Chapter 13 - GABRIEL
They found the passage before sunrise.
Not deep.
A stone slab beneath six inches of soil.
The tunnel ran north from the estate.
Farther than any route they had discovered.
Alessio entered with Damian.
Claudia remained with the girls.
This time she did not argue.
Not because she was afraid.
Because Evelyn had asked her to stay.
That mattered more.
The passage ended nearly a mile away beneath the ruins of the old family chapel.
A lantern burned inside.
Someone expected them.
Alessio climbed the final stairs.
A man stood near the broken altar.
Tall.
Broad.
Gray through the beard.
Seventeen years older than the brother Alessio remembered.
But brothers do not need photographs.
Gabriel turned.
Neither man spoke.
Damian stayed below.
This belonged to them first.
Gabriel smiled.
“Little brother.”
Alessio hit him.
Gabriel expected it.
He still staggered.
Then laughed.
“There he is.”
Alessio grabbed his coat.
“Serena.”
The laughter disappeared.
“Alive when I took her.”
“For how long?”
“Four days.”
“Did you kill her?”
“No.”
“Where did she die?”
Gabriel looked toward the ruined altar.
“I don’t know if she did.”
Silence.
Alessio released him.
“What did you say?”
“I lost her.”
“Explain.”
Gabriel sat slowly.
“After the crash, I pulled Serena out.”
“Who caused it?”
“Men using my thorn.”
“Yours?”
“No.”
“Gardener.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Gabriel stared at him.
“I still don’t know.”
Alessio almost attacked him again.
Gabriel raised a hand.
“Listen.”
Alessio remained standing.
“Serena was hurt. Not dying.”
Hope was more painful than grief.
Gabriel continued.
“I moved her to a safe house.”
“Where?”
“Outside the city.”
“Who knew?”
“Me. Benedict. One medic.”
“Damian?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
“Serena refused to stay hidden.”
That sounded like her.
“She wanted to contact you.”
“Why didn’t she?”
“Because the Gardener proved he could reach Ruby.”
Alessio’s jaw tightened.
“A photograph arrived.”
“What photograph?”
“Ruby asleep.”
A chill passed through him.
Taken inside the estate.
“Serena understood.”
Gabriel’s voice became quiet.
“If she returned, Ruby became the leverage.”
“What did she do?”
“She left.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
“You let an injured woman leave?”
“I tried to stop her.”
“And?”
Gabriel almost smiled.
“You married her. You know how well that went.”
Alessio hated the memory of affection it produced.
“Where did she go?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me—”
“She knocked me unconscious.”
Alessio stared.
Gabriel touched an old scar near his temple.
“With a lamp.”
Despite everything, Alessio almost laughed.
Serena.
Absolutely Serena.
“When you woke?”
“Gone.”
“Any message?”
“One.”
“What?”
“Protect Ruby. Don’t trust the garden.”
Alessio frowned.
“The garden?”
Gabriel nodded.
“She didn’t mean flowers.”
“The Gardener.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you tell Damian she was brave?”
“Because I thought she was dead.”
“Why?”
“Two days later, I found her coat by the river.”
“Body?”
“No.”
“Then why assume?”
“Blood.”
Gabriel looked away.
“A lot.”
Still no body.
Still no certainty.
Alessio felt hope becoming dangerous.
He forced it down.
“Why come back now?”
Gabriel looked at him.
“Because the Gardener started using my name again.”
“Claudia.”
“Threats. Black roses. Old routes.”
“Why?”
“To make you hunt me.”
“And you let it happen.”
“I was trying to find him through whoever followed you.”
Alessio laughed coldly.
“So Sophie became bait.”
Gabriel’s expression hardened.
“No.”
“Your symbol appeared around my daughter.”
“Not by me.”
“You watched?”
“Yes.”
“You could have come to me.”
Gabriel stood.
“And say what? Hello, Alessio. Father tried to murder me, your wife may have survived, someone inside your house has been using my network for fifteen years?”
“Yes.”
Gabriel smiled bitterly.
“You would have killed me before the second sentence.”
Alessio could not deny it.
That silence said enough.
Gabriel moved closer.
“I came back once before.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“Damian saw you?”
“No.”
“Who?”
Gabriel’s face changed.
“Serena.”
Alessio stared.
“Before she started investigating?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to see you.”
“And?”
“I saw Ruby.”
She would have been a newborn.
“I saw Serena.”
“What happened?”
“She recognized me.”
“How?”
“Family photographs.”
Gabriel laughed faintly.
“Your wife pointed a gun at me before she said hello.”
Again.
Serena.
“Then?”
“She listened.”
“To what?”
“Everything.”
Alessio’s chest tightened.
Serena had carried this alone for three years.
Gabriel continued.
“She said the Gardener was probably inside your family.”
“Blood?”
“Maybe.”
“Claudia?”
“No.”
“Damian?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Then who?”
Gabriel looked toward the chapel door.
“Someone who inherited Dominic Vale’s access.”
“Damian is Dominic’s son.”
“Yes.”
“Yet you don’t suspect him?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Gabriel smiled.
“Because Dominic had another child.”
Alessio went still.
“Who?”
“A daughter.”
“Name.”
May you like
Gabriel looked at him.
“Serena.”
