Chapter 3 — The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
The photograph slipped from Chloe's fingers.
It landed face-up on the concrete floor.
Nobody moved.
The underground corridor beneath Il Canto suddenly felt much smaller.
The air was cold.
Damp.
It smelled faintly of dust and old metal.
But Chloe barely noticed any of it.
She could only see the name written on the back of the photograph.
SALVATORE.
Gabriel Costello stood motionless beneath the weak yellow light.
For the first time since Chloe had met him, he looked genuinely shaken.
Not angry.
Not calculating.
Shaken.
“Say it again,” he whispered.
Chloe swallowed.
“Salvatore.”
Gabriel stared at the photograph.
“Who wrote that?”
“I don't know.”
“Who gave you the picture?”
“Your mother.”
Gabriel looked toward Beatrice.
His mother stood several feet away.
Her hands were trembling.
She slowly raised them.
Chloe watched.
Beatrice signed:
“I tried to tell you.”
Gabriel's eyes hardened.
“Tell me what?”
Beatrice pointed toward the photograph.
Then toward the floor.
Then toward herself.
Her hands moved quickly.
Chloe translated.
“She says Salvatore never died.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“No.”
Beatrice nodded.
“Yes.”
“No.”
Gabriel's voice became louder.
“My uncle died eight years ago.”
Beatrice shook her head.
“He wanted you to believe that.”
Gabriel stared at her.
Vincent stepped backward.
That small movement didn't escape Gabriel.
He turned.
“You knew.”
Vincent's jaw tightened.
“I knew something was wrong.”
“That's not what I asked.”
“I didn't know he was alive.”
Gabriel stepped toward him.
“You knew something.”
Vincent said nothing.
Gabriel grabbed his jacket.
“Eight years.”
Vincent didn't resist.
“You stood beside me for eight years.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
Gabriel laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“You protected me by lying?”
Vincent's expression tightened.
“You wouldn't have believed me.”
“Try me.”
“I couldn't.”
“Why?”
Vincent looked toward Beatrice.
Then at Chloe.
Then back at Gabriel.
“Because your father made me promise.”
Gabriel released him.
The corridor fell silent.
“My father?”
Vincent nodded.
“Before he died.”
Gabriel stared at him.
“What promise?”
Vincent looked down.
“I promised I'd protect you from the truth until you were ready.”
Gabriel's face became cold.
“You don't get to decide when I'm ready.”
“I know.”
“No, you don't.”
Gabriel stepped closer.
“You don't get to decide what I deserve to know.”
Vincent's voice dropped.
“Your father knew Salvatore wanted the company.”
“I know.”
“He wanted more than the company.”
Gabriel stopped.
“What?”
Vincent looked at the photograph.
“He wanted everything.”
Gabriel's expression didn't change.
“Explain.”
Vincent hesitated.
Then said:
“Your father's businesses. His accounts. His political connections. His people.”
Gabriel waited.
“And you.”
Silence.
Chloe's eyes widened.
“Me?”
Vincent nodded.
“Salvatore believed you were the only thing standing between him and complete control.”
Gabriel stared at Vincent.
“My father had two sons.”
The sentence came unexpectedly.
Chloe looked at him.
“What?”
Gabriel didn't look at her.
“My father had two sons.”
Vincent's face went pale.
Gabriel continued.
“Everyone knows about me.”
He turned slowly toward Vincent.
“Almost everyone.”
Vincent didn't move.
Chloe looked between them.
“What does that mean?”
Gabriel's voice was barely audible.
“It means Vincent isn't just my lieutenant.”
Chloe looked at Vincent.
Vincent closed his eyes.
Gabriel said:
“He's my half-brother.”
Chloe stared.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
The revelation was so unexpected that her mind struggled to process it.
Vincent.
The man Beatrice had warned Gabriel about.
The man sitting on his right.
The man who knew ASL.
The man who had met Leo.
His half-brother.
Chloe looked at Beatrice.
The older woman nodded sadly.
She had known all along.
Gabriel turned toward her.
“You knew?”
Beatrice nodded.
“You knew Vincent was my brother?”
Another nod.
“And you never told me?”
Beatrice's hands moved.
Chloe translated.
“She says your father made her promise.”
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
“My father made everyone promise something.”
Beatrice shook her head.
Then signed:
“Because he knew Salvatore would kill anyone who exposed him.”
Gabriel went silent.
A metallic ringing echoed through the corridor.
The hidden telephone.
It rang again.
Everyone looked toward it.
The phone sat on a small wooden table at the end of the hallway.
Old.
Black.
With a coiled cord.
It looked as though it had been untouched for decades.
It rang again.
Gabriel walked toward it.
Vincent grabbed his arm.
“Don't.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because that's what he wants.”
“Who?”
Vincent didn't answer.
The phone rang again.
Gabriel reached for it.
Chloe whispered:
“Maybe you shouldn't.”
Gabriel looked at her.
She expected anger.
Instead, he said:
“You're right.”
He stepped away.
The phone continued ringing.
Then stopped.
Silence.
Ten seconds.
Twenty.
Nothing.
Then the phone rang again.
This time, once.
And a piece of paper slid from beneath the table.
Chloe stared.
Gabriel noticed.
He walked over and picked it up.
There was only one sentence.
YOU WERE ALWAYS YOUR FATHER'S FAVORITE.
Gabriel's fingers tightened around the paper.
Another sheet slid from beneath the table.
Then another.
And another.
Four pieces of paper.
All with handwritten messages.
YOU TOOK WHAT WAS MINE.
YOU NEVER ASKED WHY YOUR FATHER FEARED ME.
YOU NEVER ASKED WHY YOUR BROTHER WAS HIDDEN.
Gabriel stopped.
His eyes moved to Vincent.
“Brother?”
Vincent looked at the message.
His face changed.
Chloe whispered:
“Your father hid him?”
Gabriel didn't answer.
Vincent did.
“He hid me because Salvatore wanted me dead.”
Gabriel turned.
“Why?”
“Because I was proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Vincent swallowed.
“That your father wasn't the man everyone thought he was.”
Gabriel stared at him.
Vincent continued.
“Your father had enemies.”
“I know.”
“He also had secrets.”
“What secrets?”
Vincent looked at Chloe.
Then at Beatrice.
Then at the locked door at the end of the corridor.
“He had a ledger.”
Gabriel's expression sharpened.
“What ledger?”
“A record of every payment.”
“Every payment to whom?”
“Judges.”
“Politicians?”
Vincent nodded.
“Police.”
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
“Why would my father keep that?”
“Because he wasn't using it to control them.”
Vincent paused.
“He was using it to protect people.”
Chloe frowned.
“How?”
Vincent looked at her.
“Your brother found out.”
Her heart stopped.
“What did Leo find?”
Vincent walked toward her.
Gabriel immediately stepped between them.
Vincent stopped.
“I knew Leo because he came looking for that ledger.”
Chloe shook her head.
“Why would Leo be looking for your family's records?”
“He wasn't.”
Vincent's eyes hardened.
“He was looking for someone.”
“Who?”
“Your father.”
Chloe stared.
“My brother never knew your father.”
“He knew his name.”
“How?”
Vincent looked at Gabriel.
“Because someone gave Leo a photograph.”
Chloe's hands became cold.
“The same photograph?”
“No.”
Vincent shook his head.
“Another one.”
Gabriel said:
“Where is it?”
Vincent didn't answer.
Gabriel stepped forward.
“Where?”
“Leo had it.”
Chloe's voice broke.
“You said he found something.”
“He did.”
“What?”
Vincent looked at her.
“He found a recording.”
“What recording?”
“Your father talking to someone.”
“Who?”
Vincent's eyes moved toward Gabriel.
“Salvatore.”
Gabriel froze.
Chloe felt the hairs rise on her arms.
“Your father recorded a conversation with Salvatore?”
Vincent nodded.
“Before he died.”
“What did they say?”
“I never heard the entire thing.”
“Why?”
“Because Leo only had part of it.”
Chloe stared.
“What happened to the recording?”
Vincent looked away.
“Someone took it.”
“Who?”
Vincent hesitated.
Then whispered:
“Clara.”
Gabriel's expression changed.
“Clara Moretti?”
Vincent nodded.
Chloe didn't know the name.
Gabriel did.
“She's my family's charity director.”
“Yes.”
“She has worked for my mother for twelve years.”
“I know.”
Gabriel's voice became quieter.
“And you think she took Leo's recording?”
Vincent shook his head.
“I know she did.”
The underground corridor seemed to become colder.
Gabriel stared at him.
“Proof.”
Vincent reached inside his jacket.
Gabriel's hand immediately moved toward the gun beneath his coat.
Vincent stopped.
“I'm not drawing a weapon.”
“Then move slowly.”
Vincent carefully pulled out a folded piece of paper.
He handed it to Gabriel.
Gabriel unfolded it.
A bank transfer.
Several accounts.
Different names.
Different companies.
All connected to one foundation.
The Costello Family Foundation.
Chloe looked at the document.
“What am I looking at?”
“Money,” Vincent said.
“How much?”
“Enough to buy silence.”
Gabriel scanned the page.
Millions of dollars.
Payments made over several years.
Shell companies.
Consulting fees.
Charitable donations.
Private security contracts.
His face became harder with every line.
Then he stopped.
One payment caught his eye.
The date was two years ago.
Three days before Leo died.
Gabriel pointed at it.
“This.”
Vincent nodded.
“That's the one.”
“Who received it?”
Vincent looked at Chloe.
She already knew.
Her stomach dropped.
“Leo?”
Vincent shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed to the recipient.
Bennett Logistics.
Chloe stopped breathing.
“My family's company?”
Vincent nodded.
“Your mother worked there.”
Chloe stared at the paper.
Her mother's old workplace.
A company she had always believed was completely unrelated to the Costellos.
“How?”
“We don't know.”
Gabriel looked at Vincent.
“You said Clara moved the money.”
“Yes.”
“Why would she send money to Bennett Logistics?”
“I don't know.”
“Who authorized it?”
Vincent's eyes lowered.
“Your uncle.”
Gabriel stared at him.
“Salvatore?”
Vincent nodded.
“But he was dead.”
“He wasn't.”
Gabriel looked at the date again.
Two years ago.
Three days before Leo died.
Chloe suddenly understood something.
Leo hadn't been killed randomly.
He had been investigating something.
Something involving the Costello family.
Something involving money.
Something involving a hidden recording.
And now she was standing inside a secret room beneath a restaurant where Beatrice had deliberately brought her son.
This was not coincidence.
Her brother had been connected to these people long before Chloe ever knew they existed.
She looked at Gabriel.
“Why me?”
He stared at her.
“What?”
“Why did your mother choose me?”
Gabriel looked toward Beatrice.
Beatrice slowly raised her hands.
Chloe watched.
The signs were simple.
“Because Leo trusted her.”
Chloe frowned.
“Leo trusted who?”
Beatrice pointed toward herself.
Chloe's eyes widened.
“You knew Leo?”
Beatrice nodded.
“How?”
Beatrice touched her heart.
Then pointed toward Chloe.
Then signed:
“He helped me.”
Gabriel stared at his mother.
“When?”
Beatrice pointed toward the photograph.
Then made a driving motion with her hands.
“Car.”
Chloe whispered:
“When?”
Beatrice held up two fingers.
“Two years ago.”
Chloe felt dizzy.
Two years ago.
Before Leo died.
She looked at Beatrice.
“You met my brother two years ago?”
Beatrice nodded.
“Where?”
Beatrice pointed toward the hospital.
Chloe's breath caught.
“The hospital?”
Beatrice nodded.
Gabriel stepped forward.
“Mom.”
Beatrice signed.
“I saw him.”
“What was he doing?”
“He was afraid.”
“Why?”
Beatrice looked toward Vincent.
Then signed:
“He asked me to protect you.”
Chloe's eyes filled with tears.
“Me?”
Beatrice nodded.
“What did he say?”
Beatrice's hands trembled.
“He said they would come for you if he failed.”
Chloe covered her mouth.
Gabriel looked at her.
“Who?”
Beatrice looked at the dark corridor.
Then toward the ceiling.
Then she made the sign for man.
One man.
She pointed toward Gabriel.
Then made another sign.
Uncle.
Gabriel whispered:
“Salvatore.”
Beatrice nodded.
Then she signed something that made Chloe's blood freeze.
“He already knows she is here.”
Gabriel turned toward the entrance.
The hidden door.
He listened.
Nothing.
Then—
Footsteps.
Above them.
Slow.
Measured.
Someone was walking through the restaurant.
Gabriel raised one hand.
Everyone became silent.
The footsteps stopped.
A muffled voice came through the wooden panel.
“Gabriel?”
Chloe recognized it.
Marco.
The restaurant manager.
Gabriel looked toward Vincent.
Vincent shook his head.
“Don't open it.”
Marco knocked.
“Mr. Costello?”
Gabriel remained silent.
Another voice came from above.
A woman's voice.
Calm.
Elegant.
Familiar to Gabriel.
“Gabriel, darling?”
He froze.
Chloe looked at him.
“Who is that?”
He didn't answer.
Beatrice grabbed Chloe's arm.
Her eyes were terrified.
She signed one word.
Clara.
The woman outside knocked again.
“Gabriel?”
A pause.
Then she said softly:
“I know you're down there.”
Gabriel's eyes became ice.
Clara continued.
“And I know exactly what your mother showed you.”
Nobody moved.
Then came three soft knocks.
Exactly three.
The same rhythm Beatrice had used on the wall.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Chloe looked at Beatrice.
Beatrice was trembling violently now.
Gabriel whispered:
“How does she know?”
Vincent answered.
“Because she has been watching us.”
Gabriel looked at the hidden staircase.
Then at Chloe.
Then at his mother.
Finally, he looked at the closed door.
His voice was almost emotionless.
“Everybody stay behind me.”
Chloe shook her head.
“No.”
Gabriel turned.
“What?”
“You can't keep putting yourself between everyone and everything.”
His eyes narrowed.
“That's exactly what I'm going to do.”
Chloe stepped closer.
“That's why your mother couldn't warn you.”
Gabriel stopped.
“She needed someone who would actually listen.”
Beatrice looked at Chloe.
Then smiled sadly.
Gabriel stared at his mother.
For a moment, something softened in his expression.
Then—
The hidden door began to open.
Slowly.
One inch.
Two.
Three.
A thin line of light appeared.
Gabriel reached beneath his jacket.
Vincent moved beside him.
Chloe stepped backward.
Beatrice stood behind them.
The door opened halfway.
But nobody entered.
Instead, a small object rolled down the first step.
It stopped at Gabriel's shoe.
A cell phone.
Old.
Cracked.
Chloe recognized it immediately.
Her breath vanished.
She had seen that phone before.
Hundreds of times.
It had belonged to Leo.
Gabriel looked down.
The screen suddenly lit up.
One video file appeared.
No title.
Only a date.
Two years ago.
The night before Leo died.
Gabriel looked at Chloe.
“Do you want to see it?”
Chloe stared at the screen.
Her hands trembled.
“Yes.”
Gabriel pressed play.
The screen showed darkness.
Then Leo's face appeared.
Bruised.
Terrified.
Breathing hard.
He looked directly into the camera.
His hands began moving.
ASL.
Chloe understood immediately.
Her knees almost gave out.
Leo signed:
Chloe, if you're watching this, I'm already dead.
Chloe covered her mouth.
Leo continued.
Don't trust the Costellos.
The video flickered.
Leo looked over his shoulder.
Then signed faster.
But don't trust the person you think is protecting them, either.
The screen went black.
Then one final frame appeared.
A man's face.
For less than a second.
Gabriel recognized him.
Vincent recognized him.
Beatrice closed her eyes.
Chloe stared.
The man on the screen was older.
Gray-haired.
Cold-eyed.
Smiling.
Gabriel whispered one word.
“Salvatore.”
May you like
The video ended.
And from somewhere above them came the sound of a gunshot.
