Chapter 2 - MY MOTHER’S SECRET
“Your mother worked for my family?”
Gabriel’s voice became so quiet that everyone else in the hallway seemed to disappear.
“I didn't know she did.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“It’s the only one I have.”
I told him about the stranger.
My mother had been half asleep when I arrived at the hospital and found a well-dressed man beside her bed. He called himself Daniel Price and claimed to represent an insurance review company.
He asked about Margaret’s employment history.
Most questions were ordinary.
Then he mentioned Varrick.
My mother became visibly frightened.
After he left, she refused to explain.
Gabriel showed me an enlarged image.
“That man isn't Daniel Price.”
“Who is he?”
“Adrian Kessler.”
I waited.
“He worked for my father.”
“Doing what?”
Gabriel looked at me.
“Things respectable men hired other men to do.”
That was enough.
“Is he dangerous?”
“Yes.”
“And he knows my mother.”
“Apparently.”
Suddenly the seventy-five thousand dollars didn't feel like salvation.
It felt like a door I had walked through without noticing the lock behind me.
“I need to go.”
Gabriel stepped aside.
He didn't stop me.
That surprised me.
“I’ll have a car take you.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“No offense, but at the moment I’m trying to determine whether your family is responsible for half my problems.”
His expression tightened.
“Fair.”
Again, no threat.
No command.
That made him more complicated than I wanted.
I returned to Lily’s room before leaving.
She was awake.
“You said morning.”
“I know.”
Her face fell.
So I sat down.
“My mom is sick.”
Lily looked toward her IV.
“Hospital sick?”
“Yes.”
“Like Mommy?”
My throat tightened.
“No. Different.”
She thought.
“Can you come back?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Promise?”
“I held out my pinkie.
“Promise.”
Lily wrapped her tiny finger around mine.
Gabriel watched from the doorway.
Two hours later, I entered my mother's hospital room.
Margaret Donnelly looked small beneath white blankets.
“Mom.”
Her eyes opened.
“Claire?”
I placed the security image beside her.
“Who is Adrian Kessler?”
Everything changed.
“Where did you get that?”
“Gabriel Varrick.”
Her heart monitor accelerated.
“You went there?”
“I took a job.”
“No.”
“Mom—”
“Quit.”
“I need the money for your treatment.”
“I would rather die.”
I froze.
She immediately regretted it.
“Sweetheart—”
“No. You don't get to say that and stop.”
She closed her eyes.
Then told me the truth.
Twenty-eight years earlier, Margaret had been a pediatric nurse.
Gabriel’s mother hired her privately after giving birth to Celeste.
Margaret stayed with the Varricks for almost three years.
Gabriel had been six.
Celeste an infant.
Their father, Dominic Varrick, was already powerful.
And violent.
One night, Margaret overheard Dominic arguing with Adrian Kessler about a ledger containing payments to judges, union officials, police officers, and politicians.
Dominic’s wife, Sofia, wanted out.
She intended to take Gabriel and Celeste.
She never got the chance.
Two days later, Sofia died in what police called an accidental fall.
Gabriel had been told his mother slipped.
Margaret never believed it.
“Adrian saw me outside the study,” she whispered.
“What happened?”
“Dominic paid me to disappear.”
“Paid?”
“Threatened first.”
She looked ashamed.
“I had you.”
I stared.
I had been a baby.
“He knew?”
“He knew everything.”
Margaret moved us to Queens.
Changed jobs.
Never mentioned Varrick again.
Until Elena found her.
“Elena?”
“Gabriel’s wife.”
My heart pounded.
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
Elena had been investigating Sofia Varrick’s death.
She believed the same network responsible for protecting Dominic had never disappeared.
Worse, she believed Celeste had discovered the old ledger and intended to use it.
“For what?”
“Control.”
Margaret looked toward the door.
“Elena said Gabriel was trying to move his businesses away from his father's criminal network.”
That surprised me.
“Celeste didn't want that?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because legitimate businesses answer to boards and regulators.”
Margaret’s voice trembled.
“Criminal empires answer to whoever frightens everyone else the most.”
Elena feared Celeste wanted Gabriel removed.
Then Lily would become heir.
A four-year-old heir.
Controlled by her aunt.
My stomach turned.
“She planned to kill her brother?”
“I don't know.”
“But Elena?”
My mother began crying.
“Elena came to me because she needed someone who remembered Adrian.”
The hospital door opened.
I spun around.
Gabriel stood there.
Alone.
My mother stared at him.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Margaret whispered:
“You look like Sofia.”
Gabriel stopped breathing.
“You knew my mother.”
“Yes.”
“Was her death an accident?”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“No.”
The word shattered something.
Gabriel sat down.
Not because anyone invited him.
Because his legs seemed to stop working.
“My father?”
“I don't know who pushed her.”
“But he covered it up?”
“Yes.”
Gabriel stared at the floor.
The feared Gabriel Varrick suddenly looked six years old.
Then my mother's monitor beeped faster.
I moved toward her.
“Mom?”
Her face tightened.
“Claire…”
A medical alarm sounded.
Nurses rushed inside.
We were pushed into the hallway.
I stood frozen.
Gabriel caught my shoulders when my knees weakened.
“Hey.”
“I’m okay.”
“You're not.”
Neither was he.
Doctors worked behind the closed door.
Twenty minutes later, a cardiologist emerged.
My mother had suffered an arrhythmia.
She was stable.
But treatment could not wait much longer.
The insurance dispute had delayed everything.
I laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
Gabriel looked at the doctor.
“How much?”
I turned.
“No.”
He ignored me.
The doctor hesitated.
“Mr. Varrick—”
“No.”
I stepped between them.
“You are not paying my mother's bill.”
“Why?”
“Because then I owe you.”
“No.”
“You don't get to decide that.”
His eyes met mine.
“You're right.”
He stopped.
That should have been the end.
Instead, three hours later, Vivian called.
“The agency received a revised contract.”
“What contract?”
“Your Varrick placement.”
I closed my eyes.
“How much?”
“One hundred thousand for thirty days.”
I almost laughed.
“Did Gabriel do that?”
“Apparently.”
Technically he wasn't paying my mother's bill.
He was paying me.
Infuriating.
But my mother needed treatment.
And Lily had eaten three spoonfuls of oatmeal that morning because I promised to return.
I accepted.
When I reached Tribeca, Gabriel was waiting.
“I know what you did.”
“You're free to decline.”
“I accepted.”
“Good.”
“This doesn't make me loyal to you.”
“I didn't hire loyalty.”
“What did you hire?”
He looked toward Lily’s room.
“Someone she trusts.”
Before I could answer, an alarm sounded downstairs.
One of Gabriel’s security men rushed in.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“We found Celeste’s car.”
“Where?”
“Brooklyn.”
“And Celeste?”
“Gone.”
He hesitated.
“There was blood in the trunk.”
Gabriel’s expression hardened.
“Whose?”
“We don't know yet.”
Then he handed Gabriel a phone recovered from the vehicle.
One unsent message remained on the screen.
It was addressed to me.
CLAIRE DONNELLY KNOWS NOTHING. HER MOTHER KNOWS EVERYTHING. FINISH WHAT DOMINIC STARTED.
Gabriel read it.
Then looked at me.
My mother was no longer simply a patient.
May you like
She was a witness.
And somebody had just ordered her death.
