Chapter 7 - Two Brothers, One EnemyGabriel had his gun pointed at Sebastian before Teresa could stand.
Sebastian did not move.
“If I came to kill you,” he said, “I picked a remarkably stupid entrance.”
Gabriel’s finger remained against the trigger.
“You attacked my house.”
“No.”
“My uncle was shot.”
“That wasn't me either.”
“You sent men after my mother.”
“I sent men to find her before Hale did.”
Delaney suddenly remembered the diner.
“This old woman traveling alone?”
Sebastian looked at her.
“Yes.”
The condition.
His men had been told Teresa might be disguised or traveling with someone. Sebastian had ordered them not to take anyone accompanied because he feared grabbing an innocent woman.
“You were the first group,” Delaney said.
“Yes.”
“Then who attacked Blackstone?”
“Hale.”
Gabriel lowered the weapon half an inch.
Not trust.
But thought.
Sebastian explained.
For eighteen years he had lived under assumed names while gathering evidence against Hale.
Antonio had discovered Hale was building a shadow network by playing organized-crime families against one another while taking money from all sides.
When Antonio threatened to expose him, Hale arranged his death.
Sebastian had tried to warn his father.
Too late.
Rachel witnessed part of the conspiracy.
Hale killed her next.
“Why disappear?” Gabriel demanded.
“Because Uncle Vincent told me to.”
Everyone looked at Vincent.
He closed his eyes.
Gabriel's voice was low.
“You knew where he was.”
“Not after the first year.”
“You lied to me for eighteen years.”
“To keep both of you alive.”
Gabriel lunged.
Delaney stepped between them.
“Stop.”
Both brothers stared at her.
“This is exactly what Hale wants.”
Gabriel’s breathing slowed.
Sebastian looked impressed.
“You always this bossy?”
“Yes.”
“I like her.”
Gabriel’s expression turned murderous again.
Sebastian smiled.
“Definitely like her.”
Teresa suddenly laughed.
It was small and exhausted and completely inappropriate.
Then she began crying.
Sebastian’s smile vanished.
He crossed the room slowly.
“Mom.”
Teresa struck him across the face.
He accepted it.
She struck him again.
“You let me bury you in my head.”
“I know.”
“You let me think you hated us.”
“I know.”
“You let eighteen years pass.”
His voice cracked.
“I know.”
Then she pulled him into her arms.
Gabriel turned away.
Delaney saw the pain he refused to show.
She touched his hand.
He looked down.
For a second, neither moved.
Then his fingers closed around hers.
The war changed that night.
They now knew the enemy.
But Hale knew they knew.
At 6:00 the next morning, federal agents raided three Moretti businesses.
News vans surrounded Blackstone House.
Gabriel’s accounts were frozen.
Thomas received warrants.
Hale appeared on television announcing a major organized-crime investigation.
“He’s destroying your credibility before we expose him,” Delaney said.
Sebastian nodded.
“And forcing Gabriel into the open.”
Gabriel looked at the evidence.
“We release everything.”
“No,” Sebastian said.
“Why?”
“Because Hale has people inside law enforcement. If we dump raw evidence, he calls it fabricated.”
Delaney studied the ledger.
“What about Rachel?”
Everyone looked at her.
“She was ordinary.”
Gabriel frowned.
“She wasn't.”
“You know what I mean. She wasn't mafia. She wasn't a politician. She was a bookkeeper and a single mother.”
Delaney held up the tape.
“If this becomes Moretti versus Hale, people choose whichever side they already believe. But if it becomes a murdered woman who kept records because powerful men thought nobody would care about her, that's different.”
Sebastian slowly smiled.
Gabriel did not.
“No.”
Delaney looked at him.
“No what?”
“You are not going public.”
“Why?”
“Hale will kill you.”
“He already tried.”
“That does not improve the argument.”
She stepped closer.
“My mother spent twenty years waiting for somebody to tell the truth.”
“And I am not letting you die to do it.”
“You don't decide that.”
“I decide whether I help.”
“Then don’t.”
She walked away.
Gabriel caught her wrist.
Not hard.
The instant she looked at his hand, he released her.
“Sorry.”
That mattered.
More than she wanted it to.
His voice lowered.
“I remember you under that piano.”
Delaney looked at him.
“I remembered after you mentioned the soldier. You were terrified of thunder.”
“I still hate it.”
“You grabbed my sleeve and wouldn't let go.”
“You complained.”
“I stayed.”
Their eyes held.
“I can’t promise I can keep you safe,” he said. “And I hate that.”
Delaney understood then.
Gabriel’s control was not arrogance alone.
Control was how he loved people.
He built walls around them.
Placed guards at doors.
Bought problems before they could become disasters.
Because once, at fifteen, his father had left on a boat and never returned.
Delaney touched his cheek.
“You can't lock everybody you love in a safe.”
His eyes changed at the word love.
Neither mentioned it.
Thomas entered.
“We have a problem.”
He placed a phone on the table.
A live video showed Delaney’s diner.
The owner was tied to a chair.
Commissioner Hale stood behind him.
Hale looked into the camera.
“Miss Ward.”
Delaney went cold.
Hale smiled.
“You have something that belongs to me.”
He placed a gun against the diner owner’s head.
“Bring the pendant.”
Gabriel immediately said, “No.”
Hale continued.
“And come alone.”
The camera moved.
Someone else sat tied in the neighboring booth.
Delaney recognized him.
Her landlord.
Then her coworker Maria.
Then two truck drivers from that rainy night.
Every ordinary person who had seen Teresa.
Hale smiled.
“You wanted this to be about innocent people?”
May you like
He cocked the gun.
“Now it is.”
