Chapter 4 - Shadows in the Ledger
Over the next three weeks, the rhythm of my life split into two entirely different worlds.
By day, I was still Tessa the waitress at Ilvento, serving overpriced wine to tourists and bankers, though Richard noticed I walked with a little less stress now that the hospital collection calls had stopped. By Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, I was Tessa the intruder in the Rossi fortress, chopping vegetables in a professional-grade kitchen while an aging mafia don sat fifteen feet away, barking critiques in dialect.
Slowly, the armor chipped away.
Salvatore wasn't just a terrifying legend; he was a man trapped in the wreckage of a life built on violence, drowning in regret he would never say out loud. He talked about the olive groves in Palermo before the concrete took them over. He talked about his wife, who had died forty years ago, and about the terrible price of holding an empire together.
And Gabriel was always there on the periphery.
He didn't join us in the room, but I often caught him standing in the doorway or watching through the glass partitions, observing how his father laughed at my sharp retorts.
One Thursday evening, after Salvatore had fallen asleep in his chair, I packed up my knives and walked out toward the foyer. Gabriel was standing by the tall windows, looking out at the gardens as the sun dipped below the horizon.
“He looks better,” Gabriel said without turning around. “His color is coming back. He’s eating.”
“He’s lonely, Gabriel,” I said, stopping a few feet behind him. Using his first name felt strange, but after hours spent in the same house, the formal title felt silly. “He doesn't need a bodyguard or a nurse. He needs someone who isn't afraid to tell him when he’s being a hypocrite.”
Gabriel turned slowly, his dark eyes catching the amber light of the hallway lamps. “Most people are terrified of him, Tessa. Even now, paralyzed and old. They think he’s a monster.”
“Was he?” I asked, before I could stop myself.
The question hung in the air, sharp and dangerous. Gabriel didn't flinch. He walked slowly toward me, his expression unreadable, closing the distance until I could see the fine flecks of amber in his dark irises.
“He did what he had to do to survive a world that wanted to crush him and everyone he loved,” Gabriel said quietly. “Power isn't clean. You don't build safety in our world by being kind.”
“Is that why you’re doing it now?” I asked, my gaze holding his. “Building safety?”
Gabriel looked down at me, a flicker of something raw and exposed flashing across his face before he locked it back behind his usual cool mask. “I’m trying to keep the house from falling apart while the foundation is rotting out from under us.”
“What do you mean?”
Before Gabriel could answer, a sharp chime echoed from the hallway.
It was the private intercom on the wall near the study. Gabriel’s cell phone buzzed in his pocket at the exact same moment. He pulled it out, glanced at the screen, and his entire demeanor shifted instantly. The calm, composed businessman vanished, replaced by a cold, lethal focus.
“What is it?” Gabriel answered, pressing the phone to his ear.
I watched his face pale. The easy warmth of the evening vanished, replaced by a stark, absolute rigidity.
May you like
“Check the perimeter,” Gabriel commanded into the phone, his voice dropping into a harsh, dangerous register. “And get my father into the safe room. Now.”
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