Chapter 8 - The Ambush
Isabel’s face was bruised, her red dress torn at the shoulder. She looked terrified.
Gabriel spun around. He instinctively reached for his inside jacket pocket, but one of the older men—Silvio, my father’s former underboss—stepped forward and shook his head.
"I wouldn't, Gabriel," Silvio said, his voice like gravel.
Gabriel slowly lowered his hand. He looked at Elena, who was crying silently, clutching something in her fist. Then he looked at me.
"What is this, Caroline?" he demanded.
"This is the end of our marriage," I said, walking slowly around the mahogany table. "Just like you wanted."
I stopped in front of Isabel. She flinched.
"I didn't tell them," she sobbed, looking at Gabriel. "I swear, Gabriel. They grabbed me outside the condo. They already knew."
"Of course they knew," I said. "Because I called Silvio this morning."
I looked at my daughter. "Elena. Show your father what you brought."
Elena stepped forward, her hands trembling violently. She opened her fist.
The silver rosary with the dried blood tumbled from her fingers, clattering loudly onto the polished wood table.
Gabriel stared at it. "Elena, go home," he ordered.
"No," she choked out. "Mom told me everything. You used me, Dad. You used my name to hide her. You made me lie to Mom."
"I protected you!" Gabriel shouted, slamming his hand on the table. "You think you understand how this world works, Caroline? You think your father’s old lapdogs can save you? The Rossi family is coming. They know I have Isabel. They know about the boy. If I didn't transfer those assets, they would have slaughtered all of us."
"You transferred the assets so you could run away with their daughter," Silvio corrected him coldly. "You stole from Vincenzo Falcone’s bloodline to buy a ticket to Bogota."
"I built this family!" Gabriel roared.
"You married into it," I corrected quietly.
The room went dead silent.
"Thirty-two years," I said, my voice finally cracking with the weight of it. "I sat by your mother’s deathbed. I held your hand when you couldn't sleep. I mourned your brother with you. And the whole time, you were raising a son with our enemy’s daughter."
I picked up the forged legal documents from the table and slowly tore them in half.
"The waterfront properties belong to me, Gabriel. They always have. The blind trust was dissolved an hour ago by my lawyers."
Gabriel lunged at me.
He didn't make it two steps. Silvio and the other men tackled him to the floor, pinning him hard against the Persian rug.
"Caroline!" Gabriel screamed, struggling wildly. "Caroline, please! They’ll kill me!"
I stood over him, smoothing my black suit.
"I know," I said.
Isabel dropped to her knees, weeping hysterically. "Please, Mrs. DeLuca. My son. Our son. Please don't let them hurt him."
I looked down at the woman who had helped destroy my life.
I reached into my purse and pulled out the single item I had taken from the lockbox besides the watch.
The blue envelope. The one-way ticket to Colombia.
May you like
I handed it to Isabel.
"Your flight leaves in three hours," I said.
