Chapter 8 - The Brother They Buried
Gabriel did not attack.
That somehow made him more frightening.
He stood in the smoky hallway while hospital staff rushed patients toward exits.
"Come with me," he said.
Marco stepped forward.
"Where?"
"To the woman who murdered our father."
Luca's voice was sharp.
"You expect us to trust you?"
Gabriel looked at Elena.
"You trusted her."
Elena said quietly, "He saved my life."
"You also said he imprisoned you."
"I did."
Gabriel's expression tightened.
"I kept her alive."
"You kept her captive," Maeve said.
Gabriel looked at Maeve.
Recognition.
"Patrick's daughter."
"Maeve."
"Your father was brave."
"You knew him?"
"Briefly."
Maeve stepped closer.
"What happened to him?"
Gabriel's jaw flexed.
"Vittorio ordered it."
"Did you kill him?"
"No."
Maeve studied him.
She believed he believed his answer.
Whether true was another question.
Marco said, "Where's our mother?"
Gabriel smiled without warmth.
"Home."
Luca frowned.
"Our home?"
"No. Hers."
They followed him to a private residence two hours away.
Marco insisted Maeve stay.
Maeve ignored him.
Kathleen stayed with Elena.
Dante drove.
Gabriel sat in the passenger seat.
Four Falcone brothers in one vehicle.
The silence was almost absurd.
Maeve rode beside Marco.
At one point she whispered, "Family road trip."
Marco looked at her.
Despite everything, his mouth twitched.
The house belonged to a trust.
Small compared with Falcone Manor.
Protected by high walls.
Inside, an elderly woman sat in a sunroom.
Isabella Falcone.
The woman the triplets had buried ten years earlier.
Marco stopped at the doorway.
"Mother."
Isabella looked up.
"My boys."
Luca's face hardened.
"Don't."
Dante stayed near the door.
Gabriel entered last.
Isabella's expression changed at once.
Hatred.
"There you are."
Gabriel smiled bitterly.
"Hello, Mother."
"I'm not your mother."
"No. You made that clear."
Marco walked closer.
"Did you kill Dad?"
Isabella's composure cracked.
Maeve saw the answer before she spoke.
"I protected you."
Marco whispered, "Oh God."
Isabella stood.
"Antonio was going to destroy everything."
"By bringing Gabriel home?"
"By humiliating us."
Gabriel laughed.
"Existing was humiliating?"
She ignored him.
"He intended to give him the company. A fourth of everything."
Luca stared at her.
"So you murdered your husband over money?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"He was going to cooperate with the government. We would have lost everything."
Dante said, "We would've had a normal life."
"You would have had nothing."
Marco looked at his mother.
"We had money. We didn't have a father."
Isabella's face changed.
For the first time, guilt.
Too late.
Gabriel stepped closer.
"Tell them the rest."
She shook her head.
"Tell them."
"What rest?" Marco asked.
Gabriel stared at Isabella.
"Who helped you poison him?"
Maeve's stomach tightened.
Isabella looked toward the window.
"No."
Gabriel's voice rose.
"Say his name."
She whispered, "Vittorio."
Marco closed his eyes.
Of course.
The conspiracy was larger than one person.
Isabella poisoned Antonio.
Vittorio helped.
Then Vittorio used the aftermath to control the family.
Gabriel had spent years chasing both.
"Why fake your death?" Luca asked.
Isabella sat again.
"Vittorio tried to kill me."
Gabriel smiled grimly.
"Partners eventually become liabilities."
Maeve thought of Kathleen.
Same pattern.
Everyone hiding from everyone.
Marco looked exhausted.
"Where is Vittorio now?"
Isabella hesitated.
Gabriel stepped forward.
"Mother."
"Old chapel."
"What chapel?"
"The one on the northern estate."
Marco looked at Luca.
They knew it.
A Falcone property unused for decades.
Isabella grabbed Marco's arm.
"Don't go."
He pulled away.
"You lost the right to protect me."
They left.
Outside, Marco stood alone beside the car.
Maeve approached.
He didn't look at her.
"My mother killed my father."
Maeve leaned against the car beside him.
"My mother faked her death."
He looked at her.
"Competition?"
"Your family wins."
That made him laugh once.
Then his face broke.
Not crying.
Almost.
Maeve took his hand.
Marco looked down at their fingers.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to do with this."
"You don't have to know today."
He squeezed her hand.
"I keep thinking about breakfast."
She smiled.
"Odd timing."
"It was the last normal moment."
"Nothing about three mafia brothers staring at a maid holding a frying pan was normal."
"It felt normal."
He looked at her.
"Because you made it feel normal."
The air changed.
Marco moved slightly closer.
Maeve's heartbeat quickened.
Then Luca called from the vehicle.
"We have movement at the chapel."
Moment gone.
They drove.
The chapel sat abandoned among pine trees.
Gabriel led.
Inside, candles burned.
No Vittorio.
Only a projector.
A screen turned on automatically.
Vittorio appeared.
"If you're watching this, Isabella talked."
Gabriel cursed.
Vittorio smiled from the recording.
"Predictable."
The screen changed.
Live video.
Kathleen and Elena at the hospital.
A man dressed as a doctor entered their room.
Maeve screamed.
"Mom!"
The feed cut.
Her phone rang.
Vittorio.
She answered.
"Don't touch them!"
His voice was calm.
"Then bring me Gabriel."
Everyone stared.
"What?"
"Your mother and Elena for Antonio's forgotten son."
Gabriel smiled faintly.
"Take the deal."
Marco said, "No."
Gabriel looked at him.
"You owe me nothing."
"You're my brother."
The words hit all of them.
Gabriel stared.
Marco continued.
"I lost one father today. I'm not handing over a brother."
Gabriel's expression changed.
For perhaps the first time in decades, he looked like a son who had wanted exactly those words.
Then Dante's phone buzzed.
He looked down.
His face went pale.
"Marco."
"What?"
Dante turned the screen.
Live location.
Kathleen's phone.
Moving fast.
Heading toward Falcone Manor.
Maeve stared.
"Why would Vittorio take them there?"
Gabriel whispered the answer.
"Because he's not after the ledger anymore."
Marco looked at him.
"What is he after?"
Gabriel's eyes moved toward Maeve.
"The house."
A second alert appeared.
Fire alarm.
Falcone Manor.
May you like
Every sensor triggered at once.
And on the security feed, flames rose from Maeve's kitchen.
