Chapter 9 - The Last Secret Inside the Old Corso Tower
Paulie Mancuso stood inside the elevator.
Alive.
That was the first impossible thing.
The second was the look on his face.
Paulie was not scared.
Not confused.
Not injured.
He looked like a man who had been carrying a secret for years and finally decided he was tired of holding it.
The paper in his hand remained pressed against the elevator glass.
I KNOW EVERYTHING.
Nobody moved.
Gabriel stared at him.
The man who had driven him through storms, meetings, negotiations, and dangerous situations for six years.
The man who knew every route.
Every schedule.
Every habit.
The man Gabriel trusted enough to put his life in his hands.
And now he was standing inside a locked elevator after disappearing during an assassination attempt.
“Paulie.”
Gabriel’s voice was quiet.
But I heard the disappointment behind it.
The elevator doors stayed open.
Paulie looked at Gabriel through the glass.
Then slowly lowered the paper.
“I know how this looks.”
Victor immediately stepped forward.
“That’s because it looks like you were involved.”
Paulie looked at him.
A strange expression crossed his face.
Not anger.
Sadness.
“I was wondering how long it would take before everyone blamed the driver.”
Victor’s hand moved closer to his weapon.
Gabriel noticed.
“Don’t.”
Victor stopped.
Gabriel looked at Paulie.
“Open the door.”
The elevator did not move.
Paulie shook his head.
“Not yet.”
A pause.
“Not until you listen.”
Gabriel’s expression hardened.
“You disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“You allowed someone to attack my home.”
“No.”
“You were supposed to drive me.”
“Yes.”
“Then explain.”
Paulie looked down.
And for the first time, I saw something different.
Guilt.
Not the guilt of someone caught.
The guilt of someone who had failed.
“I was trying to stop it.”
The words surprised everyone.
Victor laughed once.
Coldly.
“You expect us to believe that?”
Paulie looked at him.
“You know better than anyone that Adrian Vale doesn’t make mistakes.”
Victor froze.
Because that name changed everything.
Paulie continued.
“He knew the garage would be watched.”
Gabriel narrowed his eyes.
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
Paulie looked away.
“Because I was protecting someone.”
The silence became heavier.
Gabriel stepped closer to the elevator.
“Who?”
Paulie looked at me.
My heart tightened.
“Clara.”
I felt everyone’s attention shift.
Again.
Always me.
“Why me?”
Paulie sighed.
“Because your father asked me to.”
The world stopped.
I stared at him.
“My father?”
Paulie nodded.
“Thomas Bennett.”
I couldn’t speak.
Gabriel looked at him.
“When did you meet Thomas?”
Paulie looked at the floor.
“Before you were old enough to know what was happening.”
A pause.
“Before you became Gabriel Corso.”
Gabriel’s expression changed.
“You knew my father.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Paulie looked up.
“I was his driver.”
Nobody spoke.
Because suddenly everything connected.
The old records.
The hidden files.
The forgotten names.
Everyone in this story had been connected before I even entered Gabriel’s world.
Paulie continued.
“Thomas Bennett wasn’t just someone who worked for your father.”
He looked at Gabriel.
“He was the reason your father discovered Adrian’s betrayal.”
Gabriel stared.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Paulie’s eyes lowered.
“Because Thomas made me promise.”
A pause.
“He said if Adrian ever returned, you would need to find the truth yourself.”
Gabriel’s voice became colder.
“My father knew this would happen?”
“Yes.”
The answer hit hard.
“He knew Adrian would come back.”
“Yes.”
“And he knew Clara would be involved.”
Paulie looked at me.
“Yes.”
My chest tightened.
“No.”
Everyone looked at me.
I shook my head.
“My father knew about Gabriel?”
Paulie nodded.
“He knew you would eventually meet him.”
“How?”
“Because he planned it.”
The words felt impossible.
My father.
Planning my future.
Planning my career.
Planning my connection to Gabriel Corso.
I felt anger rise.
Not sadness.
Anger.
“You’re telling me my father controlled my life?”
Paulie looked at me.
“No.”
His voice softened.
“He protected your life.”
I looked away.
Because I wanted to reject it.
I wanted to be angry.
It was easier.
Anger was simple.
Truth was not.
Gabriel stepped closer.
“What did Thomas leave?”
Paulie reached into his coat.
Everyone reacted instantly.
But he slowly pulled out a small metal key.
Old.
Worn.
With a number engraved on it.
My eyes narrowed.
“The file.”
Paulie nodded.
“The real one.”
Victor looked at the key.
“Where?”
Paulie looked at Gabriel.
“Your father’s old office.”
The old Corso Tower.
The place we were already planning to go.
The place where everything began.
Gabriel took the key.
“What happened to the original records?”
Paulie answered quietly.
“Your father hid them before Adrian could find them.”
“Where?”
Paulie looked at me.
“In the only place Adrian would never search.”
I frowned.
“Where?”
Paulie’s answer made my blood run cold.
“Your father’s own memories.”
Nobody understood.
Until Paulie explained.
“Thomas created a system.”
“A backup.”
“Not digital.”
“Not something someone could hack.”
He looked at me.
“He hid the final message inside something only you would recognize.”
I stared.
“What?”
Paulie reached into his pocket again.
This time he pulled out a small photograph.
An old photograph.
Me.
As a child.
Standing beside my father outside his repair shop.
But there was something different.
I had never seen this picture before.
On the back was handwriting.
My father’s handwriting.
I turned it over.
Three words.
LOOK UNDER HOME.
I frowned.
“Home?”
Paulie nodded.
“Your childhood house.”
My heart sank.
“That house was sold years ago.”
“Yes.”
“Then how?”
Paulie looked at Gabriel.
“Because Adrian bought it.”
The room became silent.
Gabriel’s face darkened.
“He bought Clara’s childhood home?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Paulie answered:
“Because he was searching for the same thing you are.”
The truth.
The evidence.
The final secret.
Gabriel looked toward the elevator.
“We’re going.”
Victor nodded.
“I’ll prepare transport.”
“No.”
Everyone looked at Gabriel.
He looked at me.
“This time, we don’t follow the obvious path.”
I understood.
Adrian expected us to go to the tower.
He wanted us there.
The old office.
The hidden file.
The memories.
Everything was a stage.
“Then where?”
Gabriel looked at the photograph.
At the words my father left behind.
LOOK UNDER HOME.
“We go where Adrian thinks we won’t.”
Paulie looked confused.
“Where?”
Gabriel answered.
“Clara’s old house.”
A silence followed.
Because suddenly, the entire night changed.
The tower was not the destination.
It was the distraction.
Adrian wanted us chasing the past.
But my father had hidden the truth somewhere else.
Somewhere personal.
Somewhere emotional.
Somewhere only I would think to look.
The elevator doors finally opened completely.
Paulie stepped out.
Gabriel looked at him.
“One question.”
Paulie stopped.
“Why come now?”
Paulie looked at me.
Then at Gabriel.
“Because Adrian made his final move tonight.”
A pause.
“And because Thomas told me something before he died.”
My breath caught.
“What?”
Paulie looked directly at me.
“He said…”
His voice became quiet.
“If Clara ever meets Gabriel Corso, it means the enemy has already found them.”
The rain outside grew louder.
Gabriel’s expression changed.
“Found them?”
Paulie nodded.
“Not found Clara.”
A pause.
“Found both of you.”
The lights flickered.
Then every screen in the penthouse turned on again.
Adrian Vale appeared.
But this time, he wasn’t alone.
Standing beside him was another person.
Someone we had not expected.
Someone from Gabriel’s past.
Someone who had been helping him all along.
Gabriel froze.
Because the person beside Adrian was the last person he ever expected to betray him.
Victor whispered:
“No…”
The screen displayed one final message.
THE REAL ENEMY WAS NEVER OUTSIDE THE FAMILY.
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And beneath it:
IT WAS INSIDE THE ROOM.
