Chương 11
Elena stared at the phone.
“And you never told me.”
“I didn’t know until she called.”
“What was in the envelope?”
“Copies of invoices.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Did Maria say which ones?”
“No.”
Gabriel’s voice lowered.
“She said she was taking them to a lawyer the next morning.”
Nobody spoke.
The meaning arrived slowly.
Elena felt it settle over the room.
Her mother had died the next morning.
In a car forced across a median by a Moretti Construction truck.
Adrian looked at Vincent.
Vincent’s face was pale.
“No.”
Elena heard herself whisper it.
“No.”
Adrian turned toward her.
“Elena.”
She stared at Vincent.
“Who was driving the truck?”
He shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“You knew enough to investigate me.”
“I was nineteen.”
“Who was driving?”
“I don’t know.”
Adrian said, “I can find out.”
Elena looked at him.
She wanted to trust the offer.
That was the worst part.
Some reflex inside her still recognized him as the man who found a blanket when she was cold in a hospital waiting room.
She hated that reflex now.
“You don’t get to find things for me.”
He absorbed the words without arguing.
“All right.”
Gabriel said through the phone, “Elena.”
She looked down.
“What?”
“I can tell you where the originals might be.”
Vincent’s eyes widened.
Adrian went still.
Elena almost laughed.
There it was.
The bargain.
Gabriel had never known how to speak without turning information into currency.
“What do you want?”
He hesitated.
“Protection.”
“From who?”
Gabriel’s voice dropped.
“I didn’t call Vincent because I wanted money.”
Vincent stared at the phone.
“You just asked me for two hundred fifty thousand.”
“I asked because I need to disappear.”
Adrian said, “From who?”
Gabriel was silent long enough that the traffic behind him became louder.
Then he said, “Daniel Mercer.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“Mercer is threatening you?”
Gabriel gave a short laugh through the phone.
“You think he sends polite letters?”
Vincent stared at the device.
“You told me he was out of the picture.”
“I lied.”
“That much is obvious.”
Elena pressed her palm against the back of the chair until the wood edge hurt.
“Why is he after you?”
Gabriel did not answer.
“Because of the papers?”
“Yes.”
“What papers?”
“The ones Rafael kept.”
“You said you sold them.”
“Copies.”
Elena closed her eyes briefly.
“Of course.”
Gabriel’s voice became defensive.
“I kept one set.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
Adrian said, “Against my father?”
“Against everybody.”
Vincent rubbed a hand over his face.
“Where are they?”
Gabriel laughed.
“You really think I’m telling you over the phone?”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“You called us.”
“I called Vincent.”
“That was your first mistake.”
“My first mistake was trusting Carlo.”
The name sharpened the silence again.
Elena looked at Adrian.
His face remained controlled, but a muscle jumped once along his jaw.
“What did my father promise you?”
“Enough.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“Money.”
“How much?”
Gabriel hesitated.
“Seventy-five.”
Vincent scoffed.
“You blackmailed him for seventy-five thousand dollars?”
“It was a lot then.”
“And he paid?”
“Yes.”
Adrian’s expression darkened.
“Through the company?”
“No.”
“Then how?”
“Cashier’s check.”
“From where?”
“I don’t know.”
“You deposited it.”
“I cashed it.”
“Where?”
Gabriel snapped, “I was a drunk with gambling debt, not an accountant.”
Elena felt something ugly and almost familiar rise in her.
“That part I believe.”
Gabriel went quiet.
She regretted the line immediately.
Not because it was untrue.
Because it sounded like her mother.
Maria had been able to turn contempt into one clean sentence and then feel guilty about it for three days.
Gabriel said, “You always did have her mouth.”
Elena looked away.
“Don’t talk about her like you knew her better than I did.”
“I knew her before you existed.”
“And then you stole from her after she died.”
The phone fell silent again.
Madison rose from the chair slowly.
Her veil had slipped slightly to one side.
She reached up and adjusted it with an automatic, almost absurdly domestic gesture.
Vincent watched her.
“Maddie.”
She removed the veil completely.
That silenced him.
She folded it once over her arm.
The movement was careful.
Controlled.
“I’m going upstairs.”
Vincent stared at her.
“What?”
“I’m changing.”
“Madison.”
“I’m not getting married today.”
His face emptied.
Several guests nearby looked down.
Madison glanced toward the room.
“Apparently everyone knows already.”
Vincent stepped toward her.
“You’re making a decision while you’re upset.”
She looked at him with tired disbelief.
“You mean while I know things.”
“That’s not fair.”
“No.”
Her voice softened.
“It isn’t.”
Then she looked at Elena.
“I’m sorry.”
Elena did not know what to do with the apology.
She nodded once.
Madison left without another word.
Her mother hurried after her.
Vincent watched them disappear through the ballroom doors.
For the first time all afternoon, he looked less like a man protecting something and more like a man watching his life leave the room.
Elena almost felt sorry for him.
Then Gabriel’s voice came through the phone.
“Vinny?”
Vincent looked down.
“What?”
“You still there?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“What do you want?”
“Meet me.”
Adrian said, “Where?”
Gabriel laughed.
“You too?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Elena leaned toward the phone.
“I’m coming.”
Gabriel went silent.
Then he said, “Absolutely not.”
She almost smiled.
“You don’t get to decide that.”
“Elena, listen to me.”
“I’ve listened enough.”
“This isn’t safe.”
“You spent eleven years making decisions about my family without me.”
“I didn’t—”
“Where?”
Gabriel exhaled heavily.
“Queens.”
“Where in Queens?”
“A storage place near College Point.”
Adrian glanced at Elena.
“You know it?”
“No.”
Gabriel said, “There’s a unit.”
“What unit?”
“I’m not giving that over the phone.”
Vincent muttered, “Convenient.”
Gabriel ignored him.
“I’ll text the address.”
Adrian said, “Why now?”
“Because Mercer found me.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“You always know more than you say.”
“That family trait?”
May you like
Elena closed her eyes.
The remark was so petty, so Gabriel, that for a second she was twelve years old again, listening to him bait her father across a kitchen table.
