Chapter 5 - THE MAN LILY CALLED UNCLE
Nicholas Kane arrived at the penthouse smiling.
He had no idea we knew.
Gabriel wanted to confront him.
Federal investigators wanted patience.
I wanted my mother back.
Lily wanted pancakes.
Strangely, that helped.
Life continued while betrayal gathered downstairs.
I stayed with Lily in the kitchen.
Nicholas entered.
“There's my favorite girl.”
Lily froze.
Not dramatically.
Her fork simply stopped halfway to her mouth.
I noticed.
“Lily?”
Nicholas smiled.
“What's wrong, princess?”
She slid off the chair and moved behind me.
That was enough.
I crouched.
“Do you want Uncle Nick here?”
She shook her head.
Nicholas looked offended.
Gabriel entered.
“Nick.”
Something passed between them.
“Office.”
Nicholas followed.
Investigators listened remotely.
Gabriel began casually.
Shipping contracts.
Security.
Elena.
Nicholas performed grief beautifully.
Too beautifully.
Then Gabriel mentioned Vincent.
Nicholas’s breathing changed.
Tiny.
But microphones caught it.
“You found him?”
“Why?”
“No reason.”
“You sound interested.”
Nicholas smiled.
“Your uncle is dangerous.”
“So was my father.”
“Your father built everything you have.”
Gabriel’s expression hardened.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The part of you I kept pretending wasn't there.”
Nicholas stopped smiling.
Gabriel placed financial records down.
“Fourteen million.”
Silence.
Then Nicholas laughed.
“You went through my accounts?”
“You helped murder my wife.”
The mask disappeared.
“Your wife was destroying us.”
Gabriel lunged.
Then stopped himself.
That was one of the most important moments of his life.
His fists clenched.
But he did not hit Nicholas.
Federal agents entered.
Nicholas looked almost amused.
“You brought cops into your own house?”
“Yes.”
“Your father would vomit.”
“My father murdered my mother.”
For the first time, Nicholas looked surprised.
Gabriel continued.
“And I'm done inheriting his mistakes.”
Nicholas was arrested.
But he denied ordering Elena’s murder.
He admitted paying Adrian.
For surveillance.
Intimidation.
Not assassination.
Nobody believed him initially.
Then ballistics complicated things.
The weapons used in the attack came from a cache connected not to Nicholas but to Dominic Varrick’s old network.
Specifically, Vincent.
Evidence pointed both directions.
Nicholas requested a lawyer.
Before leaving, he looked at Gabriel.
“Ask Celeste why she disappeared before the shooting.”
Then he was gone.
Celeste remained missing.
My mother remained with Vincent.
Gabriel negotiated a meeting.
Neutral location.
Federal surveillance at distance.
No visible weapons.
I insisted on going.
“No.”
“That's not your decision.”
“My uncle kidnapped your mother.”
“Which is exactly why I'm going.”
He hated it.
Accepted it.
Progress sometimes looked like clenched teeth.
The meeting happened inside an abandoned church in Jersey City.
Vincent stood near the altar.
Sixty-two.
Gray-haired.
Lean.
My mother sat nearby.
Alive.
I ran to her.
She held me.
“I’m sorry.”
“For being kidnapped?”
“For not telling you.”
I cried into her shoulder.
Gabriel and Vincent faced each other.
“You look like Dominic,” Vincent said.
“So everyone tells me.”
“Not a compliment.”
“I know.”
Then Celeste emerged from behind the altar.
Gabriel froze.
His sister looked exhausted.
Bruised.
But alive.
“You're with him?”
Celeste shook her head.
“I'm hiding from Nick.”
“Nicholas is in custody.”
“Then we're late.”
She explained.
Nicholas had indeed paid Adrian to watch Elena.
But someone else transformed surveillance into murder.
Adrian had been playing multiple sides.
Celeste discovered this after the shooting.
She arranged to meet him.
Before he could reveal the final name, someone killed him and planted his blood in her car.
“Who?”
Celeste handed Gabriel a flash drive.
“Elena knew.”
On it was a video.
Elena sat inside what looked like our—no, Gabriel’s—home office.
Recorded two nights before her death.
“If you're watching this, something happened.”
Gabriel stopped breathing.
Elena continued.
“Nicholas is involved, but he isn't the one I'm afraid of.”
She explained that Varrick Holdings had an old succession clause created by Dominic.
If Gabriel died without an adult heir, temporary control went to the longest-serving member of the family holding company’s executive committee.
Gabriel whispered:
“No.”
He knew.
I didn't.
“Who?”
“Arthur Bell.”
Gabriel’s godfather.
Seventy-one.
Chairman of Varrick Holdings.
The respectable face of the empire.
Arthur had known Gabriel since birth.
He had comforted him after Sofia died.
Helped raise him.
Taught him business.
Walked Elena down the aisle because her own father was dead.
And according to Elena, Arthur had spent decades protecting Dominic’s criminal network behind legitimate companies.
Gabriel’s reforms threatened everything.
If Elena and Lily died, Gabriel would become emotionally unstable.
If Gabriel then died, Arthur could seize temporary control.
Enough time to erase evidence and transfer assets.
The assassination had failed because Lily survived.
Arthur needed another plan.
I looked at Gabriel.
“Where is Lily?”
He went white.
We had left her in Tribeca.
Protected by Gabriel’s security.
Security supervised by corporate systems Arthur helped establish.
Gabriel called.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A little voice whispered:
“Claire?”
“Lily?”
“Uncle Arthur says we're going to see Daddy.”
My blood froze.
“Where are you?”
“I don't know.”
“Can you see anything?”
“Water.”
Gabriel grabbed another phone and began tracing.
I kept Lily talking.
“Remember our game?”
“What game?”
“Tell me five things.”
“A boat.”
“Good.”
“Big red sign.”
“What does it say?”
She sounded out letters.
“V… A… R…”
Gabriel looked up.
Varrick Marine Terminal.
Brooklyn.
“Lily, listen to me.”
“Okay.”
“Stay on the phone.”
Then Arthur’s voice came through.
“That's enough, sweetheart.”
Lily whimpered.
The phone shifted.
Arthur spoke directly to me.
“You did impressive work for a nanny, Ms. Donnelly.”
“I'm expensive.”
He laughed.
“Tell Gabriel to come alone.”
Gabriel reached for the phone.
Arthur continued:
“If I see police, Lily goes into the river.”
The call ended.
Gabriel looked at me.
This time, the crime boss and the father wanted the same thing.
War.
May you like
But Elena’s final request still stood between him and the man his father had raised him to become.
Be Lily's father instead.
