Chapter 9
Gavin did not shout.
That frightened Sybil more.
He simply took the photograph and sat.
“My father.”
“Yes.”
“Alive.”
“Yes.”
“You spoke every year.”
“Yes.”
“Did he know I married Brenna?”
“Yes.”
“Did he tell you to push me toward revenge?”
“No.”
“Then?”
Sybil covered her face.
“He told me to keep you away from the Morettis.”
Gavin laughed.
“I married one.”
“I know.”
“What happened?”
“You stopped listening to me.”
“So you started feeding me stories about Dad’s murder.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought if you hated Rocco enough, you would eventually leave Brenna.”
Brenna stood across the room.
Sybil looked at her.
“I was wrong.”
Brenna’s expression was cold.
“You were cruel.”
“Yes.”
“To Tobin.”
Sybil’s face broke.
“Yes.”
No forgiveness.
Not yet.
Gavin looked at Tobin.
“You saw Grandpa Nolan?”
The boy nodded.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
Everyone froze.
“Where?”
“At home.”
Gavin’s face changed.
“He was inside the house.”
Tobin nodded.
“He gave Elliot candy.”
Rocco looked toward Sybil.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“You were there.”
“I never saw him.”
Tobin interrupted.
“Grandma talked to him.”
Sybil went white.
Rocco’s voice lowered.
“Tobin.”
The child hugged his shark.
“Yes?”
“What did Grandma call the man?”
Tobin thought.
“Nolan.”
Gavin stood.
His chair fell backward.
Sybil whispered:
“I can explain.”
He looked at her.
“Please.”
“I didn’t know he was coming.”
“You spoke to him.”
“He appeared.”
“And you said nothing.”
“He told me Aldo would kill Elliot if anyone knew.”
Gavin laughed bitterly.
“So Dad took Elliot.”
“Yes.”
“To protect him.”
“Yes.”
Rocco closed his eyes.
That word again.
Gavin looked at his mother.
“Where did Dad take Celeste?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did she give him the music box?”
“Yes.”
Brenna stared.
Sybil continued.
“Nolan said it belonged with the third key.”
Rocco’s face hardened.
“He has Enzo’s fox?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“He knows where Enzo is.”
Silence.
Rocco stepped closer.
“Your husband has been hunting my brother.”
Sybil shook her head.
“No.”
“What do you call it?”
“He wants to bring him in.”
“For Aldo?”
“No.”
“For who?”
Sybil looked terrified.
That interested Rocco.
“Nolan said Aldo is only one blade.”
Rocco waited.
“The hand holding it is Moretti.”
Silence.
Rocco stared.
“Name.”
“He wouldn’t tell me.”
Gavin laughed.
“Convenient.”
Sybil turned toward him.
“I swear.”
“Stop swearing.”
His voice cracked.
“You taught me Dad was dead.”
“You taught me Rocco killed him.”
“You taught me this marriage could avenge him.”
Then he looked at Brenna.
“And I let you.”
Brenna said nothing.
Gavin’s anger turned inward.
That was new.
Rocco watched.
Gavin looked at him.
“If Nolan took Elliot, I’m finding him.”
Rocco nodded.
“I’m coming.”
“You don’t trust me.”
“No.”
“Good.”
That surprised Rocco.
Gavin continued.
“I don’t trust me either right now.”
They traced Nolan not through phones or records, but through an old Ashford habit.
Sybil remembered Nolan hated hotels.
Whenever he traveled, he slept in church guesthouses or hunting cabins.
Near the Moretti lands stood one place Nolan once loved.
An abandoned fishing lodge along Blackwater Lake.
They arrived before midnight.
No guards visible.
Rocco hated that.
Inside, a fire burned.
Celeste sat beside Elliot.
Both alive.
Nolan Ashford stood near the fireplace.
Sixty-one.
Gray hair.
Harder face.
Gavin stopped in the doorway.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Nolan whispered:
“Son.”
Gavin crossed the room.
Hit him.
Once.
Nolan took it.
Gavin hit him again.
Celeste pulled Elliot away.
Rocco did not interfere.
Third punch.
Nolan staggered.
Gavin raised his hand again.
Then stopped.
Tears filled his eyes.
“You let me bury you.”
Nolan nodded.
“Yes.”
“You spoke to Mom.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me marry Brenna.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you come?”
Nolan looked at Rocco.
“Because he was right.”
Gavin laughed bitterly.
“About what?”
“That if I returned before we knew who Aldo served, everyone around me would become bait.”
Gavin looked toward Elliot.
“And now?”
May you like
Nolan’s face darkened.
“Now the bait is already in the room.”
