Chapter 6 - The Man Behind The Workshop Window
“He's six blocks from here?”
Luca looked almost unable to believe it.
Marco nodded.
“Gabriel rents space behind a furniture shop. The owner lets him work late.”
Luca reached for his coat.
Then stopped.
“What about Rosie?”
Vanessa had returned from the coatroom.
Her expression changed when she heard Gabriel's name.
Luca turned toward her.
“You can take Rosie home once she's rested. But we are going to talk about what happened tonight.”
Vanessa looked frightened.
“Are you going to bring Gabriel to my apartment?”
“Not without speaking to you first. And not without making sure Rosie is comfortable.”
Some of the tension left her face.
Luca continued.
“But I won't help you keep her father hidden.”
Vanessa looked down.
“I understand.”
I watched him glance toward my bandaged hand.
“Hannah, you should go home.”
“I'm all right, sir.”
“You've had a difficult night.”
I hesitated.
Then said something I probably shouldn't have.
“So have you.”
He gave a tired smile.
“That's fair.”
Marco handed him the little wooden bird.
Luca turned it over.
On the bottom, someone had carefully carved a name.
ROSIE.
He swallowed.
“Hannah, would you come with us? You were the only person in that room who put Rosie first before anyone knew who she was.”
I wasn't sure why he wanted me there.
But I thought about the little girl waiting in the coatroom.
And the father who had apparently spent four years trying to find a way back to her.
“Yes,” I said.
We took one car.
No security vehicles.
No entourage.
Just Luca, Marco, and me.
The workshop was tucked behind an old brick storefront on Halsted Street.
Light spilled from a tall back window.
Inside, a man was working over a wooden dining chair.
His dark hair was longer than Luca's.
He wore a gray sweater with sawdust on the sleeves.
When he looked up, I saw the resemblance immediately.
The same eyes.
The same strong jaw.
But Gabriel Moretti looked tired in a way Luca didn't.
As though he'd spent years carrying something heavy without anyone noticing.
He set down his tools.
“Marco?”
Then he saw Luca.
The color drained from his face.
“No.”
Luca stopped just inside the doorway.
“Gabe.”
His brother stepped backward.
“You shouldn't be here.”
“I came because I found out about Rosie.”
Gabriel went completely still.
“What?”
Luca held up the wooden bird.
“Your daughter was at my engagement dinner.”
Gabriel stared at him.
Then his face tightened.
“Vanessa brought her?”
“Yes.”
“Was Rosie all right?”
The question came so quickly that I felt my chest ache.
Luca nodded.
“She's safe.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
“Thank God.”
“She was hungry. Hannah found her waiting in the coatroom.”
Gabriel looked at me.
I nodded.
“She ate dinner. She's resting now.”
He swallowed hard.
“Thank you.”
Then he turned back toward Luca.
“Why was she in the coatroom?”
Luca's expression hardened.
“Because Vanessa didn't want anyone to know she was her daughter.”
Gabriel looked stunned.
“But you knew.”
Luca stared at him.
“What?”
Gabriel's voice trembled.
“Vanessa told me you knew about Rosie.”
“When?”
“Last year.”
Luca shook his head.
“I learned about her tonight.”
Gabriel gripped the back of the chair.
For several seconds, he couldn't speak.
Then he gave a small, bitter laugh.
“She told me you'd met Rosie and didn't want anything to do with us.”
Luca looked devastated.
“I never knew I had a niece.”
Gabriel stared at his brother.
Then his shoulders began trembling.
“You didn't know?”
“No.”
“Four years, Luca.”
“I know.”
Gabriel looked away.
“I kept thinking if you wanted to see her, you'd ask.”
Luca stepped closer.
“And I kept thinking if you wanted to see me, you'd come home.”
The brothers stood facing each other.
I could almost see the years between them.
The arguments.
The misunderstandings.
The things neither had said because both believed the other had already stopped caring.
Luca looked around the workshop.
A small folding bed stood behind a curtain.
A coffee cup sat beside an old radio.
There were finished chairs lined against the wall.
“Have you been living here?”
“Since July.”
“Before that?”
“Milwaukee. I had steady work repairing furniture for a family-owned business.”
“You could have told me.”
Gabriel gave him a wounded look.
“You told me I didn't deserve our name.”
Luca lowered his eyes.
“I was wrong.”
“You didn't ask why I needed the money.”
“I should have.”
Gabriel looked at Marco.
The chef nodded.
“He knows about the hospital bills.”
Gabriel turned back.
Luca continued.
“I know you took responsibility for the withdrawal. I know Marco helped. I know Rosie was sick.”
Gabriel looked toward the window.
“Then you know why I couldn't leave her.”
“But you did leave.”
The words were painful.
Gabriel flinched.
Luca immediately softened.
“Gabe, I need to understand.”
His brother sat down.
“I thought I was doing what Vanessa wanted.”
“What did she want?”
“Somewhere safe for Rosie. Somewhere away from the arguments, the money, the people who came looking for us because of our last name.”
Luca nodded slowly.
“I understand why she was frightened.”
Gabriel rubbed his face.
“After I gave you the house, Vanessa said she'd stay with her aunt until I found steady work. She told me to get myself together before I tried being a father again.”
“And you believed her?”
“I wanted to believe we could fix things.”
His voice broke.
“I sent money when I could. I made birthday presents. I tried visiting twice.”
Luca looked at the wooden bird.
“Did Rosie get them?”
Gabriel shook his head.
“Vanessa said they upset her.”
I felt my stomach tighten.
Gabriel looked at me.
“She said Rosie cried afterward. That hearing from me made everything worse.”
Luca closed his eyes.
Gabriel continued.
“I should have fought harder. I know that. But every time I tried, Vanessa told me Rosie was finally doing well.”
He swallowed.
“I thought staying away was the only decent thing I could do.”
Luca crouched beside his chair.
“Gabe, she asked me to marry her eighteen months ago.”
Gabriel looked up.
His expression changed.
“She told me you were going to raise Rosie.”
Luca went still.
“What?”
Gabriel's eyes filled.
“Last Sunday, I went to the apartment because I couldn't stand missing another birthday. I wanted to ask whether we could start with a short visit.”
Luca waited.
“Vanessa told me the wedding was going ahead. She said you already knew Rosie was mine.”
“And?”
Gabriel looked directly at his brother.
“She said you'd agreed to become Rosie's father.”
May you like
His voice cracked.
“And that the only condition was that I never tried to see my little girl again.”
