Chapter 13 - THE LAST NIGHT IN COSTA TOWER
Gabriel evacuated the building.
Pierce stayed on the fiftieth floor.
Alone.
Waiting.
Norah refused to remain outside.
“Absolutely not.”
“You’re not going up.”
“He wants the will.”
“He wants me.”
“He wants both.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“You have spent twenty-one nights sleeping in a car because you refused to ask anyone for help.”
“That is not relevant.”
“It is extremely relevant.”
“How?”
“You have terrible judgment.”
She almost laughed.
Then his expression softened.
“I’m not losing you because of mine.”
The words silenced her.
Gabriel went upstairs with Elias.
Pierce stood inside the penthouse office.
A device sat on Gabriel’s desk.
Timer.
Twenty-two minutes.
Pierce smiled.
“Son.”
Gabriel’s face turned cold.
“Don’t.”
“You know now.”
“I know Vincent was my father.”
Pierce’s smile disappeared.
“Not biologically.”
“I don’t care.”
That hurt him.
Good.
Pierce wanted the will.
Gabriel did not have it.
Norah had given it to federal investigators before he entered.
“What happens now?” Gabriel asked.
“You lose everything.”
“Buildings can be rebuilt.”
“The company?”
“Companies too.”
“Your reputation?”
Gabriel shrugged.
Pierce stared.
He had built his entire strategy around a man terrified of losing power.
But Gabriel was no longer that man.
“What do you want, Samuel?”
“My inheritance.”
“You were never entitled to one.”
“I created you.”
Gabriel’s voice lowered.
“You contributed DNA. Vincent raised me.”
Pierce’s face twisted.
Then he reached for the detonator.
Elias moved.
Gabriel moved faster.
The struggle lasted seconds.
The detonator slid across the floor.
Pierce crashed into the desk.
Elias restrained him.
Bomb squad officers entered from the stairwell.
The device was disarmed with four minutes remaining.
Outside, Norah waited behind police barricades.
When Gabriel emerged, she ran toward him.
He barely had time to react before she wrapped both arms around him.
He froze.
Then held her.
Tightly.
For several seconds, the entire street disappeared.
Norah finally stepped back.
“Don’t ever do that again.”
“Go into my own office?”
“Almost die.”
“I’ll put it on my calendar.”
She hit his chest.
He caught her wrist gently.
Their eyes met.
Something changed.
Then Gabriel’s phone rang.
It was the district attorney.
Pierce had begun talking.
In exchange for avoiding life in federal prison, he offered evidence against dozens of people connected to the Costa network.
Including Gabriel.
Norah went still.
“What evidence?”
Gabriel listened.
His face changed.
Pierce claimed he had proof Gabriel personally authorized three murders.
Gabriel lowered the phone.
“I didn’t.”
Norah did not hesitate.
“I know.”
That mattered more than anything.
Then the district attorney sent one file.
The signatures looked genuine.
The dates matched.
The authorization codes belonged to Gabriel.
But one detail proved they were fake.
All three documents had been signed on the same day.
The day Gabriel was unconscious after being shot seven years earlier.
Someone else had used his identity.
And that person had never been Pierce.
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The authorization witness was Isabella Costa.
Gabriel’s mother.
