Chapter 5 - The Man Who Chose Not to Die
Gabriel hit the church floor.
Norah dropped beside him.
“No. No, no, no.”
The bullet had entered below his shoulder.
Blood soaked through her hands as she pressed against the wound.
Marco approached.
“Move, Eleanor.”
She looked up.
“No.”
“Your father had the same stubbornness.”
“You murdered him.”
Marco's expression barely changed.
“Your father murdered himself the moment he decided righteousness mattered more than survival.”
Then gunfire erupted outside.
Marco spun around.
The stained-glass window shattered.
Luca's men poured through the side entrance.
Norah threw herself over Gabriel as bullets tore splinters from the pews.
Marco escaped through the rear.
Luca reached Gabriel.
“Boss!”
Gabriel's eyes fluttered.
“Norah?”
“She's here.”
“Babies?”
“Safe.”
Only then did Gabriel lose consciousness.
He woke eighteen hours later in a private hospital.
Norah sat beside him.
Gabriel stared at her.
“You stayed.”
“For now.”
It was enough.
He looked at the IV.
“Marco?”
“Gone.”
“Luca?”
“Outside.”
Gabriel attempted to sit.
Pain tore through him.
Norah pushed him back.
“Stop acting invincible.”
“It's an old habit.”
“Break it.”
Gabriel almost smiled.
Then he noticed a bassinet near the window.
His entire body went still.
Elias was sleeping inside.
Gabriel looked at Norah.
“You brought him?”
“He needed a pediatric checkup.”
Gabriel nodded.
He did not ask to hold him.
Norah noticed.
After several minutes, she stood.
“Wash your hands.”
Gabriel stared.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
He obeyed awkwardly.
When he returned, Norah lifted Elias.
She approached the bed.
Gabriel's breathing changed.
“I don't know how.”
“Nobody does the first time.”
She placed their son into his arms.
Gabriel Costa had held guns, dying men, millions in cash, and enough power to frighten half a city.
Nothing had ever terrified him like seven pounds of sleeping baby.
Elias stretched.
His tiny fingers closed around Gabriel's index finger.
Gabriel broke.
He lowered his face and cried silently.
Norah looked away, giving him dignity he did not deserve.
“Hello,” Gabriel whispered. “I'm your father.”
Elias yawned.
Gabriel laughed through his tears.
“I know. Not impressive so far.”
Norah almost smiled.
It disappeared quickly.
“Gabriel.”
He looked up.
“This doesn't fix us.”
“I know.”
“You holding him doesn't erase Bianca.”
“I know.”
“Getting shot doesn't earn forgiveness.”
“I know.”
That answer made her pause.
Gabriel looked down at Elias.
“I spent my whole life thinking consequences were things I could intimidate.”
He swallowed.
“Then you left.”
Norah said nothing.
“And suddenly there wasn't anyone to threaten. There wasn't a door to kick down that could make you love me again.”
He kissed Elias's forehead.
“So I'm done asking what I can do to get you back.”
Norah's eyes softened despite herself.
“What are you asking?”
“How do I become someone these children aren't ashamed to call their father?”
Norah took a long breath.
“Start with the truth.”
So Gabriel did.
Over the next week, he gave federal investigators access to financial accounts, trafficking routes, bribed officials, shell companies, warehouses, and names.
He surrendered everything.
The Costa organization began collapsing from inside.
Men Gabriel had known since childhood called him traitor.
He accepted it.
Properties were seized.
Accounts were frozen.
Alliances disappeared overnight.
Then Bianca requested a meeting.
Gabriel refused.
She sent him a photograph instead.
It showed Marco standing beside a man Gabriel recognized immediately.
Samuel Vale.
Norah's uncle.
Gabriel stared at the image.
On the back, Bianca had written:
You are hunting the wrong traitor.
That evening Gabriel showed Norah.
Her face drained of color.
“No.”
“Could this be old?”
She examined the photograph.
A digital billboard visible in the background advertised a concert happening that week.
Recent.
Norah sat down.
“My uncle saved me.”
“Maybe.”
“He helped me escape.”
Gabriel hated what he had to say.
“Maybe that's why Marco always knew where you were going.”
Norah's eyes filled.
Her phone rang.
Samuel.
She answered immediately.
“Uncle Sam?”
A baby's cry sounded through the speaker.
Norah froze.
Not Elias.
Rose.
Norah ran toward the nursery.
Rose's bassinet was empty.
Her phone nearly slipped from her hand.
Samuel's voice came through calmly.
“I'm sorry, sweetheart.”
Norah turned toward Gabriel in horror.
Samuel continued.
“Marco wants the evidence.”
Norah whispered, “Where is my daughter?”
“Alive.”
“Let me hear her.”
Rose cried again.
Norah began sobbing.
Then Samuel said the words that changed everything.
“Bring Gabriel to the old Costa warehouse before midnight.”
Gabriel took the phone.
“If you hurt my daughter—”
Samuel interrupted.
“Marco doesn't want Rose, Gabriel.”
May you like
A pause.
“He wants you.”
