Chapter 6 - The Woman Behind the Smile
Diana Wentworth was not merely a socialite.
Her maiden name was Diana Calder.
Her family owned Calder Maritime.
The company Liam had audited.
The revelation changed everything.
Diana had spent years cultivating the image of an irrelevant heiress whose primary concerns were charity dinners and photographs.
In reality, she controlled thirty-eight percent of Calder Maritime.
And Liam had discovered her signature on shell-company transfers.
Gabriel wanted Diana brought to him.
Madeline refused.
“No.”
“She tried to kill Abernathy.”
“We don't know that.”
“We know enough.”
“You mean you know enough to do what you always do.”
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
“And what is that?”
“Use fear until somebody breaks.”
“It works.”
“So does evidence.”
Gabriel stared at her.
Madeline folded her arms.
“We do this my way.”
“Your way nearly got you killed in the library.”
“Your way got Liam killed because your organization gave Victor the machinery to hide behind.”
That ended the argument.
They set a trap.
St. Jude announced the discovery of previously uncatalogued waterfront deeds.
The announcement was false.
Within six hours Diana contacted the library.
She offered five million dollars to purchase the collection privately.
Madeline arranged the meeting.
Diana arrived after closing.
She wore cream cashmere and diamonds.
When she saw Gabriel emerge from the shadows, her smile vanished.
“Interesting,” Diana said. “The librarian and the wolf.”
Madeline placed Liam's ledger on the table.
“You knew my fiancé.”
Diana sighed.
“Yes.”
“You lied at his funeral.”
“Yes.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
Diana looked toward Gabriel.
“His uncle.”
Gabriel's expression did not change.
“Prove it.”
Diana laughed.
“You really don't know, do you?”
She opened her purse slowly and removed a phone.
On it was a photograph.
Victor stood beside Liam’s wrecked car.
The timestamp was fourteen minutes after the collision.
Madeline’s legs almost failed.
Gabriel caught her.
She pulled away.
“Why do you have this?”
“Because Victor made the mistake of believing I was his partner.”
Diana's smile became bitter.
“I was his insurance policy. He was mine.”
“Why did Abernathy say ‘the woman’?” Madeline demanded.
“Because I warned him.”
Madeline stared.
“You pushed him?”
“No. I told him Victor knew he had helped Liam. Victor's men followed him when he left.”
Diana looked at Gabriel.
“You're searching for a villain simple enough to punish. There isn't one.”
She revealed the truth.
Montgomery had arranged public contracts.
Victor had used Rossi-controlled ports.
Diana had laundered money through Calder Maritime.
For years they stole quietly.
Then Liam discovered the scheme.
He threatened to expose them.
Victor ordered his death.
Diana did nothing to stop it.
“So you're responsible too,” Madeline whispered.
Diana did not deny it.
“I could have warned him.”
Madeline’s eyes filled with tears.
“You went to his funeral.”
“Yes.”
“You looked at me while I was pregnant.”
Diana lowered her eyes.
“That was the day I decided I wanted out.”
She handed Madeline a flash drive.
“Everything is there.”
Gunfire shattered the window.
Gabriel threw Madeline to the floor.
Marco returned fire.
Diana collapsed.
Blood spread across her cream coat.
Gabriel dragged Madeline behind a stone column.
Outside, a black SUV sped away.
Victor had known.
Again.
Diana survived.
And her evidence was devastating.
Federal prosecutors received copies anonymously.
Montgomery’s offices were raided the next morning.
Calder Maritime accounts were frozen.
But Victor disappeared.
Gabriel knew what that meant.
“He'll come for the one thing that can destroy him.”
“The evidence?”
Gabriel looked at Madeline.
“No.”
Her face changed.
“Me.”
Gabriel moved her into his Beacon Hill townhouse that night.
She protested for twenty minutes.
Then a photograph arrived on her phone.
It showed her apartment.
Taken from across the street.
The message beneath it read:
Liam should have kept his mouth shut. So should you.
Madeline packed.
Living with Gabriel was stranger than she expected.
He gave her the entire third floor.
He ordered his staff not to enter without permission.
He installed a refrigerator because she became hungry at odd hours.
And when she woke at two in the morning unable to sleep, she found him in the kitchen making coffee.
“You drink too much of that,” she said.
“You sound like my doctor.”
“You have a doctor?”
“I have several.”
“Do any specialize in personality disorders?”
Gabriel stared.
Madeline smiled.
He laughed.
Actually laughed.
It changed his whole face.
Madeline hated how much she liked it.
Then Lily kicked hard.
She winced.
Gabriel immediately stood.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“You made a face.”
“Your terrifying enemy is approximately two pounds and kicking my ribs.”
He looked uncertain.
Madeline took his hand before she could reconsider.
She placed it against her belly.
Lily kicked again.
Gabriel froze.
The most feared man in Boston looked completely defenseless.
Madeline watched his expression soften.
“She's strong,” he whispered.
“She gets that from me.”
“I believe it.”
Their eyes met.
His hand remained there one second too long.
Then Madeline stepped away.
Neither mentioned it.
But upstairs, lying awake, she realized something frightening.
May you like
She was beginning to feel safe with the man who had once made her feel smaller than anyone ever had.
And downstairs, Gabriel stared at his hand as though a tiny unborn child had just shown him a world he had never believed he deserved.
