Chapter 8 - THE MAN BEHIND THE EMPIRE
The answer had been inside the photograph all along.
Not Richard.
Not Victor.
A third man stood behind them at the old Romano warehouse.
I had ignored him because he looked ordinary.
Gabriel did not.
“Samuel Price.”
“Who is he?”
“My father's former chief financial officer.”
Samuel had disappeared after Matteo Romano's death.
Officially, he retired.
Unofficially, he had continued controlling shell companies from overseas.
Luca traced recent transfers.
Money from Bennett Development flowed into accounts tied to Samuel.
Richard wasn't working alone.
He had never been the mastermind.
He was the front man.
Samuel had designed the system.
Victor cleaned it.
Richard benefited from it.
And when Victor threatened to expose them, Samuel removed him.
“Where's Richard?” I asked.
Gabriel looked at the transaction records.
“Probably running from Samuel.”
My phone rang.
Richard again.
This time his voice was weak.
“Emily.”
“Where are you?”
“Your mother's old house.”
I froze.
The house where I grew up had been empty for months.
“Come alone.”
“No.”
“If Romano comes, Samuel kills me.”
I almost laughed.
“You expect me to care?”
“No.”
For the first time, Richard sounded honest.
“But I think you care about Anna Caruso.”
My stomach dropped.
“She’s here.”
Gabriel was already signaling Luca.
Richard continued.
“And Samuel has enough explosives beneath this house to make sure nobody walks out.”
The call ended.
Gabriel said one word.
“No.”
“You don't even know what I'm going to say.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Anna is there.”
“So is a bomb.”
“Then we need a plan.”
“We have a plan. You stay here.”
I stared at him.
He stared back.
Then something broke.
“I cannot lose you,” he said.
The room went silent.
Even Luca left.
Gabriel stepped closer.
“I have spent years watching people approach me because they wanted something. Money. Protection. Power.”
His hand lifted, then stopped before touching my face.
“You crashed into an elevator and refused everything I offered.”
“Not everything.”
His eyes darkened.
“What did you take?”
“A ride.”
He laughed despite himself.
Then I touched his hand.
“And a chance.”
The humor disappeared.
“Emily.”
“I know what you are.”
“No. You know pieces.”
“Then show me the rest later.”
His thumb brushed my cheek.
“If there is a later.”
“There will be.”
“How can you know?”
“Because you still owe me coffee.”
Then he kissed me.
Not like a mafia boss.
Not like a man taking something.
Like someone asking.
I answered.
For several seconds, the world contained no stolen millions, no fathers, no guns.
Only Gabriel.
When we separated, his forehead rested against mine.
“You are still not going inside that house.”
I sighed.
“There he is.”
The plan used me anyway.
I called Richard.
“I'll come.”
Gabriel's men surrounded the neighborhood invisibly.
Bomb technicians waited two blocks away.
I entered through the front door wearing a hidden microphone.
The house smelled exactly as I remembered.
Old wood.
Dust.
My childhood.
Richard sat in the living room.
His face was bruised.
Anna was tied to a chair.
Samuel Price stood behind her.
He was nearly 70.
Silver-haired.
Elegant.
He looked like someone's grandfather.
“Emily Bennett,” he said.
“Apparently.”
“You have caused extraordinary trouble.”
“I've been told.”
Richard looked at me.
“I'm sorry.”
I ignored him.
Samuel smiled.
“Your father finally discovered remorse.”
“He isn't my father.”
Richard flinched.
Good.
Samuel's smile faded.
“Technically, he is.”
My blood chilled.
“No.”
“He assaulted your mother, yes.”
Richard closed his eyes.
“But the pregnancy?”
Samuel shrugged.
“Biology can be cruel.”
I wanted to hit Richard.
Instead, I remembered Gabriel listening through the microphone.
Stay calm.
Samuel wanted something.
“Why bring me here?”
“Because Gabriel Romano has something I need.”
“What?”
“Evidence.”
“And you think he'll trade it for me?”
Samuel smiled.
“I saw the way he looked at you in that elevator.”
There it was.
The entire disaster began because someone had watched a powerful man notice a girl no one else considered important.
“He will come.”
A sound came from the kitchen.
Samuel's men raised their weapons.
Then the lights went out.
Gabriel.
Gunfire exploded outside.
I dropped.
Anna threw herself sideways.
Richard tackled Samuel.
For one astonishing second, my father did something brave.
Samuel fired.
Richard jerked.
Blood spread across his shirt.
I crawled to Anna and cut her restraints with a broken piece of glass.
Gabriel entered through the rear hall.
“Emily!”
“Here!”
Samuel grabbed me.
A gun pressed against my throat.
Gabriel stopped.
His weapon lowered.
Samuel smiled.
“Now we negotiate.”
Gabriel's eyes locked onto mine.
No panic.
Trust.
I remembered what he told me in the elevator.
Most people pretend they understand me.
I finally did.
Gabriel wasn't looking at Samuel.
He was looking at the sprinkler pipe above us.
I stomped Samuel's foot and dropped.
Gabriel fired.
The bullet struck the pipe.
Water exploded downward.
Samuel flinched.
Luca came from the side and disarmed him.
Police flooded the house.
It ended in seconds.
Richard lay bleeding on the floor.
I knelt beside him.
His eyes found mine.
“Emily.”
I pressed my hands against the wound.
“Don't talk.”
“I knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That you were mine.”
Tears ran from his eyes.
“And every time I looked at you, I remembered what I did.”
I stared at him.
“You punished me for your crime.”
“Yes.”
“You punished Mom.”
“Yes.”
“I will never forgive you.”
His eyes closed.
“I know.”
Paramedics rushed in.
They carried him away alive.
Gabriel found me outside.
Blood covered my hands.
“It's over,” he said.
I looked toward the ambulance.
“No.”
May you like
I leaned against him.
“Now everyone has to live with it.”
