Chapter 2 - The Man Who Was Never Supposed to Become a Father
Gabriel expected Audrey to argue when the SUV door opened.
Instead, she did something worse.
She looked afraid.
Not the fear people usually showed Gabriel Russo. He understood that kind. Men lowered their voices when he entered rooms. Politicians stopped smiling. Rivals watched his hands.
Audrey's fear was different.
It was a mother's fear.
She lifted Emma from the stroller first, pressed the little girl against her chest, and stared directly at Gabriel.
“You don't touch them without asking me.”
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
“They're my children.”
“You found them twenty minutes ago.”
“And?”
“And you don't get to become their father because you did arithmetic in a grocery store.”
Behind Gabriel, Carmine finally appeared beneath the store awning.
He stopped dead.
His gaze traveled from Audrey to the twins.
Then his face changed.
Gabriel noticed.
Only for a second.
But he noticed.
Recognition.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
“Boss,” Carmine said.
Gabriel stared at him.
“You're late.”
“Traffic.”
Gabriel had known Carmine for eighteen years.
Carmine had lied better than that at gunpoint.
Audrey buckled Emma into a child seat one of Gabriel's men had hastily purchased from the store. Gabriel watched her secure the straps twice.
Noah—the boy—remained against Audrey's shoulder.
Gabriel extended his hands.
Audrey hesitated.
“He doesn't like strangers.”
“I am aware of my reputation.”
“I mean Noah.”
Something almost like irritation flashed through Gabriel.
“I understood.”
Noah stared at him.
Gabriel waited.
Finally Audrey transferred the boy into his arms.
Gabriel Russo had carried injured men out of burning cars.
He had once dragged his brother's body through shattered glass.
He had held a dying enemy still while a surgeon removed a bullet because the man possessed information Gabriel needed.
None of it prepared him for twenty-two pounds of sleepy toddler.
Noah put one hand against Gabriel's shirt.
Gabriel froze.
The boy stared at his face.
Then his small fingers caught Gabriel's collar.
“Da?”
Audrey's eyes closed.
Gabriel forgot the parking lot.
Forgot Carmine.
Forgot the rain.
“What did he say?”
“He says sounds.”
“He said ‘Da.’”
“He also calls bananas ‘ba.’ Don't build an empire around it.”
Carmine coughed behind them.
Gabriel turned.
The older man's attention was fixed on Noah.
“You've seen them before.”
Silence.
Carmine's face hardened.
“No.”
Gabriel handed Noah back to Audrey.
Then he stepped toward Carmine.
“Try again.”
“I said no.”
“And I said you're a terrible liar today.”
Audrey stiffened.
“Gabriel.”
He ignored her.
Carmine looked toward the children before speaking.
That glance was enough.
Gabriel's voice became quiet.
“How long?”
Carmine exhaled.
“About a year.”
Audrey whispered, “What?”
Gabriel's entire expression emptied.
The most dangerous version of him.
“You knew.”
“I knew there were children.”
“And you didn't tell me?”
“I didn't know they were yours.”
“Carmine.”
“I suspected.”
Gabriel stepped closer.
“You suspected I had two children for a year.”
Carmine's voice dropped.
“Your father left enemies, Gabriel. So did Julian. So have you. You had just stabilized the family. If word got out that a woman somewhere had Russo children—”
“You decided for me?”
“I protected you.”
Gabriel stared at the man who had taught him to drive, shoot, negotiate, and recognize a wiretap.
Then Audrey spoke.
“Who told you?”
Carmine looked at her.
“Nobody.”
“You were watching us?”
“I had someone check occasionally.”
Audrey went pale.
“You had someone watching my children?”
“For security.”
“I changed apartments three times.”
“I know.”
That frightened her more.
Gabriel saw it.
“Enough.”
Carmine fell silent.
Gabriel looked at Audrey.
“Where do you live?”
“No.”
“That wasn't a request.”
“And I'm not one of your employees.”
“You're taking two Russo heirs into an apartment whose address Carmine apparently knows.”
“They are not heirs.”
Gabriel's gaze sharpened.
“They're toddlers.”
“They can be both.”
Audrey laughed once without humor.
“This is exactly why I never told you.”
Something in Gabriel's chest went still.
“So you admit they're mine.”
She realized the mistake.
Too late.
Emma began fussing.
Audrey kissed her forehead.
“Yes.”
One word.
It struck harder than Gabriel expected.
“Yes, they're yours.”
Rain drummed against the SUV roof.
Gabriel looked through the open door at Noah.
His son.
Then Emma.
His daughter.
Two entire human beings had existed without him.
Birthdays.
Fevers.
First steps.
First words.
He had missed everything.
“Why?”
Audrey's face changed.
“You told me not to come back.”
“That was before I knew.”
“I found out six weeks later.”
“You could have called.”
“I did.”
Gabriel stopped.
Audrey looked toward Carmine.
Once.
Only once.
But Gabriel saw it.
He slowly turned.
Carmine said nothing.
Audrey reached into the diaper bag.
From an inner pocket, she removed a folded sheet protected inside a plastic sleeve.
“I called the number you gave me.”
Gabriel took it.
A handwritten message was recorded beneath a date almost two years old.
MR. RUSSO DOES NOT WANT CONTACT. DO NOT CALL AGAIN.
Gabriel recognized the handwriting.
Carmine's.
His eyes lifted.
Carmine looked suddenly older.
“I can explain.”
“You have ten seconds.”
“I thought she was a liability.”
“Nine.”
“Your position wasn't secure.”
“Eight.”
“She said she was pregnant. Anyone could have claimed—”
“Seven.”
Audrey stepped forward.
“Stop.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“No.”
“I don't want this happening in front of them.”
That stopped him.
Not mercy for Carmine.
Her children.
Their children.
Gabriel looked at Noah and Emma.
Then stepped back.
“Take Carmine home.”
Two men approached.
Carmine's expression changed.
“Gabriel.”
“Not another word.”
As they led him away, Carmine looked at Audrey.
Not angrily.
Almost apologetically.
But then he said something strange.
“You should have stayed in Seattle.”
Audrey's face drained.
Gabriel caught it.
“You never lived in Seattle,” he said.
Silence.
Audrey looked away.
Gabriel suddenly understood that the twins were not the only secret standing in that parking lot.
“Where did you go after the safe house?”
“Not here.”
“Then where?”
Audrey tightened her arms around Emma.
“Somewhere your father couldn't find me.”
“My father died that morning.”
Her eyes lifted slowly.
“No, Gabriel.”
The rain seemed to become louder.
“He didn't.”
Gabriel stared at her.
Audrey swallowed.
“Your father was alive when I found out I was pregnant.”
Gabriel did not move.
May you like
“I spoke to him.”
For the first time in years, Gabriel Russo had absolutely no answer.
