Chapter 5 - The Lie I Had Been Forced to Keep
Gabriel looked at me as though I had just pulled the ground from beneath him.
“What haven't you told me?”
I swallowed.
“When I was held captive, Daniel wasn't alone.”
“Who else?”
“A woman.”
“Who?”
“Sofia Bell.”
Connor's sister.
Gabriel's expression hardened.
“She worked for Connor.”
“She saved my life.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
But I did.
And I finally told him.
Sofia had discovered Marcus Vale's plan.
Marcus wanted Gabriel and Connor to destroy each other.
He arranged attacks.
He fabricated financial evidence.
He manipulated Daniel.
And he needed Clara because she was the one person Gabriel would trust.
But there was another reason.
The Russo empire contained an encrypted ledger.
The ledger identified politicians, businessmen, corrupt officials, and criminals who had secretly worked with Marcus.
Whoever controlled it controlled Chicago.
Gabriel's father had hidden it.
Marcus believed Clara knew where it was.
She didn't.
But Marcus believed she could lead him to it.
That was why I was tortured.
That was why my pregnancy became part of the threat.
The child gave Marcus another weapon.
Gabriel looked furious.
“Why didn't you tell me this?”
“Because Daniel threatened to kill you.”
“He couldn't.”
“He showed me photographs.”
Gabriel went silent.
“Photographs of you leaving a hotel with another woman. Photographs of Elena. Photographs of your men.”
He realized.
“They were staged.”
“Yes.”
He sat down.
For the first time, I saw how exhausted he was.
Eight months of hatred had been built on lies.
And he had believed every one.
We went to the old Union Station.
Gabriel refused to let me enter the building.
Instead, I waited in a vehicle surrounded by his trusted men.
But Marcus had planned for that.
The building's power suddenly went out.
Gunfire erupted.
Gabriel's men scattered.
I heard Gabriel shouting my name.
Then the car door opened.
Daniel stood outside.
“Clara.”
I screamed.
He grabbed me.
But before he could drag me away, Elena shot the gun from his hand.
Daniel ran.
Gabriel appeared seconds later.
He looked at me.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
Then he saw blood on my sweater.
His face changed.
“Clara!”
“It's not mine.”
A man lay bleeding near the car.
Connor Bell.
He had escaped.
He looked at Gabriel.
“Marcus is at the warehouse.”
Gabriel knelt beside him.
“Why should I believe you?”
Connor coughed.
“Because Daniel told me something.”
“What?”
“He didn't betray you because he hated you.”
Gabriel waited.
“Marcus has his daughter.”
Gabriel froze.
Daniel's daughter.
A child nobody knew existed.
Seven years old.
Marcus had kidnapped her years earlier.
Daniel had been blackmailed ever since.
Gabriel's anger shifted.
Not forgiveness.
Understanding.
Daniel had committed terrible crimes.
But he had been controlled by fear.
Connor continued.
“Marcus wants the ledger.”
Gabriel looked at me.
I finally understood.
The ledger wasn't money.
It was evidence.
Evidence capable of destroying Marcus.
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And someone had hidden it inside the one place nobody would search.
St. Catherine Medical Center.
