Chapter 6 - The Brother Who Never Disappeared
The message stayed on the screen.
DON’T TRUST GABRIEL.
For a few seconds, I forgot how to breathe.
Because those words weren’t from a stranger.
They were from my father.
The man I had spent seven years believing was gone.
The man whose voice I had forgotten.
The man who was suddenly appearing everywhere.
In photographs.
In hidden files.
In impossible messages.
And now his warning was the one thing standing between me and Gabriel Costa.
I looked at the man in front of me.
The same man who had saved Brutus.
The same man who had protected me.
The same man who had lied to me.
“Is it true?”
Gabriel didn’t answer.
That was enough.
My heart sank.
“Is it true, Gabriel?”
His eyes met mine.
“I don’t know what your father believed happened.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
The room became silent.
“I asked if you were responsible.”
His face changed.
Not anger.
Pain.
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
Too quickly.
I shook my head.
“You expect me to believe you?”
“I expect you to believe the evidence.”
“Then show me.”
Gabriel looked toward the computer.
The message was still there.
Your father’s warning.
His accusation.
His final words.
Gabriel walked closer to the desk.
“I spent seven years looking for the person who betrayed my brother.”
He opened another file.
“I thought it was someone inside my organization.”
The screen filled with documents.
Names.
Dates.
Locations.
Photographs.
Then one image appeared.
A man standing beside my father.
My blood turned cold.
Because I knew that face.
I had seen him before.
Not in real life.
In old family photographs.
“My uncle.”
The words escaped my mouth.
Gabriel looked at me.
“You recognize him?”
I nodded slowly.
“My mother’s brother.”
Elena stood up.
“What?”
I stared at the photograph.
“That’s impossible.”
Gabriel zoomed in.
The date appeared beneath the picture.
Six months before my father disappeared.
“He was involved.”
My hands shook.
“No.”
I stepped back.
“My family had nothing to do with this.”
Gabriel’s expression softened.
“Chloe…”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“Everyone keeps taking pieces of my life and turning them into secrets.”
Nobody spoke.
Because nobody could deny it.
Hours passed.
Nobody left the office.
The truth had become too dangerous to ignore.
Elena studied the documents.
“Your father discovered the connection between Luca and your uncle.”
I looked at her.
“Why would my uncle work with Gabriel’s brother?”
Nobody answered.
Then Gabriel said:
“Because Luca wasn’t trying to destroy my family.”
I looked at him.
“He was trying to save it.”
The room became quiet.
I frowned.
“You said he disappeared.”
“He did.”
“You said nobody knew what happened.”
“Yes.”
“Then how do you know this?”
Gabriel looked down.
“Because I found his final message.”
My heart stopped.
“You found him?”
“No.”
The sadness in his voice was real.
“I found what he left behind.”
He opened a small file.
Inside was a recording.
The audio quality was terrible.
Static.
Noise.
Then a man’s voice.
Luca.
Gabriel closed his eyes for a moment.
Like hearing that voice still hurt.
“If you’re listening to this, then I failed.”
The recording continued.
“Gabriel, you were always too loyal.”
A pause.
“You trusted the wrong people.”
My eyes moved toward Gabriel.
He didn’t react.
But his hands tightened.
Luca continued.
“The person who betrayed us isn’t outside the family.”
Static.
A deep breath.
“It’s inside.”
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
I looked at Gabriel.
“Who did he mean?”
He didn’t answer.
Because he didn’t know.
Or because he did.
I couldn’t tell anymore.
Later that night, I found Gabriel alone.
Standing outside on the balcony.
The city lights reflected in his eyes.
For the first time, he didn’t look like a mafia boss.
He looked like a man carrying too much.
“You should sleep.”
He didn’t turn around.
“Neither should you.”
I stood beside him.
“You knew my father before all this.”
“Yes.”
“Were you friends?”
A long pause.
“Yes.”
That answer surprised me.
“You never said that.”
“You never asked.”
I looked at him.
“I didn’t know there was anything to ask.”
His expression changed.
“My father hated yours.”
“Why?”
“Because my father believed your father was dangerous.”
I frowned.
“Was he?”
Gabriel looked at the city.
“No.”
The answer was quiet.
“Your father was one of the few people who told the truth.”
Something about that hurt.
Because it sounded like Gabriel respected him.
Maybe even loved him like family.
“What happened the night he disappeared?”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
“I was there.”
My body went still.
“You were there?”
“Yes.”
The air changed.
“Then tell me.”
His silence lasted too long.
“I arrived too late.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I found your father after the attack.”
My heart started racing.
“Was he alive?”
Gabriel looked at me.
“Yes.”
I froze.
“Then why did everyone say he died?”
“Because someone wanted him gone.”
“Who?”
Gabriel looked away.
“I don’t know.”
I almost laughed.
“You don’t know anything.”
The words hurt him.
I saw it.
But he accepted it.
Then he said something I never expected.
“Your father asked me not to save him.”
I stared.
“What?”
“He knew they were watching.”
“Why would he say that?”
“Because he knew if I took him with me, they would find you.”
I stopped.
“He chose to disappear.”
Gabriel nodded.
“He chose you.”
The anger inside me became something else.
Something painful.
Because if that was true...
my father hadn’t abandoned me.
He had protected me.
The next morning, Elena discovered something hidden inside the wooden box.
A second compartment.
Inside was a small piece of paper.
No message.
Only an address.
I recognized it immediately.
My childhood home.
The one my mother sold after my father died.
The one I hadn’t visited in years.
“Why would he leave this?”
Gabriel looked at the address.
“Because whatever he hid there was important.”
I grabbed my jacket.
“We’re going.”
Gabriel immediately shook his head.
“No.”
I looked at him.
“No?”
“It could be a trap.”
“My entire life has been a trap.”
“Chloe.”
“I’m going.”
He stared at me.
Then sighed.
“You’re impossible.”
“I know.”
A small smile appeared.
Only for a second.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
And his expression changed.
“What happened?”
He didn’t speak.
“Gabriel.”
He looked at me.
“Someone is already at your old house.”
My stomach dropped.
“Who?”
He turned the phone around.
A security image appeared.
A person standing outside the house.
The picture was blurry.
But clear enough.
I recognized the face.
Because I had seen it in my childhood.
In every family gathering.
In every photograph.
The person Gabriel had been searching for seven years.
The person everyone thought was missing.
My hand covered my mouth.
May you like
Because the man standing outside my old house was—
Luca Costa.
