Chapter 10 - THE FATHER GABRIEL NEVER HAD
Gabriel left the hospital without speaking.
Norah found him on the rooftop parking deck.
Rain fell over Manhattan.
He stood beneath it without a coat.
“You’re going to get sick.”
He laughed once.
“That would be almost normal.”
Norah stepped beside him.
“You believe Matteo?”
“I don’t know.”
Samuel Pierce.
His father?
It sounded absurd.
Yet suddenly old memories rearranged themselves.
Pierce at every birthday.
Pierce at school events when Vincent was traveling.
Pierce arguing with Isabella behind closed doors.
Pierce always insisting Gabriel inherit everything.
Norah said quietly:
“Do a test.”
“With what?”
“Pierce’s office must have something.”
Elias obtained a hair sample from Pierce’s private brush.
Gabriel provided DNA.
The result came before dawn.
Probability of biological paternity:
99.96%.
Gabriel read it twice.
Vincent Costa had raised him.
Samuel Pierce had fathered him.
Norah sat across from him.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“Losing who you thought you were.”
He folded the paper.
“I’m still me.”
“Yes.”
Her certainty surprised him.
“You sound sure.”
“I’ve worked for you seven years. DNA isn’t why men are afraid of you.”
That almost made him smile.
Then she added:
“Unfortunately.”
He did smile.
Barely.
The moment passed.
Elias entered.
“We found Isabella.”
Gabriel stood.
“Where?”
“Same apartment in Jersey she’s used for five years.”
They went immediately.
His mother opened the door herself.
She looked older.
Not glamorous.
Not untouchable.
Just tired.
“Gabriel.”
“You knew.”
She closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Pierce was my father.”
“Yes.”
“Did Vincent know?”
“From the beginning.”
Gabriel’s anger faltered.
“He knew?”
“He married me anyway.”
“Why?”
“Because Samuel wanted nothing to do with a child.”
Gabriel said nothing.
Isabella continued.
“Vincent gave you his name. Raised you. Protected you. Loved you.”
“Then why did Pierce kill him?”
“Because Vincent discovered Samuel was laundering money through the estate.”
There it was.
Not passion.
Not jealousy.
Greed.
Again.
Gabriel asked:
“Why did you disappear?”
“Samuel threatened you.”
“You could have told me.”
“You had just taken control. You were surrounded by men loyal to him.”
She opened a drawer.
Inside was a letter.
Vincent’s handwriting.
Gabriel recognized it immediately.
Son,
Blood makes relatives.
Choice makes family.
If you ever learn the truth, remember I chose you.
Gabriel’s eyes burned.
He looked away.
Then Isabella said something else.
“Vincent also knew Leo was his son.”
Gabriel turned.
“He planned to acknowledge him.”
“When?”
“The night he died.”
And suddenly Pierce’s motive became even clearer.
Vincent’s death had prevented Leo from becoming legally recognized.
But Isabella was not finished.
“There’s one final document Samuel has spent eight years trying to destroy.”
“What?”
“Vincent’s second will.”
“Where is it?”
May you like
She looked directly at Norah.
“Your mother hid it.”
