"How could they have believed that they were working for the Ferraras?" Peter asked as he entered his boss' study in the perimeter house. "Everyone who knows their history knows that the Ferraras don't recruit outsiders, only the ones that they trust."

"That's where these people were naive. Whoever this is, they are not trying to impersonate the Ferraras, because they are not doing a very good job at it. But it is definitely someone courageous enough to stand up to us."

The three men that they had captured had revealed certain details that made sure that they hadn't been working for the Ferraras, because the gang's code was "No answers. No killing." And Zara could not have had any answers to give them.

This was not the work of the Ferraras.

But Adrian knew why anyone would come for her.

"Any luck with the girl's background?"

Adrian sighed. "That's what I'm trying to find out. I've tracked down everything but there does seem to be a hole somewhere. There is something that she is not telling us or doesn't know herself."

Don't you feel lonely though? Have you considered trusting someone enough to share your life with them?

Adrian shook her voice away from his head. Why was he thinking of her all of a sudden? She had gotten into his head by trying to get to know him and he couldn't let her in. No matter what.

"The Fortress seems to know nothing about this." Peter said. "I talked to my boys yesterday and they seem to think that this is definitely someone on the surface. Whoever it is, they are being awfully brave like you said."

"Could it be someone from the past? Maybe all of this leads back to the war because that's what started the Treaty in the first place. Anyone that is trying to violate it must know what it is about. But this seems too dirty for any of the Ferraras to do."

"Maybe they have a mole." Peter suggested the only answer that he could see. As far as he knew, human beings were always scared of the mafias. But they did not know that what they were doing was only keeping them safe.

The mafia gangs of New York had never done anything violent to the people that stayed there. Nobody had even known of their existence until the war broke out, but even then, civilians were not harmed in any way. They only ran in circles among each other while trying to follow the official rules set by the Council.

But someone was betraying all that now.

Adrian had spent several days reading his history and trying to find anyone that could be doing this. He also tried to answer Zara's questions without letting her know the truth before he himself knew the entirety of it.

He wondered if he could do this. It all came down to this one girl.

She was the key.

He knew it.

He wanted to tell her about it ever since he figured out who she was. He had lied to Peter when he said that there was a hole in her life. He only wanted to keep her identity safe. It was hard placing the pieces together but he had managed it with the help of Peter's spies. After all, he met her only because of the theory that he had.

The theory that was now confirmed.

That only made it more important for him to protect her.

Maybe from other people.

Maybe from herself.

But definitely from him.

*****

This chapter will make more sense
when you read Adrian's novella