Chapter 5 - Bianca Wasn't the Mistress Gabriel Thought She Was
Bianca arrived at the safe house under guard.
She wasn't wearing perfume.
No makeup.
No expensive clothes.
She looked exhausted.
Gabriel stared at her.
“You used me.”
“Yes.”
“You were reporting to Victor.”
“Yes.”
“You helped my wife disappear?”
“No.”
“Then why was your phone in the SUV?”
“Because Victor wanted you to think I was responsible.”
She looked at Norah.
“He told me Norah was going to kill you.”
Gabriel laughed bitterly.
“You believed him?”
“I believed everything he said.”
“Why?”
“Because my younger brother owed him money.”
That softened nothing.
But it explained the fear.
Bianca told them Marcus Vale had been handling Victor's finances.
Marcus knew about Project Harbor.
He knew about the children.
He knew why Victor wanted them.
“The twins are legally entitled to shares of the Costa family holdings,” Bianca said.
Gabriel frowned.
“That makes no sense.”
“Your father changed the succession documents before his death.”
Gabriel went still.
“Why?”
“Because he knew Victor would try to take control.”
The documents gave Gabriel's children ownership of protected trust assets.
But only if they remained alive.
And if Gabriel died, control would temporarily pass to Marcus.
So the twins weren't just children.
They were the legal barrier between Victor and billions of dollars.
Gabriel looked at Norah.
“They're targets because of inheritance.”
Norah nodded.
“It explains why they wanted me alive too.”
Bianca continued.
“There is more.”
She handed Gabriel a flash drive.
“Marcus isn't loyal to Victor.”
“Then who?”
Bianca's face changed.
“Someone above him.”
The name made Norah gasp.
“Peter Sloane.”
Gabriel knew it.
A federal prosecutor.
One of the most respected men in Chicago.
He had spent years publicly opposing organized crime.
Bianca revealed that Sloane had secretly used Project Harbor to identify corrupt officials.
He wasn't necessarily working with Victor.
But he had been using the archive for years.
That meant someone inside law enforcement knew everything.
Gabriel didn't know whether Sloane was ally or enemy.
He needed proof.
He turned to Norah.
“What do you want to do?”
She looked at the twins.
“Take them somewhere no one knows.”
Gabriel nodded.
“I know a place.”
It was an old lake house in Michigan.
No records tied to the Costa family.
No security cameras.
No employees.
Just a small cabin and the lake.
For three days, they stayed there.
For the first time, Gabriel learned what domestic life really felt like.
He changed diapers.
He woke for midnight feedings.
He held his daughter when she cried.
He learned that his son hated being swaddled.
Norah watched him.
Sometimes with suspicion.
Sometimes with tenderness.
One evening, they stood together by the fireplace.
“You're different with them.”
Gabriel looked at the twins.
“I don't know how to explain it.”
“You don't have to.”
He looked at her.
“I should have been here.”
“Yes.”
“I can't get those hours back.”
“No.”
He swallowed.
“I won't waste another one.”
Norah's expression softened.
She stepped closer.
Gabriel touched her hand.
She didn't pull away.
He almost kissed her.
Instead, he stopped.
“I won't rush you.”
She looked at him.
“Thank you.”
Then the cabin lights went out.
Gabriel immediately reached for his weapon.
A vehicle had stopped outside.
Someone knocked.
Three slow knocks.
Luca's voice came through the radio.
“Boss, I didn't send anyone.”
Gabriel placed Norah behind him.
Another knock.
Then a woman's voice.
“Gabriel.”
Elena.
His mother.
He opened the door.
She stood there alive.
But behind her was Marcus Vale.
He smiled.
“Hello, cousin.”
Gabriel pointed his weapon.
“You're Victor's son.”
“Yes.”
“Where is Victor?”
Marcus smiled.
“Dead.”
Silence.
“What?”
“Your uncle had a heart attack two hours ago.”
Gabriel didn't believe him.
Marcus continued.
“He left everything to me.”
“That isn't possible.”
“Unless you can prove the trust documents were changed.”
Gabriel frowned.
“They were.”
Marcus smiled.
“Exactly.”
He looked at the twins.
“So now we have a problem.”
Norah stepped forward.
“No.”
Marcus's smile disappeared.
“I don't care about the money.”
“Then what do you want?”
He looked at Gabriel.
“Your father.”
Gabriel's face hardened.
“My father's dead.”
Marcus shook his head.
“Not the man.”
“The legacy.”
He placed a file on the table.
Inside were documents proving Project Harbor had been designed to destroy the Costa family from within.
Gabriel read them.
His father had planned to hand over the entire organization to federal investigators.
But someone stopped him.
Someone close.
Someone still alive.
The final signature was on the last page.
Elena Costa.
Gabriel looked at his mother.
“Mom?”
She began to cry.
“I was trying to save you.”
Marcus smiled.
“She helped your father fake his death once.”
Gabriel's world shifted again.
His father had survived the crash.
For months.
Then disappeared.
Gabriel had spent nine years believing his father was dead.
Now he wasn't sure.
“Where is he?”
Marcus leaned forward.
“That's the question, isn't it?”
May you like
Then he said something that made everyone in the room freeze.
“Your father is the reason Norah was chosen.”
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