Chapter 10 - Dinner Without Words
Chloe stared at Gabriel for so long that the room seemed to hold its breath with her.
"You were at Leo's university the night he died."
Gabriel nodded once.
"Yes."
"And you somehow forgot to mention that."
"I didn't know it mattered until now."
Chloe laughed without humor.
"My brother died outside that campus."
"I know."
"You knew there was a connection to your family."
"Not until tonight."
"You knew Luca was there."
Gabriel's expression hardened.
"Yes."
"You knew Vincent had been near my apartment."
"No."
"You knew enough to be afraid of that newspaper clipping."
"Because my mother's name was connected to it."
Chloe stepped closer.
"Tell me everything."
Gabriel looked at the police officer in the landlord's office.
Then he looked at Mrs. Flores.
"Not here."
Chloe's anger sharpened.
"I am getting very tired of that sentence."
Beatrice touched her arm.
She signed.
Home.
This time, Gabriel saw the sign.
"Home," he said.
Beatrice nodded.
Chloe folded her arms.
"I am not going anywhere until I know why you were there."
Gabriel took a slow breath.
"Luca told me a union organizer was threatening one of our legitimate contracts."
"What contract?"
"Campus food distribution."
"At Leo's university?"
"Yes."
"What time?"
"Around nine."
Chloe's stomach tightened.
Leo had been struck shortly after eleven.
"Where did you meet Luca?"
"Parking garage."
"Did you see Leo?"
"No."
"Did Luca leave before you?"
Gabriel hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
Chloe's voice dropped.
"Did he?"
"Yes."
"How long before you?"
"Maybe twenty minutes."
"Where did he say he was going?"
Gabriel's face changed.
"He said Vincent needed him."
Rocco swore quietly.
Beatrice signed rapidly.
Chloe translated.
"She says Vincent came to the house after midnight with mud on his shoes."
Gabriel looked at his mother.
"I remember."
Everyone turned toward him.
"What do you remember?" Chloe asked.
"He came to the hospital the next morning."
"After Leo died?"
"After Dad was transferred."
Chloe frowned.
"Your father was in the hospital that same night?"
Gabriel nodded.
"He had chest pain."
Rocco looked startled.
"Anthony was hospitalized that night?"
"For observation."
"Why didn't I know?"
"Because Dad ordered me not to tell anyone."
Beatrice's hands began moving.
Chloe watched.
She looked at Gabriel.
"She says your father wasn't having chest pain."
Gabriel frowned.
"What?"
Beatrice repeated.
He was afraid.
He thought Luca knew about the photograph.
He wanted to leave the house without Luca knowing where he went.
Gabriel stared at her.
"He used the hospital as cover?"
Beatrice nodded.
"Why?"
Because he was meeting someone.
"Who?"
Beatrice pointed at Chloe.
Chloe's heart stopped.
"Leo?"
Beatrice shook her head.
Then she signed a name.
Nina Vale.
Rocco's face went pale.
"Nina met Anthony that night?"
Beatrice nodded.
Gabriel looked from Rocco to his mother.
"You knew?"
Rocco shook his head.
"I knew your father had contacted her before his death."
"You never said they met."
"Because I never knew they did."
Gabriel looked at Chloe.
"We need Nina."
Chloe did not move.
"After you answer one more question."
"What?"
"Why did you lie just now?"
His eyes narrowed.
"I didn't."
"You said you met Luca about a campus contract."
"I did."
"But if your father was secretly meeting Nina at the hospital, and Luca left you to go see Vincent, why were you really on campus?"
Gabriel went silent.
Chloe felt Rocco watching him.
Even Beatrice looked uncertain now.
Gabriel closed the laptop.
"Because Luca told me my father was losing control."
No one spoke.
"He said Anthony was hiding money and planning to replace me."
Gabriel's voice stayed steady, but his face did not.
"He said the proof was in a file being delivered near the university."
"Did you find it?"
"No."
"Who was supposed to deliver it?"
Gabriel looked directly at Chloe.
"A student."
Her pulse jumped.
"Name."
"Luca never gave me one."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I expect you to decide after you hear the rest."
Chloe stepped closer.
"There is more?"
"I waited in the garage."
He looked at the frozen image of Vincent on the screen.
"A young man crossed the lower level around nine-thirty."
Chloe stopped breathing.
"Was it Leo?"
"I don't know."
"Did he have a green hoodie?"
Gabriel's eyes flickered.
That was answer enough.
Chloe slapped him.
The sound cracked through the landlord's office.
Mrs. Flores gasped.
The police officer took one instinctive step forward.
Rocco did not move.
Beatrice did not look surprised.
Gabriel's head turned with the impact.
Chloe's palm burned.
"You saw him."
Gabriel slowly faced her again.
"Maybe."
"You saw my brother hours before he died and you said nothing."
"I didn't know who he was."
"You knew after the newspaper article."
"I never connected the photograph."
"Because you didn't care."
The words landed harder than the slap.
Gabriel did not defend himself.
Chloe's eyes filled.
She hated that more.
"He was not a clue in your family mystery."
"I know."
"He was my brother."
"I know."
"Stop saying that."
Gabriel fell silent.
Beatrice moved between them.
She looked at her son.
Her hands rose.
Apologize without defending yourself.
Chloe translated because she wanted him to hear it.
Gabriel looked at Beatrice.
Then at Chloe.
"I am sorry."
He did not add anything.
No excuse.
No explanation.
Just the words.
Chloe turned away.
She was not ready to forgive him.
But for the first time, he had stopped trying to control the shape of her anger.
They returned to the Costello estate at sunrise.
No one slept.
At eight, Beatrice appeared in the breakfast room wearing a navy dress and pearls.
Chloe sat at the long table with coffee she had forgotten to drink.
Gabriel entered five minutes later.
He looked like he had aged overnight.
Beatrice pointed to the chair across from her.
Sit.
Gabriel understood the gesture if not the sign.
He sat.
She pointed at his phone.
Then at the table.
Gabriel set the phone face down.
Beatrice pointed to Chloe.
No voice.
Chloe blinked.
"What?"
Beatrice repeated.
No voice.
Hands only.
Gabriel looked at Chloe.
"She wants what?"
"Breakfast without spoken English."
His face went blank.
Beatrice nodded firmly.
Chloe almost smiled.
Gabriel stared at his mother.
"I know maybe five signs."
Beatrice raised her eyebrows.
Chloe translated.
"She says that is five more than yesterday."
Gabriel looked offended.
Beatrice smiled.
For the next twenty minutes, the most feared man Chloe had ever met struggled to ask for coffee.
He signed cup when he meant coffee.
He signed hot when he meant more.
He accidentally told Beatrice that the toast was angry.
Beatrice laughed so hard she wiped tears from her eyes.
Chloe laughed too.
Gabriel finally smiled.
It changed his whole face.
Then he caught himself and became serious again.
Beatrice reached across the table.
She placed her hand over his.
Slowly, she showed him the sign for sorry.
Gabriel copied it.
Then he looked directly at her.
Sorry.
Beatrice's smile faded.
Her eyes filled.
She did not say it was fine.
She did not forgive him with a gesture.
She simply squeezed his hand.
It was more honest than forgiveness would have been.
A phone vibrated on the sideboard.
Gabriel ignored it.
It vibrated again.
And again.
Rocco entered without knocking.
"You need to see this."
Gabriel looked irritated.
Rocco held up a tablet.
"Luca just arrived at the gate."
Beatrice's hand went still in Gabriel's.
Rocco continued.
"He says he has proof I paid Leo Bennett ten thousand dollars three days before he died."
Chloe stood.
"Did you?"
Rocco looked at her.
"Yes."
The room turned cold.
Gabriel rose slowly.
"Why?"
Rocco did not answer.
The front doors opened somewhere down the hall.
Luca's voice carried through the house.
May you like
"Because Rocco has been lying to you for years."
