Chương 11
“Where are the children?”
“Safe.”
“For the moment?”
Gabriel’s smile faded.
“I never intended to hurt them.”
Sophia moved before Dominic could stop her.
“You poisoned his cake.”
Gabriel looked at her.
His expression changed in a way she did not understand.
“You look like Michael when you’re angry.”
“Don’t say his name.”
“I was fond of him.”
Sophia’s face twisted.
“You got him killed.”
Gabriel lowered his eyes.
“That part is complicated.”
“No.”
She stepped around Dominic.
“A dead husband is actually very simple.”
Dominic caught her arm gently.
Gabriel watched the gesture.
Something like recognition passed across his face.
“Michael would have hated this.”
Sophia nearly lunged at him.
Dominic held her back.
Gabriel closed the mint tin.
“You brought the watch?”
Dominic took it from his pocket.
Gabriel’s gaze fixed on the gold case.
“Yes.”
“Let the children go.”
“Give it to me.”
“Children first.”
Gabriel looked almost disappointed.
“You sound exactly like Daniel.”
“I’m trying very hard not to.”
For the first time, Gabriel’s composure cracked.
His eyes hardened.
“That may be the first intelligent thing you’ve ever said.”
A burst of static came from somewhere in Gabriel’s coat.
Then a man’s voice shouted in the distance.
Vincent.
Gabriel turned slightly.
Dominic moved.
He struck the armed man before the pistol cleared his coat.
Sophia dropped behind the steel locker.
The gun fired once into the ceiling.
Dust rained down.
Dominic drove the man into the wall.
Gabriel backed into the corridor.
Sophia saw him reach inside his coat.
“Dominic!”
Dominic turned.
Gabriel held no gun.
He held a remote.
His thumb rested on a red button.
Everyone stopped.
Gabriel looked at Sophia.
“Tell Vincent to stop.”
Dominic’s voice went deadly quiet.
“What does that control?”
Gabriel glanced toward the east side of the building.
“The door where your children are.”
Dominic did not look toward the east side of the building.
He kept his eyes on Gabriel.
“What happens if you press it?”
Gabriel’s thumb remained poised over the button.
“The lock seals.”
“That’s all?”
“For now.”
Sophia rose slowly from behind the locker.
“For now is not an answer.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“The room has independent ventilation.”
Dominic’s voice went flat.
“And?”
“And if Vincent forces the door, the system changes modes.”
Sophia’s face went white.
“What modes?”
Gabriel said nothing.
Dominic lifted the radio from his belt with two fingers.
“You want me to call him off?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me exactly what that remote does.”
Gabriel glanced at the armed man Dominic had knocked against the wall.
The man was conscious but dazed, one hand pressed to his jaw.
His pistol lay several feet away.
Dominic saw Gabriel calculate the room.
He also saw the irritation when Gabriel realized he had fewer advantages than he wanted.
“Pressure lock,” Gabriel said.
“Secondary suppressant.”
“What suppressant?”
“Aerosol.”
Sophia stepped forward.
“What kind?”
“Nonlethal.”
Dominic’s expression did not change.
“I don’t take your word for anything.”
“You don’t need to.”
Gabriel nodded toward the locker.
“The specifications are in Michael’s files.”
Sophia looked at the pouch.
Gabriel’s mouth tightened.
“He was always careful.”
“You mean he kept evidence.”
“I mean he did not trust me.”
“Smartest thing he ever did.”
Gabriel absorbed the insult without reacting.
Dominic raised the radio.
“Vincent.”
Static.
Then Vincent answered.
“Go.”
“Hold position.”
A pause.
“We have the east door.”
“Do not breach.”
Another pause.
“Reason?”
“Pressure lock tied to a remote.”
Vincent swore softly.
“Children visible?”
“No.”
“We have audio.”
Dominic’s eyes sharpened.
“What audio?”
“Lily crying.”
Sophia closed her eyes.
Her hand found the edge of the locker.
“And Ethan?”
“Talking to her.”
The answer hit Dominic harder than the crying.
His son was frightened and trying to take care of someone smaller.
Gabriel heard it too.
Something shifted in his face.
Dominic noticed.
“You don’t like that.”
Gabriel said nothing.
“You didn’t expect them to be scared.”
“They were not supposed to wake up.”
Sophia stared at him.
“What did you do?”
“A mild sedative in the ventilation before transport.”
Dominic moved so fast the armed man flinched.
Gabriel’s thumb pressed harder against the remote.
“Careful.”
Dominic stopped inches from him.
“You drugged my son.”
“I needed time.”
“You took two children out of their beds.”
“I needed leverage.”
Sophia’s voice shook.
“You keep using clean words for filthy things.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Michael used to say that.”
“Stop talking about him like you loved him.”
“I did love him.”
Sophia’s anger faltered.
Not because she believed him.
Because he had said it without hesitation.
Gabriel looked toward the cabinet.
“Your husband was the closest thing I had to a son.”
Sophia recoiled.
“No.”
“He worked for me for almost four years.”
“No.”
“He came to me because he needed money.”
“Stop.”
“He stayed because he found out what Daniel had done.”
Dominic’s eyes narrowed.
“What had my father done?”
Gabriel finally looked at him.
“That is the first useful question you’ve asked.”
Dominic’s voice cooled further.
“Answer it.”
Gabriel glanced at the watch in Dominic’s hand.
“Give me that.”
“No.”
“It belongs to me.”
“It belonged to my father.”
Gabriel laughed once.
“No.”
The sound was small and bitter.
“It belonged to our father.”
Dominic looked at the initials.
“D.A.M.”
“Daniel Anthony Moretti.”
“Yes.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed at the watch.
“Domenico Angelo Moretti.”
Dominic went still.
Sophia looked between them.
“Your grandfather?”
Gabriel nodded.
“My father.”
Dominic stared at the watch as though its weight had changed.
Gabriel continued.
“Daniel inherited the business.”
“I know.”
“You know the version he let you know.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
Gabriel stepped farther into the room.
“When my father died, he left certain assets to Daniel and certain assets to me.”
“Money?”
“Control.”
“Of what?”
“Warehouses.”
Dominic said nothing.
Gabriel smiled without humor.
“You know exactly which warehouses.”
Dominic did.
Three properties along the Hudson had become the foundation of the Moretti shipping empire.
May you like
Daniel had always called them inherited holdings.
“He stole them from you.”
