“I Took a Cab Home,” the Mafia Boss’s Wife Whispered

Orange flames climbed the side of the narrow brick building. Firefighters dragged hoses across the frozen street while an ambulance waited beside the intersection.

Claire sat rigidly in the passenger seat, one hand gripping her seat belt.

Every bump in the road sent pain through her bruised hip.

Gabriel had insisted that she wear a thick coat and take her prescribed medication before leaving the estate. He had also called the doctor to confirm that the short trip would not worsen her injuries.

But nothing could have kept her home.

Elias had nearly died saving himself from one attack.

Now someone was trying again.

The SUV stopped behind a police barricade.

Marcus Bell approached immediately.

"Two tenants evacuated," he reported. "Hannah Mercer escaped through the rear staircase."

"And Elias?" Gabriel demanded.

"Still unaccounted for."

Claire opened the door.

Gabriel caught her hand.

"Stay here."

She looked at the burning building.

"He's upstairs."

"I know."

"Gabriel—"

"Claire, the fire department is handling the rescue."

His voice was firm, but his eyes were frightened.

She had never seen that expression on him before the previous night.

"Don't let him die," she whispered.

Gabriel released her hand.

"I won't."

He stepped into the street and joined Marcus near the fire captain.

Claire remained beside the SUV.

Across the road, a young woman wrapped in a gray emergency blanket was speaking desperately to a police officer.

Hannah.

Claire recognized her from the photograph Gabriel's security team had provided during the drive.

She limped toward her.

"Hannah?"

The young woman turned.

"Mrs. Russo?"

"Claire. Please."

Hannah's eyes filled.

"My grandfather went back inside."

Claire froze.

"Why?"

"He said he had to get something from his apartment."

"What?"

"I don't know. He wouldn't tell me."

Hannah began shaking.

"He pushed me toward the stairs, then went back. I tried to follow him, but the smoke—"

Her voice broke.

Claire took her hand.

"We're going to find him."

A firefighter emerged from the front entrance.

Then another.

Between them, a third man carried an elderly figure wearing a breathing mask.

Hannah screamed.

"Grandpa!"

Claire's knees nearly gave way.

Gabriel reached the firefighters first.

He helped clear a path to the ambulance while the paramedics transferred Elias onto a stretcher.

The old man was conscious.

Barely.

His hair was singed, and soot covered his face.

But when he saw Claire, he lifted one trembling hand.

She moved closer.

He began signing.

Claire understood only fragments.

Photograph.

Not safe.

Behind wall.

Hannah translated quickly.

"He says the picture is behind the wall."

"What wall?" Gabriel asked.

Elias looked at him.

For a moment, his exhausted expression changed.

Recognition.

Then fear.

He signed again.

Hannah swallowed.

"He says your father knew."

Gabriel went completely still.

"About what?"

Elias reached for Hannah's wrist.

His fingers moved weakly.

The boy.

Hannah stared at him.

"What boy?"

Before he could answer, the paramedic adjusted his oxygen mask.

"We need to transport him."

Gabriel stepped aside.

Claire watched the ambulance doors close.

Then she looked toward the burning building.

A boy.

A photograph.

And Gabriel's father.

The connection made no sense.

Yet Gabriel's expression suggested he had heard something that frightened him deeply.

"Do you know what he meant?" Claire asked.

Gabriel did not answer immediately.

Finally, he said, "My father was involved in something at that shipyard eighteen years ago."

"What something?"

"I don't know."

Claire studied him.

"Gabriel."

He looked at her.

"My father kept a private office at the old terminal," he said. "After he died, I ordered it sealed. Leo told me the records had been destroyed in a flood."

Claire felt a chill.

"Do you believe him?"

"Until this morning, I did."

Marcus approached.

"Fire investigators found evidence of accelerant on the rear staircase."

Gabriel's jaw tightened.

"Arson?"

"Almost certainly."

"Any witnesses?"

"One delivery driver saw a gray service van leave minutes before the fire."

Claire remembered the photograph of the unknown man.

"Leo has someone working for him."

Gabriel turned toward her.

She immediately regretted speaking.

"Who?" he asked.

"I don't know his name."

"But you've seen him?"

Claire hesitated.

Then she made a decision.

"At the shipyard."

Gabriel looked as though the street had shifted beneath him.

"Tell me."

"Not here."

"Claire—"

"Please. Somewhere private."

His gaze moved toward the firefighters, police officers, and gathering reporters.

He nodded.

"Marcus, arrange for Hannah to have protection. No one approaches Elias at the hospital without being identified."

"Understood."

"And find everything you can about the terminal eighteen years ago."

Marcus glanced toward Claire.

Gabriel noticed.

"Whatever my wife knows," he said, "she tells me when she's ready."

They returned to the estate in silence.

Claire watched Gabriel's reflection in the darkened window.

She had spent two years believing she understood his loneliness.

Now she realized she had only seen the surface.

Gabriel was a man surrounded by people who depended on him, feared him, lied to him, or wanted something from him.

And the one person who should have been able to tell him the truth was sitting beside him, terrified of what that truth would cause.

When they reached the estate, Margaret Bellini waited in the entrance hall.

"Mrs. Russo needs rest," she declared.

Gabriel nodded.

"She'll get it."

Margaret looked from him to Claire.

Something in their expressions silenced her.

Gabriel escorted Claire upstairs.

He helped her settle into the sitting room adjoining her bedroom, placed a blanket across her knees, and brought her water.

Then he sat opposite her.

For several minutes, neither spoke.

Finally, Gabriel said, "Start with the shipyard."

Claire stared at her hands.

"Why were you there that night?"

She swallowed.

"Because Peter Walsh called me."

Gabriel's expression sharpened.

"My driver?"

"About an hour before the ambush."

"What did he say?"

"He told me not to let you take the harbor road."

Gabriel leaned forward.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I tried."

She looked up.

"I called your phone six times. It went straight to voicemail. I called Leo. He told me you were in a meeting and that Peter was confused."

Gabriel's eyes darkened.

"Then what?"

"Peter called again."

Claire's voice trembled.

"He said Leo had changed the route and ordered him to keep driving even if he saw trouble ahead."

Gabriel rose slowly.

"Those were his exact words?"

"Yes."

"Why would Peter tell you?"

"Because he was afraid."

Gabriel turned away.

Claire continued.

"He said he couldn't explain over the phone. He told me to come to the south service road if I wanted proof."

"You went alone?"

"I took my car."

"Without security?"

"Leo controlled the security schedule."

Gabriel closed his eyes.

"Claire."

"I know."

"No, you don't."

He turned toward her.

"You drove into an active ambush because you thought I might be in danger."

"I was right."

The words escaped before she could stop them.

Gabriel stared at her.

For one long moment, his carefully controlled expression collapsed.

Then he sat beside her.

"What happened?"

Claire took a slow breath.

"I arrived after the first explosion."

She remembered the cold air.

The darkness.

The sharp chemical smell.

The SUV overturned beside the containers.

Peter lay motionless behind the wheel.

Gabriel was trapped in the back seat, unconscious.

The passenger door had been crushed.

She found a broken emergency window tool in her car and smashed the remaining glass.

Flames were spreading beneath the vehicle.

She crawled through the opening, cut Gabriel's seat belt, and tried to pull him free.

He was too heavy.

She thought she would die there.

Then she heard voices.

Men approaching from the far end of the loading bay.

One voice belonged to Leo.

She almost called for help.

But then she heard him say something she would never forget.

"Make sure Russo doesn't come out breathing."

Gabriel's face went white.

Claire continued.

"The other man said the fire was spreading too quickly. Leo told him they still had time."

Gabriel said nothing.

"I pulled you through the broken window. My arm got caught beneath the door frame. That's how it broke."

Her breathing became uneven.

"I dragged you behind a concrete barrier. I used my blouse to cover the burns on your shoulder. Then I hid because I heard footsteps."

Gabriel stared at her cast.

"When Leo found the car, he thought you were still inside?"

She nodded.

"He shouted your name like he was worried. Then he saw you on the ground."

"What did he do?"

"He looked surprised. Then he told his men to call for help."

"Did he see you?"

"I don't think so."

Claire hesitated.

"But someone else did."

"The driver from the photograph?"

"I think so."

Gabriel stood.

He crossed the room.

For several seconds, he stared into the fireplace without speaking.

When he finally turned, Claire saw tears in his eyes.

Not many.

Just enough to break her heart.

"Peter tried to warn you," he said.

"Yes."

"And you saved me."

Claire nodded.

Gabriel shook his head.

"Leo sat beside my hospital bed for six hours. He let me thank him."

Claire lowered her eyes.

"I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing."

His voice cracked.

"You saved my life, and I made you feel you couldn't tell me."

She began crying.

Gabriel knelt in front of her.

"Why didn't you trust me?"

Claire wiped her cheeks.

"Because I've seen what happens when someone betrays you."

He went still.

"When your cousin stole from the organization last year, you sent him away. His wife lost her home. His children had to leave school. I know you didn't hurt them, but they suffered anyway."

Gabriel looked down.

"I thought if you confronted Leo, everyone around him would become a target."

"Leo made them targets the moment he betrayed us."

"I didn't have proof."

"You had your own eyes."

"And you had twenty years of friendship with him."

Gabriel absorbed the words.

Then he said quietly, "You thought I would choose him over you."

Claire could not answer.

He looked devastated.

"I gave you every reason to think our marriage was temporary," he admitted. "I kept you outside my life because I thought it would protect you."

He reached for her uninjured hand.

"Instead, I left you alone when you needed me most."

Claire looked at him.

"Gabriel—"

"Listen to me."

His voice softened.

"The woman I married two years ago was a stranger who deserved respect. The woman sitting in front of me is someone I cannot imagine losing."

Her breath caught.

He pressed his forehead against her hand.

"I don't know when that changed," he whispered. "But it did."

Claire closed her eyes.

She had imagined hearing those words for months.

Now they came in the middle of a nightmare.

Before she could respond, Marcus called.

Gabriel answered.

"What have you found?"

Marcus sounded troubled.

"The photograph Elias mentioned. Firefighters located a concealed compartment behind a damaged wall."

Gabriel straightened.

"Was anything inside?"

"An old metal document box."

"Contents?"

"Insurance records, several photographs, and a handwritten statement dated eighteen years ago."

Gabriel glanced at Claire.

"Whose statement?"

Marcus paused.

"Your mother's."

The room went silent.

Gabriel's mother had died when he was sixteen.

Her death had been officially recorded as complications from an accidental fall.

Gabriel had never accepted the explanation completely.

"What does it say?" he asked.

Marcus hesitated.

"Gabriel, I think you should see this yourself."

"Read it."

A rustle of paper sounded.

Then Marcus spoke carefully.

"'If anything happens to me, the boy must never be returned to Vittorio. Peter knows where he is. Elias knows what was done. And if my son Gabriel ever learns the truth, tell him I tried to stop his father before another child disappeared.'"

Gabriel's hand tightened around the phone.

"What boy?"

Marcus swallowed.

"The statement names him."

"Tell me."

Another silence.

Then Marcus answered.

"His name was Daniel Russo."

Claire looked up sharply.

Russo.

Gabriel's family name.

Gabriel spoke through clenched teeth.