Chapter 7 - The Truth Behind Elena’s Last Night
The room felt smaller after Marcus spoke those words.
Not because the walls had moved.
Not because anyone had stepped closer.
But because the truth had finally entered.
And once the truth arrived, nobody could pretend anymore.
Elena Gambino had not died by accident.
She had been murdered.
Simon stood completely still.
The kind of stillness Natasha had learned to recognize.
It was not calm.
It was the moment before something broke.
Everyone in New York knew Simon Gambino as a man who never lost control.
A man who could walk into any situation and make everyone else nervous.
But Natasha saw something nobody else saw.
A husband.
A husband who had spent three months believing he failed to save his wife.
A father who had spent every night wondering if he could have done something differently.
And now he had discovered that the pain he carried was built on a lie.
“Who?”
Simon’s voice was quiet.
Too quiet.
Marcus looked at him.
“I don’t know.”
The answer changed the atmosphere immediately.
Simon took one step forward.
“You’re telling me my wife was murdered, and you don’t know by who?”
Marcus did not move.
“I’m telling you Elena was smarter than anyone realized.”
Simon’s eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
Marcus looked at the letter on the table.
“It means she knew someone was watching her.”
Natasha listened carefully.
Because this was the first time someone had spoken about Elena as more than a victim.
“She started collecting information,” Marcus continued.
“About what?”
“About the people around her.”
Simon’s expression hardened.
“You mean my family.”
Marcus nodded.
“Yes.”
A painful silence followed.
Because everyone understood the implication.
Someone close to them.
Someone trusted.
Someone who had access.
Natasha looked at the twins sleeping peacefully in the next room.
“Why didn’t Elena tell Simon?”
Marcus looked at her.
“Because she was afraid.”
Simon immediately reacted.
“My wife wasn’t afraid of anything.”
Marcus gave him a sad look.
“You knew Elena as your wife.”
A pause.
“I knew her as someone trying to protect you.”
Those words hit harder than any accusation.
Simon looked away.
Marcus continued.
“She knew how you reacted when someone threatened your family.”
Natasha understood.
Elena knew Simon.
She knew he would not investigate quietly.
She knew he would destroy everything in his way.
“She thought you would make a mistake,” Marcus said.
Simon’s jaw tightened.
“She thought I couldn’t handle the truth.”
“No.”
Marcus shook his head.
“She thought you would sacrifice yourself trying to fix it.”
The room went silent.
Because maybe that was exactly what Simon would have done.
Natasha watched him.
For the first time, she realized Elena had understood him better than anyone.
Even better than Simon understood himself.
“What happened that night?” Simon asked.
Marcus looked down.
“The night Elena died?”
“Yes.”
Marcus took a deep breath.
“She called me.”
Simon froze.
“When?”
“Two hours before she was found.”
The room changed.
Natasha noticed immediately.
Simon’s hands tightened.
“What did she say?”
Marcus looked at him.
“She said she had proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That someone inside your organization was moving money.”
Simon stared.
“Money?”
Marcus nodded.
“And information.”
“Information about what?”
Marcus looked toward the nursery.
“The children.”
A cold feeling moved through Natasha.
Everything connected.
The device.
The records.
The monitoring.
Someone had been watching the twins.
But why?
Marcus continued.
“Elena believed someone wanted control over the Gambino family.”
Simon’s voice became darker.
“Who?”
Marcus hesitated.
Then:
“Your uncle.”
The words landed like a shock.
Simon stepped back slightly.
“My uncle died years ago.”
“Yes.”
Natasha looked confused.
“Then how?”
Marcus looked at Simon.
“He didn’t act alone.”
The room became silent again.
Simon understood before anyone else.
“Someone inherited his plans.”
Marcus nodded.
“Someone younger.”
“Someone inside my family.”
“Yes.”
Simon looked toward the city outside.
For years, he had believed enemies attacked him from outside.
Rivals.
Competitors.
People who wanted what he had built.
But Elena had discovered something worse.
Someone wearing the same name.
Someone sitting at the same tables.
Someone calling themselves family.
Natasha watched Simon carefully.
“What do we do now?”
Everyone looked at her.
Simon included.
It was strange.
A few weeks ago, she had been a waitress.
Someone nobody important noticed.
Now she was standing in the middle of one of the most dangerous family conflicts in New York.
But she did not feel like she belonged there.
She felt like she was exactly where she needed to be.
Simon answered.
“We find the person responsible.”
Marcus shook his head.
“Carefully.”
Simon looked at him.
“You’re telling me to be careful?”
“Yes.”
A pause.
“Because whoever did this has been waiting for you to react emotionally.”
Simon said nothing.
Because again…
They were right.
Natasha stepped closer.
“You need evidence.”
Simon looked at her.
“You sound like Elena.”
She smiled slightly.
“I’m starting to think that’s a compliment.”
For the first time in days, Simon almost smiled.
Almost.
Then his phone rang.
Everyone immediately became alert.
Simon answered.
“Yes?”
A voice spoke on the other end.
Natasha could not hear the words.
But she saw Simon’s expression change.
“What do you mean missing?”
Silence.
Then:
“Since when?”
Another pause.
Simon ended the call.
Marcus immediately asked:
“What happened?”
Simon looked at them.
“Someone accessed Elena’s old storage unit.”
Natasha frowned.
“Storage unit?”
Simon nodded.
“My wife kept personal things there.”
Marcus’s face changed.
“Elena never told me about a storage unit.”
Simon looked at him.
“Exactly.”
That meant something.
Something important.
Within thirty minutes, they arrived.
The storage facility was old and quiet.
Not the kind of place anyone would expect someone like Elena Gambino to use.
Simon walked ahead.
Security surrounded him.
But Natasha noticed something.
He was nervous.
Not afraid.
Nervous.
Because this was not about danger.
This was about memories.
The door opened.
Inside were boxes.
Photographs.
Old books.
Small personal items.
Pieces of Elena’s life.
Simon stepped inside slowly.
He touched a framed picture.
Elena smiling.
The woman who had changed him.
The woman he lost.
Then Natasha noticed something.
A box in the corner.
Different from the others.
Newer.
Locked.
“Simon.”
He looked over.
She pointed.
He walked toward it.
The lock was broken.
Someone had already opened it.
Inside was a small recorder.
And a handwritten note.
Simon picked it up.
The handwriting was Elena’s.
Only three words.
For my husband.
His hands shook slightly.
Natasha watched him press play.
At first, there was only silence.
Then Elena’s voice filled the room.
“Simon…”
Everyone froze.
Her voice.
After three months.
Her voice.
“If you’re hearing this, then something happened to me.”
Simon closed his eyes.
Natasha saw the pain on his face.
“I need you to listen carefully.”
Elena continued.
“Do not trust the person who tells you they were protecting me.”
A pause.
“Because they were the reason I was afraid.”
Simon opened his eyes.
The recording continued.
“The person closest to us is not trying to destroy your family.”
A pause.
“They are trying to replace it.”
The message ended.
Silence returned.
But this time, it was different.
Because now they had something they never had before.
Proof.
A clue.
A direction.
Simon stared at the recorder.
Then slowly looked at Natasha.
“The person who killed Elena…”
His voice was barely audible.
“They’re still here.”
Natasha looked at him.
“And now they know we’re looking.”
Outside the storage facility, a car engine started.
Someone was watching.
Someone had followed them.
May you like
And as Simon Gambino held the final message from the woman he loved, the enemy hiding inside his family made the first move.
The hunt had begun.
