Chapter 7 - The Sins of Their Fathers
Sarah avoided Gabriel for nine days.
She attended classes.
Visited her mother.
Met attorneys.
Reviewed Collins Atlantic records until midnight.
She answered Gabriel’s messages only when they concerned security.
He respected the distance.
That irritated her more than if he had fought it.
Rebecca finally noticed.
“You miss him.”
Sarah nearly dropped her coffee.
“I do not.”
“You’ve checked your phone six times.”
“That means nothing.”
“Seven.”
Sarah placed the phone facedown.
Her mother smiled.
“You have your father’s terrible poker face.”
Sarah became quiet.
“Did Dad know Antonio betrayed him?”
Rebecca’s smile faded.
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He forgave him.”
Sarah looked stunned.
“Why?”
“Because Antonio confessed.”
Rebecca explained that Gabriel’s father had accepted Arthur’s money when the Moretti family was nearly bankrupt.
But guilt consumed him.
Eventually, Antonio returned what remained and helped Nathaniel gather evidence.
“That’s why Arthur killed them?”
“We believed so.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“I tried.”
Rebecca’s eyes filled with shame.
“Then my car went off the road.”
Sarah took her hand.
“I became afraid.”
“You were protecting me.”
“I was hiding.”
“No.”
Sarah squeezed her fingers.
“You survived.”
That evening Sarah went to Gabriel’s penthouse.
He opened the door himself.
For a moment neither spoke.
“You could have called.”
“I could have.”
He stepped aside.
She entered.
Gabriel looked tired.
Not physically.
Deeper.
“I’m sorry,” Sarah said.
“You have nothing to apologize for.”
“I judged you for something your father did.”
“He did it.”
“And then he tried to fix it.”
Gabriel looked away.
Sarah moved closer.
“You’re doing the same thing.”
His eyes returned to hers.
“I don’t know whether men like me get to start over.”
“Everyone gets to decide what they do next.”
“That sounds like something nurses put on inspirational posters.”
“It costs extra when I say it.”
He smiled.
Actually smiled.
Sarah stared.
“What?”
“You should do that more.”
“It damages my reputation.”
“Your reputation survived kneeling on a restaurant floor.”
The memory passed between them.
Gabriel became serious.
“I’ve thought about that night every day.”
“The slap?”
“You.”
Sarah’s heartbeat accelerated.
“You were bleeding and terrified, and somehow you still argued with me ten minutes later.”
“I was having a bad evening.”
“You refused my money.”
“I didn’t know you had better coffee.”
He stepped closer.
“Sarah.”
Her humor disappeared.
“Yes?”
“If I kiss you, this becomes complicated.”
She looked around his fortress-like penthouse.
“I think we passed complicated several kidnappings ago.”
Gabriel laughed softly.
Then he touched her face.
He waited.
Sarah did not move away.
Their first kiss was gentle.
No cameras.
No champagne.
No frightened crowd.
Just two people standing beside a Manhattan window while the city glowed beneath them.
When they separated, Sarah whispered, “That was less terrifying than everyone says.”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow.
“I can try again.”
She smiled.
His phone rang.
Marco.
Gabriel nearly ignored it.
Then answered.
“What?”
Marco spoke quickly.
Gabriel’s expression hardened.
“When?”
Sarah knew immediately.
“What happened?”
Gabriel disconnected.
“Victoria made bail.”
Sarah stared.
“How?”
“Someone provided twenty million dollars in collateral.”
“Her family is broke.”
“Exactly.”
“Who?”
“We don’t know.”
They discovered the answer the next morning.
Victoria held a press conference.
She stood before dozens of cameras wearing white.
“I was manipulated and threatened by Gabriel Moretti for years.”
Sarah watched from Gabriel’s office.
Victoria accused him of financial coercion, organized crime, and controlling the Harrington family.
Some claims contained enough truth to be dangerous.
Others were fabricated.
Then Victoria announced her new ally.
A silver-haired man stepped beside her.
Gabriel swore.
Sarah looked at him.
“Who is that?”
“Vincent Romano.”
The Romano organization controlled major interests in Philadelphia and northern New Jersey.
Vincent had been Gabriel’s father’s rival.
Victoria smiled into the cameras.
“I intend to expose Gabriel Moretti for what he truly is.”
The broadcast ended.
Marco looked toward Gabriel.
“This is a declaration of war.”
Gabriel’s old instincts returned immediately.
Men.
Weapons.
Territory.
Retaliation.
Then Sarah spoke.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
She walked toward Gabriel.
“If you fight Romano his way, Victoria wins.”
“He will come after you.”
“Then we expose him.”
“You don’t understand his world.”
Sarah looked at the evidence stacked across Gabriel’s desk.
“Maybe that’s the problem.”
She pointed toward it.
“Everyone keeps fighting in the shadows.”
Her eyes met Gabriel’s.
“Turn on the lights.”
Gabriel understood.
No assassinations.
No street war.
Records.
Witnesses.
Federal investigators.
For the first time in Moretti history, they would destroy an enemy legally.
Marco looked horrified.
“This family is becoming respectable.”
Sarah smiled.
“Terrible, isn’t it?”
May you like
Gabriel looked at her.
And realized he had already fallen hopelessly in love.
