Chapter 8 - GABRIEL COSTELLO
Gabriel entered the estate surrounded by armed men.
He looked remarkably like Arthur.
Same gray eyes.
Same sharp features.
But colder.
“You should have stayed dead,” Arthur said.
Gabriel smiled.
“You should have stayed obedient.”
He looked at me.
“Norah.”
I stepped forward.
“You knew my father.”
“Yes.”
“You helped destroy him.”
Gabriel's expression hardened.
“He betrayed us.”
“He tried to stop you.”
“He tried to save people who didn't matter.”
My blood boiled.
“My father mattered.”
Gabriel laughed.
“Your father was weak.”
Arthur stepped between us.
“Enough.”
Gabriel raised his gun.
“Give me the journal.”
“No.”
“Then she dies.”
I looked at Arthur.
He was silent.
Then I stepped forward.
“Take it.”
Arthur turned.
“No.”
I whispered:
“Trust me.”
I handed Gabriel the journal.
He smiled.
Then opened it.
The final page was blank.
His expression changed.
“You lied.”
“No,” I said.
“The evidence is somewhere else.”
“Where?”
I looked at Arthur.
He understood.
The evidence had already been sent to federal investigators.
Gabriel's face collapsed.
Sirens sounded outside.
Federal agents surrounded the estate.
Gabriel looked at Arthur.
“You planned this.”
Arthur shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“She did.”
Gabriel was arrested.
His empire collapsed within weeks.
Arthur's criminal organization followed.
He dismantled most of it himself.
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For the first time, he chose a life without fear.
And he chose me.
