.”
May you like
Julian looked at the monitor.
Victor Dane had arrived.
