Chapter 9 - THE BROTHER GABRIEL NEVER KNEW
Gabriel didn't believe her.
“My mother had one child.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
“My entire family history is public.”
“Victor controlled the public history.”
Gabriel looked at Daniel.
Daniel quietly said, “I've never heard anything about a brother.”
Elena pulled her coat tighter.
“His name was Anthony.”
Gabriel stared.
“He was born before you.”
“How much before?”
“Three years.”
“Why have I never seen one picture?”
“Because Victor erased him.”
The ambulances, police lights, smoke and shouting around us seemed to disappear.
Gabriel asked, “How did he die?”
Elena looked at Ethan.
“Not here.”
We returned to Romano estate just after sunrise.
The birthday decorations still covered the dining room.
Forty empty chairs surrounded the long table.
And at the far end—
Isabella's old chair.
The chair that started everything.
Gabriel stood behind it.
“Tell me.”
Elena sat.
Ethan stayed beside her.
Daniel sat with Lydia and Michael.
My mother held my hand.
Madison stood near the doorway, uncertain whether she belonged.
Gabriel noticed.
“Sit.”
She did.
Elena began.
“Anthony Romano was different from Victor.”
“How?”
“He wanted out.”
“Out of what?”
“The family business.”
Gabriel's face hardened.
“He was twenty-one in 1998. He'd been collecting evidence against Victor.”
Raymond's information later confirmed parts of it.
Anthony planned to go to federal authorities.
Isabella discovered what he was doing.
Gabriel whispered, “She stopped him.”
Elena nodded.
“She begged him not to testify.”
“Why?”
“Because she believed Victor would kill both sons before allowing the family to collapse.”
Gabriel almost laughed.
“So she protected my father.”
“At first.”
“What happened?”
“Anthony stole account records from Victor's office. Isabella confronted him in the garage.”
Elena's voice shook.
“They argued.”
Gabriel waited.
“Anthony tried to leave.”
“And?”
“Isabella grabbed his arm.”
Elena swallowed.
“He fell backward down the concrete stairs.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
“Accident.”
“Yes.”
“But she covered it up.”
“Yes.”
Victor made Anthony's death look like a boating accident.
The body was never recovered publicly because there was no boating accident.
Anthony had been buried in a private grave under another name.
Gabriel stared at the table.
“My mother helped him.”
“She was terrified.”
Gabriel's voice hardened.
“So was everyone. That's the excuse this family uses for everything.”
Elena lowered her eyes.
“You're right.”
That answer stopped him.
She continued.
“Anthony's death changed Isabella.”
“She suddenly developed a conscience?”
“No.”
Elena looked at him.
“She developed guilt.”
That was more honest.
Three years later, when Victor tried to destroy Elena and Gabriel, Isabella refused to repeat the same mistake.
She saved Elena because she couldn't save Anthony.
Gabriel walked toward the window.
I wanted to go to him.
I didn't.
Some grief requires room.
Ethan did what I couldn't.
He walked over and stood beside Gabriel.
Neither spoke.
Finally Gabriel said, “You had an uncle.”
Ethan nodded.
“Sounds like he tried to do the right thing.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“So did my mother eventually.”
“People can be more than the worst thing they did.”
Gabriel stared at his son.
“Your mother teach you that?”
“No.”
Ethan looked toward Elena.
“She taught me that sometimes people do terrible things because they're scared. Doesn't mean you pretend they weren't terrible.”
Gabriel nodded slowly.
A strange peace entered his face.
Not forgiveness.
Understanding.
Daniel interrupted gently.
“Federal agents will be here soon.”
Victor's arrest had triggered chaos.
Raymond was cooperating.
Records tied Victor to bribery, extortion, financial crimes, attempted murders and the disappearance of multiple witnesses.
Gabriel's legitimate companies would be investigated too.
He expected it.
“I'll open everything,” he said.
Madison stared.
“Everything?”
“Everything.”
Daniel warned, “That could cost you half your holdings.”
Gabriel looked around the mansion.
“So?”
Everyone seemed surprised.
Gabriel continued.
“My father spent his whole life deciding money was worth more than people.”
His gaze moved toward Ethan.
“I've already seen what that bought him.”
Federal interviews began by noon.
Gabriel turned over records voluntarily.
So did Madison.
Her information about Victor's recent operations earned her consideration from prosecutors, but she still faced questions about obstruction and financial activity.
Before leaving with her lawyer, she found me in the kitchen.
“I owe you an apology.”
I almost laughed.
“One?”
Madison gave a tired smile.
“Several.”
She looked at my wrist, where faint marks from the previous evening remained.
“I treated you horribly.”
“Yes.”
“I was jealous of you.”
That surprised me.
“Why?”
“Because Gabriel trusted you without you trying to earn it.”
She looked toward the study.
“I spent four years becoming exactly what Victor wanted so Gabriel would trust me.”
“And did you love him?”
“Yes.”
She wiped her eyes.
“Which might be the ugliest part.”
I didn't know whether I forgave her.
Maybe someday.
But I believed her.
Madison left.
That evening, Ethan prepared to leave too.
Gabriel found him near the front door.
“Where are you going?”
“My apartment.”
“You can stay.”
Ethan looked around the enormous foyer.
“I own three shirts.”
“We have closets.”
Ethan laughed.
Then his expression softened.
“I need time.”
Gabriel nodded.
“I understand.”
Ethan reached for the door.
Gabriel said, “Ethan.”
He turned.
Gabriel struggled with the words.
“You don't owe me anything.”
Ethan said nothing.
“I wasn't there.”
“You didn't know.”
“That doesn't change what you lived.”
Ethan looked at him for a long moment.
Then held out his phone.
“Put your number in.”
Gabriel stared.
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
“You're supposed to be intimidating. Don't make this weird.”
Gabriel took the phone.
Elena watched from the hallway with tears in her eyes.
For the first time, I thought maybe this broken family could become something else.
Then Daniel entered quickly.
“Gabriel.”
The tone changed everything.
“What?”
“We have a problem with the evidence.”
Gabriel turned.
“What problem?”
“The federal team opened Isabella's files.”
“And?”
“One file contains bank transfers from 2001 through 2014.”
“To Elena?”
“No.”
Daniel handed him a tablet.
Payments had gone to another person.
Every month.
For thirteen years.
Gabriel read the name.
His face changed.
“Who is she?”
Daniel looked toward Elena.
Elena seemed confused.
The recipient was:
SARAH WARD.
Ethan frowned.
“My grandmother?”
Elena shook her head.
“My mother's name was Diane.”
Gabriel scrolled.
The final payment included a notation.
For the child. Keep her away from Victor.
Ethan looked at Elena.
“What child?”
Elena went white.
“I don't know.”
Daniel opened a scanned photograph attached to the file.
A little girl.
Maybe five years old.
Dark hair.
Standing beside Isabella Romano.
On the back Isabella had written:
SOPHIE — GABRIEL'S DAUGHTER.
Nobody moved.
Gabriel stared at the picture.
Ethan slowly looked at his father.
“You have a daughter too?”
Gabriel whispered, “Apparently.”
Then Daniel enlarged the photograph.
My mother gasped.
I recognized the child.
Not because I'd seen her twenty years ago.
Because I had seen the same face every morning growing up.
May you like
The little girl in Isabella's photograph—
looked exactly like my younger sister, Claire.
