Chapter 6 - THE MISTRESS WHO WAS PAID TO KEEP HIM AWAY
Bianca was found in Milwaukee.
Not running far.
Just far enough.
She asked for an attorney before saying Gabriel’s name.
Then she cooperated.
Vittorio had approached her three months earlier.
He knew she and Gabriel had flirted at a restaurant.
He offered money.
Not to seduce Gabriel.
That had already begun emotionally.
To keep him occupied on one specific night.
The twins’ likely delivery window.
“How did he know the exact night?” Norah asked.
Bianca looked toward Dr. Harris.
Everyone did.
Harris denied it.
Then admitted something smaller.
He had been reporting Norah’s cervical measurements to Vittorio.
Why?
Vittorio claimed Gabriel wanted private updates because he was “too busy to ask.”
Harris believed him.
Incompetence weaponized.
But he had not known about the plot.
Bianca’s job was simple.
Convince Gabriel to stay downtown.
Get his phone turned off.
She succeeded.
“What if Norah died?” Gabriel asked.
Bianca looked ashamed.
“I was told a private medical team would be there.”
There wasn’t.
Vittorio expected Dr. Harris to handle the birth.
Then, once babies were born, estate security would separate them.
One child could disappear.
Perhaps both.
But Norah neutralized guards first.
Called Harris before Vittorio’s team could arrive.
Then escaped in five minutes while Harris retrieved his bag.
Eleanor’s planning had beaten Vittorio by minutes.
Gabriel asked Bianca:
“Did you know my children could be taken?”
“No.”
“Did you know Norah was in labor?”
She started crying.
“Yes.”
That was enough.
Whatever complicated feelings Gabriel had once used to justify the affair died completely.
Bianca handed investigators her messages with Vittorio.
One mattered most.
Vittorio:
If the boy survives, we use the old protocol.
Bianca:
What protocol?
Vittorio:
Mateo.
Gabriel’s fists tightened.
The plan was to steal baby Luca the same way Mateo had been stolen.
Then potentially tell Gabriel the boy died.
Again.
Then Bianca produced one last piece.
A voice note from Vittorio.
“Norah is the bigger problem. She knows where Daniel put the ledger.”
The painting.
Vittorio knew.
He would go for it.
The private club was evacuated under a fire-code inspection.
The painting removed legally before Vittorio reached it.
Norah opened the backing.
Inside:
Microfilm.
Old bank transfers.
Bribery records.
And one photograph.
Vittorio standing beside Gabriel’s father, Salvatore.
Between them?
Luca.
Not head of security.
A different Luca.
Norah frowned.
Gabriel went pale.
“My brother.”
Gabriel had once had a younger brother named Luca Costa.
Dead at sixteen.
Overdose.
At least that was what everyone said.
The photograph was dated six years after Luca’s supposed death.
May you like
His brother had been alive.
And standing beside Vittorio.
