Chapter 11 - Margaret Remembered a Name
The tape was eighteen years old.
Gabriel listened again.
Salvatore's voice continued.
"Adrian thinks bloodlines are ownership. He will come for Isabella's children if he believes they threaten him."
Isabella.
Gabriel's future wife.
Adrian's niece.
Emma sat slowly.
Thomas spoke next.
"Then tell Gabriel."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because my son still thinks power can protect everyone."
Gabriel closed his eyes.
Even Salvatore had understood the weakness that would eventually define him.
The recording revealed Adrian had been stealing from the Moretti organization for years.
Victor discovered it.
Thomas gathered proof.
Salvatore planned to have Adrian eliminated.
Adrian struck first.
The war had never truly ended.
Emma took the recording to federal investigators.
Gabriel surrendered documents from his father's organization.
It was an act that would cost him companies, money, and influence.
He did it anyway.
Days passed.
Adrian vanished.
Sophie returned to school under heavy security.
Margaret's condition fluctuated.
Emma stayed near Gabriel but maintained a careful distance.
One night he found her baking cinnamon bread in his kitchen.
"Couldn't sleep?"
"No."
He leaned against the counter.
"Neither could I."
She handed him a warm slice.
He tasted it.
"This is better than your pancakes."
"High praise."
Silence settled.
Then Gabriel said, "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"Thomas."
Emma stopped moving.
"I should have told the truth sooner."
"Yes."
"I can't undo that."
"No."
"I can only decide what I do with the truth now."
Emma looked at him.
"That's what he asked you to do."
"Thomas?"
She nodded.
"Choose whether you become your father or end him."
Gabriel looked down.
"I've spent half my life believing those were the same thing."
"They aren't."
Their eyes met.
Gabriel moved closer.
Slowly enough that Emma could stop him.
She didn't.
Their first kiss was quiet.
No urgency.
No possession.
Just two exhausted people allowing themselves one honest moment.
Then Sophie walked in.
"Ew."
They separated.
Gabriel sighed.
"You were asleep."
"I needed water."
Sophie looked delighted.
"Emma kissed you."
Gabriel pointed toward the stairs.
"Water. Bed."
Sophie grinned all the way out.
Emma laughed against Gabriel's shoulder.
For several days, life almost resembled something normal.
Then Margaret remembered another name.
Emma was visiting when her mother suddenly said:
"Michael Vale."
"Who?"
"Adrian's brother."
Emma had never heard of him.
Neither had Gabriel.
Victor had.
When Emma mentioned the name, Victor went silent.
"Michael died when Adrian was twenty."
"How?"
"Fire."
Margaret shook her head.
"No."
Everyone turned.
"He didn't die."
Victor stared at her.
Margaret's voice was weak but certain.
"Thomas met him."
"When?"
"The week before Thomas died."
Emma's pulse quickened.
"Why?"
"He wanted the ledger."
Gabriel asked, "Where is Michael now?"
Margaret closed her eyes.
"I don't know."
Then she opened them.
"But Adrian does."
Federal records showed Michael Vale had supposedly died in 1989.
No body had been positively identified.
Another ghost.
Emma wondered how many dead men this story contained.
That evening a letter arrived.
No return address.
Inside was a single sheet.
Emma,
Adrian is not your father.
Ask Margaret who signed your birth certificate.
—M.V.
Emma's hands went cold.
She drove immediately to Margaret.
Her mother was asleep.
Emma woke her gently.
"Mom."
Margaret blinked.
"Emma?"
"Who was my biological father?"
"Adrian."
"Are you sure?"
Margaret became agitated.
"Thomas said never tell."
"Tell what?"
"The brothers."
"What brothers?"
"Adrian and Michael."
Emma held the letter.
"Was Michael my father?"
Margaret began crying.
"I didn't know."
Emma's breath caught.
"What do you mean?"
"I didn't know which one."
The room became silent.
Margaret covered her face.
"They were identical twins."
Emma stared at her.
Adrian and Michael Vale.
Identical twins.
Meaning every assumption based on photographs and old records could be wrong.
Then Margaret grabbed Emma's wrist.
"Thomas found out."
"How?"
"A blood test."
"Where is it?"
Margaret pointed toward her dresser.
Emma opened the drawer.
Nothing.
Margaret looked terrified.
"It was there."
Gabriel checked the window.
Unlocked.
Emma's phone vibrated.
A photograph arrived.
The missing DNA report.
Someone was holding it.
Underneath was a message:
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHICH BROTHER IS YOUR FATHER, COME ALONE.
Then another message appeared.
An address.
May you like
And beneath it, one name.
Michael Vale...
