Chapter 3 - The Dead Man's Warning
Gabriel did not take Audrey to his penthouse.
He took her somewhere almost nobody knew existed.
A three-story brownstone on a quiet Brooklyn street purchased through four shell companies, protected by cameras hidden in porch lights and window frames.
His mother had once lived there.
Before the Russo name became synonymous with power.
Before Gabriel learned that family could be both sanctuary and weapon.
Audrey noticed immediately.
“This isn't your house.”
“It is tonight.”
“That isn't comforting.”
“It wasn't intended to be.”
The twins were asleep within forty minutes.
Gabriel stood outside the guest bedroom while Audrey lowered them into two portable cribs his men had acquired.
Noah rolled onto his stomach.
Emma hugged the rubber teething ring.
Gabriel watched.
“You can stop staring.”
“No.”
Audrey pulled a blanket higher over Noah.
“You're making me nervous.”
“You've been making me nervous since aisle nine.”
She almost smiled.
Almost.
Then he asked, “When did you speak to my father?”
The softness disappeared.
Audrey walked into the hallway and closed the bedroom door.
“Six weeks after our wedding.”
“Impossible.”
“I know what I saw.”
“I identified his body.”
“Did you see his face?”
Gabriel said nothing.
The funeral returned in fragments.
Closed casket.
The official explanation had been damage caused during emergency treatment after the stroke.
Carmine had handled the hospital.
Carmine had handled the death certificate.
Carmine had handled everything.
Gabriel felt something cold settle inside him.
“What happened?”
Audrey sat.
“I was in Portland.”
“You were supposed to be in Seattle.”
“I changed plans.”
“Why?”
“Because a man followed me from the airport.”
Gabriel's expression sharpened.
“I noticed him at baggage claim. Then again outside the hotel. I didn't know if he was yours.”
“He wasn't.”
“I know that now.”
She folded her hands.
“I bought a bus ticket under another name. I ended up in Portland. A few weeks later, I started getting sick. I took three pregnancy tests.”
Her voice softened.
“All positive.”
Gabriel looked toward the bedroom.
Audrey continued.
“I panicked. I called you.”
“Carmine answered.”
“Yes.”
“And told you I wanted no contact.”
“Yes.”
Gabriel's mouth hardened.
“What happened next?”
“Two days later, someone knocked on my motel door.”
Audrey looked directly at him.
“Your father.”
Gabriel felt every instinct reject the statement.
“He had a cane. One side of his face drooped slightly. He looked like someone recovering from a stroke.”
“What did he want?”
“The babies.”
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
“He already knew?”
“He knew I was pregnant before I knew there were twins.”
“How?”
“I never found out.”
She paused.
“He told me the annulment hadn't been finalized.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“That is impossible.”
“He said your marriage was still legally valid.”
Gabriel stood.
He crossed to a locked cabinet, removed a folder, and found the copy of the annulment order he had kept for two years.
He placed it before her.
Audrey looked at it.
“That's not the document I received.”
“What?”
“Mine said the petition had been rejected because one signature was invalid.”
Gabriel looked at the page again.
Forgery?
Manipulation?
Two competing court records?
His father's specialty had always been creating confusion until truth became whatever he needed it to be.
“What exactly did my father say?”
Audrey's fingers tightened.
“He said if I gave him the child, he'd let me live.”
Gabriel became motionless.
“Child.”
“He didn't know there were two.”
“What did you say?”
“I told him I'd rather die.”
Something dark and proud moved through Gabriel.
Of course she had.
This was the woman who once stood between armed men and her useless father with a baseball bat.
“What happened?”
“He smiled.”
Audrey's voice weakened.
“He said that was why you had chosen me.”
“I didn't choose you.”
“I know.”
Gabriel heard how harshly it landed.
He corrected himself.
“Not like that.”
Audrey looked away.
“He gave me forty-eight hours. I ran that night.”
“How did you survive?”
“Someone helped me.”
“Who?”
She hesitated.
Gabriel noticed.
“Audrey.”
“Your brother.”
Everything stopped.
Gabriel's voice came out almost soundless.
“Julian is dead.”
“I thought so too.”
Gabriel stared at her.
Audrey reached beneath her shirt and pulled out a thin chain.
A ring hung from it.
Heavy silver.
A black onyx center.
Gabriel recognized it instantly.
Julian's.
He grabbed it.
“Where did you get this?”
“He gave it to me.”
Gabriel's eyes lifted.
“When?”
“Four months after his funeral.”
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then a sound came from the stairs.
A floorboard.
Gabriel's hand went beneath his jacket.
Audrey stood.
The lights went out.
Complete darkness.
A crash sounded downstairs.
Gabriel caught Audrey's wrist.
“Stay behind me.”
“Children—”
“Stay here.”
Another crash.
Then the security alarm remained silent.
That was worse.
Someone had bypassed it.
Gabriel moved toward the stairs.
A shadow crossed the lower hallway.
He raised his weapon.
“Don't.”
The voice came from darkness.
Older.
Familiar.
Gabriel stopped breathing.
A man stepped into the faint emergency light.
Gray hair.
A scar along his temple.
A cane in his right hand.
Gabriel's world tilted.
His father smiled.
“Hello, son.”
Gabriel raised the gun higher.
“You're dead.”
Vittorio Russo looked toward the room where his grandchildren slept.
“No.”
May you like
His smile disappeared.
“But somebody will be before sunrise.”
