Chapter 6 - The Life He Thought Was Gone
Penelope had never met Gabriel’s sister.
Until that moment, she had not even known he had one.
“Elena lives in London,” Gabriel said as Vincent’s team prepared the cars. “She has nothing to do with any of this.”
“Then why is she here?” Penelope asked.
Gabriel looked furious.
“I don’t know.”
Dominic checked his phone.
“Her flight landed yesterday.”
“And nobody told me?”
“She used her married name.”
Gabriel cursed.
Carlo had taken Elena to an abandoned Moretti shipping facility along the Hudson.
He wanted Gabriel there.
Alone.
“That won’t happen,” Vincent said.
Gabriel checked the pistol beneath his jacket.
“He has my sister.”
“And he wants you angry.”
“He succeeded.”
Penelope stood in front of his wheelchair.
“You’re not going alone.”
Gabriel stared.
“This is not a negotiation.”
“Good. Because I wasn’t negotiating.”
“You are staying here.”
“Gabriel—”
“You are the reason he believes he can control me now.”
The words landed harder than he intended.
Penelope stepped back.
Gabriel saw it instantly.
“That is not what I meant.”
“It sounded pretty clear.”
“He threatened you because you matter.”
“Then say that instead.”
Gabriel closed his eyes briefly.
“You matter.”
The room became quiet.
Vincent suddenly found his phone fascinating.
Dominic looked away.
Gabriel continued.
“You matter enough that I cannot think clearly when someone threatens you.”
Penelope’s anger softened.
“Welcome to caring about people.”
“I dislike it.”
“I noticed.”
He touched her hand.
“Stay here.”
She wanted to argue.
But this was his sister.
His fight.
“Come back.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“I intend to.”
The convoy left.
Penelope lasted nineteen minutes.
Then she discovered Dominic was still in the mansion.
“Aren’t you going?”
“My knees are sixty-three years old.”
“You’re his lawyer.”
“Yes. Not Batman.”
Penelope paced.
Dominic poured coffee.
She stared at him.
“What?”
“You’re drinking coffee.”
“Yes.”
“In this house?”
“Gabriel only banned yours.”
Penelope almost smiled.
Then something occurred to her.
“How did Carlo know I arrived that first day?”
Dominic paused.
“What?”
“The cameras were accessed from Carlo’s house.”
“Yes.”
“But he needed to know when to look.”
Dominic remained still.
Penelope’s mind moved faster.
“How did he know Elena flew in under her married name?”
Dominic’s eyes changed.
Very slightly.
Enough.
Penelope stopped breathing.
“You knew.”
Dominic set down the cup.
“Penelope.”
“You told him.”
“Listen to me.”
She backed away.
Dominic reached into his jacket.
Penelope grabbed a heavy silver serving tray.
“If that’s a gun, I swear I will make this extremely embarrassing.”
Dominic slowly removed his phone.
“Not a gun.”
“Put it down.”
He did.
“You gave Carlo information.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he had something on me.”
“What?”
Dominic’s face aged ten years.
“My son.”
Penelope stared.
“He’s twenty-four. Gambling. Drugs. Carlo covered his debts, then used them.”
“Did you know Carlo planned Luca’s murder?”
“No.”
“Gabriel?”
“No.”
“Are you lying?”
“No.”
Penelope wanted to believe him.
But she had learned something inside the Moretti world.
Everyone had secrets.
“I gave him schedules,” Dominic said. “Guest lists. Nothing I believed could kill anyone.”
“But it did.”
His eyes filled with shame.
“Yes.”
Penelope picked up her phone.
“I’m calling Gabriel.”
Dominic moved.
She raised the tray.
“Don’t.”
“He cannot know until Elena is safe.”
“Why?”
“Because Carlo expects betrayal. If Gabriel changes the plan now, Carlo may panic.”
Penelope hesitated.
Dominic was right.
She hated that.
“What do we do?”
Dominic looked toward the clock.
“We wait.”
At the warehouse, Gabriel rolled into darkness.
Carlo stood beneath a hanging industrial lamp.
Elena sat nearby, wrists tied, furious rather than frightened.
“Gabriel,” she said. “I told you not to come alone.”
Gabriel almost smiled.
“You sound like Penelope.”
“Who?”
Carlo laughed.
“The nurse.”
Gabriel’s eyes hardened.
“Let Elena go.”
Carlo walked forward.
He was sixty-eight, silver-haired, elegant.
He looked like the uncle from Gabriel’s childhood.
That somehow made it worse.
“Luca was weak,” Carlo said.
Gabriel’s jaw tightened.
“He wanted to leave the family.”
“So you killed him?”
“He would have talked eventually.”
“He was your nephew.”
“He was a liability.”
Gabriel’s hand moved toward his jacket.
Carlo raised a remote control.
“Careful.”
Gabriel stopped.
“Explosives?”
“Insurance.”
Elena muttered, “He’s bluffing.”
Carlo smiled.
“She always was clever.”
Gabriel looked around.
Vincent’s teams waited outside.
But Carlo had chosen the warehouse carefully.
One wrong move could kill Elena.
“What do you want?”
“Control.”
“You already have money.”
“This was never about money.”
Carlo’s face twisted.
“Your father handed everything to you.”
“I was his son.”
“You were thirty-one.”
“And?”
“I spent forty years building this family.”
“So you murdered Luca and shot me because you wanted my chair?”
Carlo laughed.
“Interesting choice of words.”
Gabriel’s eyes turned cold.
“You know what your mistake was?”
Carlo raised an eyebrow.
“You thought the chair made me smaller.”
Gabriel’s voice became quiet.
“It did not.”
A red laser appeared on Carlo’s chest.
Then another.
Vincent’s men.
Carlo’s face changed.
He lifted the remote.
Elena kicked his knee.
Carlo stumbled.
Gabriel fired.
The bullet struck Carlo’s shoulder.
The remote fell.
Vincent’s team stormed the building.
Within seconds, Carlo was on the ground.
Elena was free.
Gabriel rolled toward his uncle.
Carlo laughed through the pain.
“You should kill me.”
Gabriel looked down at him.
Six months of rage burned inside him.
Luca.
The bullet.
The chair.
The nights waking unable to move his legs.
He could end it.
One shot.
Instead Gabriel lowered the gun.
“No.”
Carlo sneered.
“Soft.”
Gabriel thought of Penelope laughing about roses.
“No.”
He handed the weapon to Vincent.
“Different.”
Back at the mansion, Penelope’s phone rang.
Gabriel.
She answered immediately.
“Elena’s safe.”
Penelope closed her eyes.
“Thank God.”
“Carlo is alive.”
“I’m glad.”
A pause.
“I’m coming home.”
Home.
The word affected her more than it should have.
Then Dominic whispered behind her.
“I’m sorry.”
Penelope turned.
He was holding a gun.
Not at her.
At himself.
“Dominic.”
“My son is dead.”
Her blood ran cold.
“What?”
“Carlo sent me a photo.”
Dominic’s hand shook.
“He killed him yesterday.”
Penelope moved carefully.
“Give me the gun.”
“I did this for nothing.”
“Dominic.”
“Luca is dead because of me.”
“No.”
“I gave Carlo the restaurant schedule.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I should have.”
Penelope’s voice softened.
“So now you’re going to make Gabriel bury another person he trusted?”
Dominic’s face crumpled.
“Put it down.”
His hand shook harder.
“Please.”
Slowly, Dominic lowered the gun.
Penelope moved forward and took it.
Then the front doors opened.
Gabriel entered.
He saw Penelope.
Saw Dominic.
Saw the gun in her hand.
His face transformed.
“What happened?”
Dominic began confessing.
Everything.
Gabriel listened without interrupting.
When it ended, he looked devastated rather than angry.
“Get out.”
Dominic nodded.
“I understand.”
“No.”
Gabriel rolled closer.
“You don’t.”
His voice shook.
“You spend the rest of your life remembering my brother because you owe him that.”
Dominic’s eyes filled.
“Gabriel—”
“Leave.”
Dominic did.
The mansion became silent.
Penelope walked toward Gabriel.
“It’s over.”
He shook his head.
“Carlo will go to prison.”
“I know.”
“Elena is safe.”
“I know.”
“Then what?”
Gabriel looked at her.
“I spent six months wanting revenge.”
“And now?”
“Now I don’t know who I am without it.”
Penelope knelt before him.
“Maybe you get to decide.”
Gabriel touched her cheek.
She leaned into his palm.
His eyes searched hers.
“Penelope.”
“Yes?”
“I have wanted to do something incredibly irresponsible for several weeks.”
She smiled.
“That narrows it down surprisingly little.”
Gabriel pulled her gently closer.
Then he kissed her.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Nothing dramatic.
Nothing desperate.
Just the first honest thing either of them had allowed themselves in weeks.
When they separated, Penelope rested her forehead against his.
“You realize I’m technically your caregiver.”
“Then I fire you.”
Her eyes widened.
“That is not romantic.”
“I’ll rehire you tomorrow.”
“No.”
Gabriel smiled.
A real smile.
“I suppose we’ll negotiate.”
May you like
Outside the study windows, morning light began spreading across the rose garden.
And for the first time since Luca died, Gabriel Moretti looked toward the future instead of the past.
