Chapter 3

“Silas,” Gabriel repeated, his voice vibrating with a sudden, lethal rage.

His uncle Silas Moretti had been the family patriarch since Gabriel’s father passed away. He was the man who had comforted Gabriel at Leo’s funeral. The man who had walked Vanessa into the engagement party just two hours ago.

Gabriel gripped the bloodstained watch. “Silas arranged the ambush. Vanessa’s family was just the distraction.”

I held Ethan tighter. “But why? Why would your own uncle want Mateo dead? Mateo was just your driver.”

“Because Mateo wasn’t just a driver,” Gabriel said, standing up. “Mateo kept the ledgers. The real ones. The books that proved Silas had been stealing millions from the families we swore to protect. Leo found out. He went to Mateo for help.”

Gabriel looked down at the empty coffin.

“Leo knew Silas would try to kill Mateo at the gates. So Leo wore Mateo’s jacket, took his car, and drove into the ambush himself to give Mateo time to escape.”

“Daddy said he ran into the woods,” Ethan whispered, pointing to the pocket of the burnt coat still in Gabriel’s hands. “Check the secret pocket, Mr. Gabriel. Daddy always uses secret pockets.”

Gabriel frowned. He ran his hands along the lining of his brother’s ruined coat.

Near the ribs, he found a small slit.

He reached inside and pulled out a faded, folded piece of paper. It was a map.

I recognized the handwriting instantly. It was Mateo’s messy, hurried scrawl.

Red ink traced a path from the Moretti estate, down the coastline, ending at a small red X.

“The old shipyard,” Gabriel breathed. “It’s been abandoned for ten years.”

“Mateo took me there once,” I said, my voice trembling as memories flooded back. “Before Ethan was born. He told me it was the one place the syndicate didn’t own.”

Gabriel pulled his phone from his pocket. He dialed his security chief.

“Marcus,” Gabriel barked. “Lock down the estate. Do not let my uncle Silas leave the grounds. I’m heading to the coast.”

Gabriel hung up and turned to us. “I’m putting you both in a safe house. It’s too dangerous to come with me.”

“No,” I said firmly.

Gabriel looked at me, surprised.

“My husband is out there,” I said, stepping forward. “I’ve spent four years washing floors to feed his son because we thought he abandoned us. If Mateo is at that shipyard, I am going to be the one who brings him home.”

Gabriel stared at me for a long moment. Then, he nodded.

“Let’s go get your husband.”

We rushed back to the armored SUV. The rain was turning into a torrential downpour.

As Gabriel started the engine, his phone lit up on the console.

It was a call from the basement holding room at the estate.

Gabriel answered it on speaker. “What is it?”

A rough, wheezing voice came through the speakers. It wasn’t his guard.

It was Vanessa.

“You’re too late, Gabriel,” she laughed, a sickening, wet sound. “Your uncle didn’t stay for dessert.”