Chapter 9 - The Burning Kitchen
Maeve watched the kitchen burn on Dante's phone.
The marble island where she had served breakfast.
The stove.
The pantry.
Flames climbed the cabinets.
"No."
Marco grabbed the phone.
"Sprinklers?"
"Disabled."
"Fire department?"
"Already dispatched."
Maeve thought of the hidden passage.
The basement.
The archive.
"What is Vittorio destroying?"
Gabriel answered.
"Not destroying."
"Then?"
"Revealing."
They raced back.
Fire crews surrounded the manor.
The kitchen fire had been contained.
Damage severe but localized.
Kathleen and Elena were nowhere.
Marco confronted security.
Nobody had seen them arrive.
The phone tracker ended at the estate.
Maeve ran toward the kitchen.
Marco caught her.
"Structural clearance first."
"My mother is here."
"We find her alive by not getting crushed."
Fire crews cleared the main hall.
Dante traced the signal.
"Below us."
Basement.
They entered through the hidden stairwell.
Smoke lingered.
At the bottom, the chair with Elena's apron had been moved.
Beneath it was another door.
Gabriel knew the mechanism.
The floor opened.
Stone steps descended deeper.
Maeve stared.
"You knew?"
Gabriel shook his head.
"No."
Marco looked at him.
"Our father built things none of us knew."
Below was an old tunnel.
It led beneath the manor.
At the end, a steel door stood open.
Inside was a vault.
Kathleen and Elena sat restrained.
Alive.
Maeve ran to them.
"Mom."
Kathleen held her.
Elena looked shaken but unharmed.
Marco searched the vault.
No Vittorio.
Only shelves of documents.
Cash.
Weapons.
Photographs.
Gabriel whispered, "Antonio's emergency archive."
Maeve realized.
Vittorio set the kitchen fire to trigger old mechanisms.
Heat-sensitive failsafes.
The hidden vault opened.
He had needed the house to reveal what even the brothers didn't know existed.
Elena said, "He took something."
"What?" Marco asked.
"A black case."
Gabriel went pale.
"What case?"
Elena shook her head.
Kathleen said, "He called it insurance."
Gabriel searched the shelves.
Then swore.
"Antonio kept original recordings."
"Of?" Maeve asked.
"Politicians. Judges. Police. Everyone Vittorio bribed."
Marco understood.
"If he releases them selectively—"
"He can blackmail half the state."
Dante checked exits.
A tunnel led beyond the property.
Vittorio escaped before the fire department arrived.
But he had made a mistake.
The vault also contained Antonio's personal journals.
Marco found one dated near Patrick's death.
Maeve watched him read.
His expression changed.
"What?"
He handed her the journal.
Patrick is dead. Vittorio ordered it. I failed him. Kathleen and Maeve must be protected at any cost.
Maeve closed her eyes.
There it was.
Confirmation.
Patrick didn't leave.
He was murdered.
Below, Antonio had written:
Patrick's final request: Maeve must never grow up believing fear decides her life.
Maeve cried.
Quietly.
Marco stood beside her.
She leaned into him before thinking.
His arm came around her.
No hesitation.
For a few seconds, everything else disappeared.
Then Gabriel found another entry.
"Marco."
They gathered.
Antonio had written about Gabriel.
I have failed my eldest son. Isabella refuses him. Vittorio feeds his anger. I must bring Gabriel home before resentment becomes something none of us can repair.
Gabriel read it twice.
His eyes filled.
"He was going to bring me back."
Marco nodded.
Gabriel looked away.
All those years of hatred.
Built on incomplete truth.
Maeve understood that too well.
She touched his arm.
"Your father made mistakes."
Gabriel gave a broken laugh.
"That's generous."
"So did mine. So did my mother. So did yours."
"Is there a point?"
"People being flawed doesn't mean they didn't love you."
Gabriel looked at her.
Then nodded.
Dante discovered a hidden audio recorder.
The final file was Antonio speaking hours before death.
"If anything happens to me, Vittorio and Isabella are responsible."
Marco closed his eyes.
Legal evidence.
Maybe enough.
They copied everything.
By evening, the manor looked wounded.
Smoke stains.
Broken walls.
Water damage.
Maeve stood in the ruined kitchen.
Marco entered.
"You shouldn't be in here."
"You're repetitive."
He smiled faintly.
She touched the scorched edge of the marble island.
"My first breakfast lasted longer than the kitchen."
"We'll rebuild."
Maeve looked at him.
"We?"
Marco hesitated.
"I didn't mean—"
"I know."
Silence.
Then Maeve said, "I want to stay."
His eyes changed.
"After all this?"
"I never said your employment package wasn't exciting."
"Maeve."
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
He stepped closer.
"Staying here could still be dangerous."
"So could leaving."
"That's not a reason."
"No."
She looked around.
"But I spent years building temporary lives because I was afraid everyone eventually disappears."
Marco listened.
"I don't want temporary anymore."
His voice lowered.
"Neither do I."
They were close now.
Maeve could feel his breath.
Marco lifted one hand.
Paused.
Giving her time.
Maeve leaned forward first.
The kiss was gentle.
Unexpectedly gentle.
Nothing like the man.
Or exactly like him.
When they separated, Marco looked stunned.
Maeve smiled.
"You're not very intimidating now."
"Don't tell anyone."
From the doorway, Dante said, "Too late."
Maeve jumped.
Luca stood beside him.
Gabriel behind both.
Marco glared.
Dante grinned.
"Family breakfast is going to be unbearable."
Maeve threw a towel at him.
For one brief moment, laughter filled the ruined kitchen.
Then Marco's phone rang.
His expression changed.
Federal prosecutor.
Vittorio had made contact.
He was offering the black case in exchange for immunity.
Marco listened.
Then looked toward Gabriel.
"What?"
Marco lowered the phone.
"He doesn't want immunity anymore."
"What does he want?"
Marco's jaw tightened.
"Gabriel dead."
Gabriel smiled coldly.
"No."
Marco continued.
"He says if Gabriel is alive at midnight, he releases every recording."
Dante checked the time.
11:08 p.m.
Fifty-two minutes.
Luca whispered, "And if we refuse?"
Marco looked at Maeve.
"Then he says the first recording he releases will prove who actually killed Patrick O'Connell."
May you like
Maeve stopped breathing.
Because according to Vittorio, it wasn't him.
