Chapter 14 - THE MAN WITH ALESSANDRO'S FACE
Adrian Rusk chose a closed wax museum in Times Square for the meeting because, as he later explained, he had developed a sense of humor about stolen identities.
Alessandro arrived at three ten in the morning.
He did not come alone.
He simply made sure Adrian believed he had.
Chen positioned two agents in the alley.
Marco watched the roof.
Gabriel controlled the rear exit.
Miguel remained with Rosa and Lily in a protected apartment.
Alessandro entered through the dark lobby.
Rows of wax celebrities watched him from behind velvet ropes.
At the far end of the hall stood a figure in a black suit.
Same height.
Same hair.
Same scar through the right eyebrow.
For one disorienting second, Alessandro looked at himself.
Adrian Rusk smiled.
Adrian Rusk had begun as a body double for wealthy men who wanted to leave restaurants without photographers knowing which vehicle contained them.
He matched height, posture, clothing, and distance.
Nobody cared about his face because cameras were supposed to see only the outline.
Luca changed that.
"He approached me after a security conference in Atlantic City."
Adrian stood beside a wax figure while explaining it.
"He already had photographs of you from every angle."
Alessandro's expression darkened.
"Of course he did."
"At first he wanted private appearances."
"Walk into a hotel."
"Sit in a car."
"Be seen entering a meeting you never attended."
Chen listened carefully.
"When did it become recorded crimes?"
"About a year later."
Adrian rubbed the artificial scar.
"Luca hired a makeup specialist."
"Voice coach."
"Movement analyst."
"He had recordings of you at home, at meetings, even eating dinner."
Alessandro felt disgust move through him.
"Where did he get home recordings?"
Adrian looked at him.
"Your security system."
That answer hurt more than he expected.
Luca had not only watched the organization.
He had watched Alessandro learn how to become himself.
How he stood when tired.
Which hand he used to open doors.
How long he looked at a person before answering.
Private habits had become raw material for forgery.
"Why agree?"
Adrian's expression turned defensive.
"Money at first."
"Then?"
"Fear."
"When I wanted out, Luca showed me video of crimes committed by me wearing your face."
"He said if I talked, he would release versions showing my real face instead."
Chen frowned.
"Could he do that convincingly?"
"He had enough original footage to make trouble."
"Maybe not conviction."
"Enough arrest."
"Enough headlines."
Adrian looked around the museum.
"Once people believe you are someone capable of terrible things, evidence only has to look possible."
Alessandro thought of his own reputation.
Luca had chosen him as the perfect identity to weaponize because nobody would be shocked by allegations attached to Alessandro Moretti.
His past gave the lie credibility.
That realization carried responsibility he could not blame entirely on a double.
"Did you meet Vivian?"
Adrian nodded.
"Twice."
"She hated the impersonation project."
Alessandro looked surprised.
"Why?"
"Because fake evidence can be disproved."
"She preferred real pressure."
"Financial records."
"Medical files."
"Family secrets."
"Things people helped create themselves."
Chen asked.
"Then why use the fake Miguel video?"
Adrian smiled bitterly.
"Because she was running out of time."
"Miguel escaped."
"Luca started losing control."
"You survived the poison."
"She began using every weapon at once."
Alessandro looked at the metal case.
"And you stole the ledger because?"
"I found my own name in it."
Adrian's face changed.
"Next to the word DISPOSABLE."
Silence followed.
"I spent two years wearing your face."
"It took one word in Luca's handwriting to make me realize he had never seen mine."
Alessandro almost understood him.
That did not erase what Adrian had done.
But it explained why a man paid to become someone else eventually risked everything to stop disappearing inside the role.
"Uncomfortable?"
His voice was almost perfect.
Alessandro hated it immediately.
"Take off the makeup."
Adrian touched the artificial scar.
"Luca paid a fortune for this face."
"Luca is trying to kill you."
"That's why we're talking."
Adrian stepped into the light.
Without the subtle facial prosthetics, the differences became visible.
His jaw was narrower.
His nose had been reshaped.
His eyes were brown rather than gray-blue.
But on surveillance cameras and at a distance, he could become Alessandro Moretti convincingly enough to ruin a life.
"How many crimes did you commit wearing my face?"
Adrian considered the question.
"Depends on your definition of crime."
"Use the definition that ends with prison."
"Seven meetings."
"Three hotel arrivals."
"Two cash transfers."
"One conversation with Miguel Delgado."
Alessandro's hands tightened.
"The fake execution order."
"Yes."
"Who recorded it?"
"Luca."
"Who delivered it to Hargrove?"
Adrian smiled.
"Vivian."
That answer surprised Alessandro.
"Not Luca?"
"Luca thought the video was insurance."
"Vivian turned it into a weapon."
Adrian walked between wax figures.
"Those two stopped trusting each other months ago."
"Why?"
"Because Luca wants your chair."
"Vivian wants there to be no chair."
Alessandro followed.
"Meaning?"
"The Duca family does not want to control the Moretti organization."
"They want to dismantle it, absorb the legitimate assets, and let law enforcement destroy whatever remains."
"Luca doesn't know?"
"He knows half."
"He thinks Vivian will merge both families and rule with him."
Adrian laughed.
"She plans to give him to the government as the architect of every crime."
Alessandro almost admired the cruelty.
Almost.
"Where is the metal case?"
Adrian's smile vanished.
"Payment first."
"You think I brought money?"
"I think you brought men."
He looked toward a wax figure of a president.
"Hello, Agent Chen."
Chen froze behind the display.
Alessandro did not turn.
"You knew."
"I spent two years studying how you clear rooms."
Adrian shrugged.
"Of course I knew."
Chen stepped out with her weapon lowered but ready.
"Federal protection is worth more than money if Luca wants you dead."
Adrian looked at her.
"Federal protection is why Hargrove nearly delivered Miguel back to Luca."
"Hargrove is in custody."
"Hargrove is one name."
"The ledger contains twelve more in your office alone."
Chen's face tightened.
"You have seen it."
"I stole it."
Adrian reached inside his coat.
Alessandro's weapon appeared instantly.
Adrian stopped.
"Relax."
He removed a small photograph.
It showed Vivian at a hospital computer six years earlier.
On the monitor were rows of names.
One name had been circled.
ALESSANDRO MORETTI.
Below it was another.
UNKNOWN MALE INFANT - 1988.
Alessandro stared.
"What is that?"
Adrian's expression lost its humor.
"The reason Vivian has been searching birth records."
"Your father had another son."
Alessandro felt no immediate reaction because the statement was too large to fit inside one.
"No."
"Yes."
"My mother would have known."
"Different mother."
Adrian handed him the photograph.
"Born one year after you."
"No legal father listed."
"Private DNA record linked the infant to your father."
Chen looked at Alessandro.
"Where is he now?"
Adrian smiled sadly.
"That is the problem."
"Nobody knows."
Alessandro's mind moved through possibilities.
An unknown brother could be useful to Vivian.
He could be used to divide loyalists, challenge inheritance, create scandals, or justify property claims.
"What does this have to do with Lily?"
"Vivian searched every child whose hospital genetic record showed unusual markers near Moretti reference data."
"Lily's file triggered a partial laboratory flag because the same technician processed both records years apart."
"It was clerical proximity, not kinship."
"But when Vivian opened Lily's file, Miguel's employee login appeared in the access history."
Alessandro understood.
Miguel did not merely see Vivian searching records.
Vivian knew Miguel saw her.
"So she tracked him later."
"Exactly."
Adrian walked toward a display room filled with wax gangsters.
"Then Miguel discovered Luca's construction shipments."
"Two separate secrets collided in one electrician."
"Unlucky man."
Alessandro's voice turned cold.
"Where is the ledger?"
Adrian looked at him.
"Before I give it to you, I need one promise."
"No."
"You didn't hear it."
"Promises made under leverage are debts."
"I don't accept debts I haven't chosen."
Adrian laughed.
"You really are difficult to imitate."
He reached behind a wax figure and removed the metal case.
"Fine."
"No promise."
"But understand this."
"The ledger proves Luca corrupted your organization."
"It also proves your organization corrupted half the people who later worked for Luca."
"You release it publicly, you do not simply destroy him."
"You destroy yourself."
Alessandro took the case.
"Maybe some things deserve to be destroyed."
Adrian studied him.
"That's not the answer Luca expects."
A small red dot appeared on Adrian's forehead.
Alessandro saw it first.
He shoved Adrian sideways.
The shot cracked through the museum glass.
Wax shattered.
Chen fired toward the upper balcony.
Gabriel shouted from the rear.
A second shot hit Adrian in the side.
He fell behind a display.
Alessandro dragged him to cover.
"Who knew you were here?"
Adrian coughed.
"Nobody."
"Someone knew."
Adrian looked toward the metal case.
"It has a tracker."
Alessandro stared.
Adrian smiled weakly.
"Apparently I am still not as smart as you."
Chen ripped the lining from the case.
A tiny transmitter blinked beneath the hinge.
Gabriel's voice came through the radio.
"Shooter is moving north."
Alessandro opened the case.
The ledger was inside.
So was a folded wedding invitation.
His wedding invitation.
The date had been crossed out.
A new date was written beneath it.
TODAY.
Alessandro looked at Adrian.
"What is this?"
Adrian's face went pale.
"Vivian moved the ceremony."
"What ceremony?"
"Not yours."
He swallowed painfully.
"She's marrying Luca this morning."
Chen stared.
"Why would she do that now?"
Adrian gave a broken laugh.
"Because Luca transferred everything he stole into a trust that only activates when he becomes family to a Duca."
Alessandro looked at the time.
Four twenty-seven.
"Where?"
Adrian whispered the name of a private estate in northern New Jersey.
Then he grabbed Alessandro's sleeve.
"The wedding is bait too."
"For whom?"
Adrian looked at him with his own borrowed version of Alessandro's scar.
May you like
"Your brother."
