Chapter 2

I pulled Ethan behind me, throwing my body in front of the blade.

But Vanessa never reached us.

Gabriel moved with terrifying speed. He grabbed Vanessa’s wrist mid-air, twisting it until a sickening crack echoed through the room. Vanessa dropped the knife, screaming in agony as she collapsed to her knees.

Gabriel didn’t let go of her arm. His dark eyes were dead.

“Guards,” Gabriel said quietly.

Four armed men in black suits instantly stepped out from the shadows of the hallway.

“Take my fiancée to the basement holding room,” Gabriel ordered. “If she speaks to anyone, shoot her. If she tries to leave, shoot her.”

“Gabriel, please!” Vanessa sobbed, clutching her broken wrist as the men dragged her backward. “They’ll kill me! If you open that vault, my father will kill us all!”

Gabriel ignored her screams as the heavy oak doors slammed shut.

He knelt down in front of Ethan again, his hands shaking as he took the silver key from my son’s palm.

“You’re a brave boy, Ethan,” Gabriel whispered. “Your father would be so proud of you.”

He looked up at me. “Maya. I need you to come with me. Both of you.”

“To the vault?” I asked, my heart hammering against my ribs.

“To my brother’s coffin,” Gabriel said.

We left the mansion in Gabriel’s armored SUV. The drive to the Moretti private cemetery was silent, save for the wipers pushing heavy rain off the windshield. I held Ethan tightly against my chest in the backseat. I had spent three years grieving a husband I thought was dead. Tonight, the impossible was unraveling before my eyes.

The family mausoleum sat beneath an old stone church. Gabriel used the silver key to unlock the heavy iron gates. The air inside was freezing and smelled of ancient dust.

We walked down a row of marble tombs until Gabriel stopped in front of a massive stone sarcophagus. The nameplate read: Mateo Ruiz. Loyal Friend.

Gabriel placed his hands on the heavy marble lid. With a guttural shout, he shoved.

The stone ground against stone, echoing loudly in the crypt. The lid slid off and crashed onto the floor.

Gabriel stared inside.

He fell to his knees.

I stepped forward, covering Ethan’s eyes, terrified of what I might see. But there was no body. No bones.

The velvet-lined coffin was filled with heavy river stones to mimic the weight of a body.

And resting on top of the stones was a burnt, black leather trench coat.

Gabriel reached in with trembling hands and pulled the coat out. It was Leo’s coat.

“He really did it,” Gabriel choked out, tears finally breaking his stoic face. “My brother took Mateo’s place.”

Gabriel checked the pockets of the charred coat.

His fingers brushed against something hard. He pulled it out.

It was a heavy gold pocket watch, stained with dried blood.

Gabriel flipped it open.

The engraved initials inside were S.M.

I gasped. “Gabriel. That’s…”

“My uncle Silas,” Gabriel whispered, staring at the watch. “He was supposed to be in Italy the night Mateo died.”