Chapter 7 - THE MAN WHO HAD BEEN WATCHING US
Gabriel Marino had been inside the mansion for eleven months.
The same eleven months I'd worked there.
And according to the caller, he'd been watching me.
My hands began shaking.
“Who are you?”
The man hesitated.
“My name is Gabriel.”
“I heard you.”
“I didn't know who I was until recently.”
Matteo held out his hand.
“Let me speak to him.”
I put the call on speaker.
“Gabriel,” Matteo said quietly.
Silence.
Then the man whispered:
“Matteo?”
The name sounded strange.
Almost painful.
Matteo swallowed.
“Where are you?”
“In the old greenhouse.”
Luca immediately checked the estate cameras.
The greenhouse stood beyond the eastern gardens.
It had been closed for renovations.
Nobody was supposed to enter.
But the security footage showed someone slipping inside earlier that evening.
A man wearing a gray maintenance uniform.
I recognized him.
“Oh, my God.”
Matteo looked at me.
“What?”
“That's Daniel.”
Luca frowned.
“Daniel?”
“The gardener.”
He'd worked on the estate for almost a year.
Quiet.
Polite.
Always wearing a baseball cap.
He'd helped me carry groceries.
Fixed the broken wheel on my cleaning cart.
And once left a small birthday cupcake outside my room.
I'd never thought much about him.
Now I wondered whether he'd known who I was all along.
Police officers already investigating the poisoning were informed.
When the greenhouse was secured, Gabriel agreed to meet us.
He stood beneath a glass ceiling surrounded by roses.
Dark hair.
Gray eyes.
A familiar face.
Matteo stopped walking.
Gabriel looked at him.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Matteo whispered:
“You look like Mom.”
Gabriel's eyes filled with tears.
“I've been told that.”
Matteo stepped closer.
“Are you really my brother?”
Gabriel nodded.
“I had genetic testing done through an independent clinic. The documents are here.”
He handed Matteo a folder.
The preliminary results supported a close biological relationship.
Additional testing would be needed for legal confirmation.
But Matteo's expression had already changed.
He looked at Gabriel as though he were seeing a ghost.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Gabriel swallowed.
“Because I didn't know whether you were involved.”
“Involved in what?”
“My disappearance.”
Matteo looked devastated.
I stepped forward.
“Gabriel, why were you watching me?”
He turned toward me.
His eyes softened.
“Because your father told me to.”
My heart slammed.
“My father?”
Gabriel nodded.
“He's been trying to protect you.”
I swallowed.
“From whom?”
Gabriel looked toward Matteo.
Then toward Luca.
His expression darkened.
“Someone who controls this estate's security.”
Luca went completely still.
May you like
Gabriel continued.
“The man who ordered the vitamins delivered to Naomi was using Luca's authorization code.”
