Chapter 5 - The Man I Thought Was Protecting Me
Gabriel disappeared for twelve hours.
That was enough to destroy the trust holding Adrien's organization together.
Every security protocol was changed.
Every employee was questioned.
Every location was searched.
But Gabriel was gone.
Not hiding.
Gone.
He had taken a vehicle registered to one of Adrien's shell companies.
His phone had been destroyed.
His safehouse had been emptied.
Even his emergency passport was missing.
Adrien became colder.
Not louder.
Colder.
I had learned that was when he was most dangerous.
“Do you think he betrayed us?” I asked.
“I know he did.”
“You seem certain.”
“Because he had one job.”
“What?”
“Keep you alive.”
He looked at me.
“He failed.”
We moved to a new location.
An old townhouse in Chestnut Hill.
There, Adrien finally told me why Gabriel mattered.
Gabriel had been his father's protégé.
He had trained Adrien.
Protected him.
Taught him how to fight.
Taught him how to negotiate.
He had practically raised him.
That made the betrayal worse.
“He was family,” I said.
Adrien shook his head.
“No.”
“Because of what he did?”
“Because I trusted him like family.”
The next morning, someone left a package at the front door.
Inside was Gabriel's watch.
A note:
He is coming for the mother.
We immediately called Elena.
She didn't answer.
Adrien's face became blank.
“Call the retirement home.”
No answer.
We drove there.
The place had been emptied.
No Elena.
No staff.
No records.
A nurse had been found unconscious in the lobby.
We searched every room.
Nothing.
Then I heard a faint sound.
A music box.
Adrien stopped.
“What?”
“Do you hear that?”
“Yes.”
It came from the basement.
We found Elena there.
Bound to a chair.
Alive.
Beside her stood Gabriel.
He looked at me.
“Norah.”
Adrien stepped forward.
“Move away from her.”
Gabriel raised his weapon.
“No.”
“You betrayed me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Gabriel's voice became tired.
“Because your father was right.”
“About what?”
“You should never have inherited the empire.”
Adrien stared.
“My father is dead.”
“His plans aren't.”
Gabriel revealed the truth.
Adrien's father had created a successor outside the bloodline.
A hidden heir.
Someone not connected to Adrien.
Someone who would inherit if Adrien had no child.
That person was…
Vivienne's grandson.
Luca's son.
A child who had been hidden for twenty-seven years.
The boy had grown into a man.
His name was Adrian Falco.
Not Adrien.
Adrian.
And he wanted what he believed belonged to his father.
I stared.
“So the war isn't about my baby.”
“It is now,” Gabriel said.
“Why?”
“Because the existence of your child cancels his claim.”
Adrien's voice was deadly.
“Then the child lives.”
Gabriel laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
“What?”
“The covenant has another condition.”
He looked at Elena.
“The heir must be recognized by all surviving blood witnesses.”
Elena shook her head.
“I will never validate him.”
Gabriel smiled.
“You won't have to.”
He raised the gun.
I moved without thinking.
I stepped between him and Elena.
Adrien shouted my name.
A shot fired.
The bullet missed.
Security stormed the basement.
Gabriel escaped through a hidden passage.
Adrien rushed to me.
“Are you hurt?”
I shook my head.
He put both hands on my shoulders.
“Never do that again.”
“You were behind me.”
“I don't care.”
“You would have been shot.”
“I don't care.”
“You should.”
He closed his eyes.
Then his forehead touched mine.
“I cannot lose you.”
That sentence frightened me more than the gunshot.
Because I knew he meant it.
Later that night, Adrien sat beside me while I tried to sleep.
“I have to tell you something.”
“What?”
“My father left one final instruction.”
“For you?”
“For the baby's mother.”
I frowned.
“What instruction?”
“If the first heir is born, the father must publicly acknowledge the child.”
I stared.
“That sounds simple.”
“It isn't.”
“Why?”
“Because doing so would force every rival to accept the child as legitimate.”
“And?”
“And it would paint a target on the baby's back.”
I placed a hand on my stomach.
“So what are you saying?”
“That I have to choose.”
“Between what?”
“Keeping the baby hidden.”
“Or claiming the child.”
I looked at him.
“You already claimed the baby.”
“I claimed responsibility.”
“What's the difference?”
“If I publicly acknowledge the child, everyone knows where to find you.”
“And if you don't?”
“Their claim remains possible.”
Silence.
I whispered:
“You can't protect us by pretending we don't exist.”
He looked at me.
“No.”
“Then choose us.”
His expression changed.
He took my hand.
“I choose you.”
The next morning, Adrien called every major leader connected to his legitimate companies.
The announcement lasted twelve seconds.
“My child exists.”
Silence.
“The mother is protected.”
“Any attempt against either will be treated as an attack against the Falco family.”
Then he hung up.
I stared at him.
“You just started a war.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
He looked toward the window.
“I ended the hiding.”
Three hours later, the first attack came.
A bomb detonated outside a Falco warehouse.
Then another.
Then another.
Philadelphia erupted.
Businesses were attacked.
Vehicles followed.
Accounts were frozen.
Rumors spread.
Someone leaked my name.
My photograph appeared online.
And beneath it:
THE WOMAN CARRYING THE FUTURE OF THE FALCO EMPIRE.
My anonymity was gone.
The baby was no longer a secret.
May you like
It was a symbol.
And everyone wanted control of it.
