Chapter 9 - The Woman in the Mirror
To hunt Sebastian Vale, Chloe had to become someone he believed he understood.
Weak.
Emotional.
Predictable.
She hated all three.
For two weeks, Gabriel's organization appeared to collapse.
That was the illusion.
Russo disappeared.
Official rumor said Gabriel had executed him.
In reality, Russo remained in a secure basement beneath one of Bellini's properties, feeding controlled information into Vale's network.
Tommy's body was never found.
That rumor required no assistance.
Bellini publicly withdrew from Rossi territory.
Three crews announced neutrality.
Two casinos stopped paying tribute.
The newspapers reported increasing instability in the city's criminal underground.
Exactly what Vale wanted.
Exactly what Chloe wanted him to see.
Gabriel hated the plan.
"You leave the penthouse alone."
"Not alone."
"Visible."
"That's the point."
"You go to Sarah's apartment."
"Yes."
"With one guard."
"Three more will be hidden."
"Vale isn't stupid."
"Neither am I."
Gabriel paced.
They were in the dressing room.
Always the dressing room.
The place where everything between them had begun.
Chloe stood before the mirror.
Black dress.
No visible weapon.
A small pistol strapped to her thigh.
Gabriel stopped behind her.
"I don't like using you as bait."
"I'm not bait."
"What are you?"
"The hook."
He looked at her reflection.
"You've become terrifying."
"You promoted me."
"My worst management decision."
She smiled.
He did not.
Chloe turned.
"Gabriel."
"If this goes wrong—"
"It won't."
"You don't know that."
"No."
She touched his face.
"But neither did I when I warned you about Miller."
His eyes closed briefly.
"That feels like another life."
"It was."
He opened them.
"Come back."
Chloe kissed him.
"I always do."
Sarah's apartment remained empty.
She had been moved to a protected location known only to Luca, Gabriel, and Chloe.
Vale did not know that.
Chloe entered at 8:15 p.m.
Lights on.
Curtains open.
Visible from the street.
She made tea.
Sat on the sofa.
Pretended to read.
Nine.
Ten.
Eleven.
Nothing.
At 11:23, the building lost power.
Chloe stood.
There.
Footsteps in the hallway.
Slow.
One person.
The door opened.
Not forced.
Key.
A man entered.
Chloe recognized him.
Hospital administrator.
Executive network access.
Vale's infrastructure.
He raised a suppressed pistol.
Chloe dropped behind the sofa.
Two shots struck the wall.
She fired through the cushion.
The man fell.
Alive.
Wounded.
Bellini's men entered thirty seconds later.
They dragged him upright.
Chloe crouched.
"Where is Vale?"
The man laughed.
"You think this matters?"
"Yes."
"He knows what you're doing."
Chloe felt cold.
"What?"
"He knows Russo flipped."
She stood.
"Gabriel."
She called.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Her blood froze.
The penthouse.
She ran.
Gabriel was gone.
Security footage showed him entering the private elevator at 10:42.
Alone.
A message had arrived on his personal phone.
From Luca.
COME TO THE HOSPITAL. I FOUND MOM'S ORIGINAL FILE.
But Luca had sent no message.
Chloe looked at the screen.
"Vale cloned Luca's number."
Bellini swore.
"Where did Gabriel go?"
Mateo would have known.
Mateo was dead.
Chloe closed her eyes.
Think.
Gabriel would verify.
Unless the message contained something only family knew.
Something emotional.
Something about Elena.
Vale understood Gabriel.
That was his advantage.
"Hospital?"
"No."
Chloe shook her head.
"Too obvious."
She looked at the old photograph.
Antonio.
Vale.
Bellini.
Former mayor.
Federal judge.
Then she understood.
"Courthouse."
Bellini frowned.
"What?"
"The judge in the photograph."
She pointed.
"Federal courthouse."
"At midnight?"
"Not the courthouse."
She searched records.
The judge had retired.
Owned property outside Manhattan.
A historic estate.
Chloe stared at the address.
Gabriel had been there once.
As a child.
According to Elena's files, it was where the Consortium had originally been formed.
"That's where."
They arrived at 1:40 a.m.
No police.
No army.
Chloe took six men.
Bellini remained outside.
The estate looked abandoned.
Inside, candles burned.
Gabriel sat in a chair.
Hands tied.
Blood on his face.
Alive.
Vale stood behind him.
Luca stood beside Vale.
Chloe stopped.
The world tilted.
Gabriel looked at her.
"No."
Not warning Vale.
Warning Chloe.
Luca held a gun.
Chloe stared.
"Luca?"
His face was broken.
"I'm sorry."
Gabriel closed his eyes.
Vale smiled.
"Family."
Chloe understood.
Not Russo.
Not Tommy.
They were layers.
Luca was the center.
The cameras.
The key.
Sarah.
Everything.
"You gave Sarah the key."
"Yes."
"You wanted Vale to take her."
Luca looked sick.
"I thought he'd scare her. I didn't know—"
"You knew."
"No."
Chloe raised her gun.
Luca raised his.
Gabriel struggled against the chair.
"Chloe, don't."
Vale watched with fascination.
"Elena would appreciate this."
"Shut up."
Chloe kept her eyes on Luca.
"Why?"
Luca's hand shook.
Finally.
A tell.
"Because Gabriel was never supposed to inherit."
Silence.
Luca looked at his brother.
"Father chose him."
Gabriel stared.
"I never wanted it."
"I know."
Luca laughed bitterly.
"That's what made it worse."
The respectable brother.
The surgeon.
The good son.
He had spent his life escaping the family.
Only to discover resentment had followed him.
"Vale approached me after Dad died."
Luca's eyes filled.
"He told me the truth. About Mom. About Dad. Everything."
"And you believed him?"
"He had proof."
Vale smiled.
"I always keep records."
Chloe looked at Gabriel.
"Did Luca arrange Miller?"
Vale answered.
"Yes."
Gabriel's face broke.
Luca whispered:
"I thought if you died, it would end."
"You thought killing me would end it?"
"I thought Vale would leave us alone."
Gabriel laughed.
Softly.
Sadly.
"You were always smarter than me."
He looked at his brother.
"But you never understood monsters."
Vale's smile faded.
Gabriel continued.
"They don't stop eating because you feed them."
Chloe saw Luca realize it.
Too late.
Vale raised his gun.
Not toward Gabriel.
Toward Luca.
Chloe fired.
The room exploded.
Her bullet struck Vale's shoulder.
Gabriel threw himself sideways with the chair.
Luca fired.
Vale's men entered.
Bellini's shooters responded from outside.
Glass shattered.
Chloe dove behind a column.
Gunfire ripped through furniture.
Gabriel broke the chair against the floor.
One arm free.
He grabbed a fallen weapon.
Fired.
Vale ran upstairs.
Luca remained frozen.
Gabriel aimed at him.
Brother against brother.
Chloe shouted:
"Gabriel!"
He could not pull the trigger.
Luca lowered his gun.
"I'm sorry."
Gabriel's hand shook.
Then a shot.
Luca jerked.
Blood appeared across his chest.
Vale stood on the staircase.
Smoking pistol.
"No loose ends."
Gabriel screamed.
He fired repeatedly.
Vale disappeared.
Gabriel caught Luca before he hit the floor.
Chloe ran to them.
Luca gasped.
Blood bubbled between his lips.
Gabriel pressed his hands against the wound.
"No."
Luca looked at him.
"Mom was right."
"Don't talk."
"Wrong Rossi survived."
Gabriel shook his head.
"No."
Luca smiled weakly.
"She meant me."
His eyes closed.
Gabriel shouted his name.
Nothing.
Chloe knelt beside him.
Checked.
No pulse.
Gabriel sat on the floor holding his brother.
The war continued around them.
But he heard none of it.
Chloe touched his shoulder.
He looked at her.
Twenty years of grief in one expression.
Then footsteps upstairs.
Vale escaping.
Gabriel looked toward the staircase.
Chloe saw the choice.
Brother.
Enemy.
Past.
Future.
She took Gabriel's gun.
"I'll go."
He caught her wrist.
"No."
"You stay with him."
"No."
"Gabriel."
He looked at Luca.
Then Chloe.
Finally, he released her.
Chloe stood.
She followed the blood trail upstairs.
Vale was wounded.
Slow.
Dangerous.
She found him in the old ballroom.
He stood beside a shattered window.
Snow blew inside.
"Chloe."
His gun hung loosely in his hand.
"You're remarkable."
She aimed.
"Drop it."
"You could have ruled beside me."
"No."
"You think Gabriel is different?"
"No."
That surprised him.
Chloe stepped closer.
"I know exactly what he is."
Vale smiled.
"And you love him anyway."
"Yes."
"Then you're worse than Elena."
"Probably."
Vale raised his weapon.
Chloe watched his hand.
The fingers.
The tension.
The beginning of movement.
She fired first.
The bullet struck his chest.
Vale stumbled.
He looked genuinely surprised.
Chloe fired again.
He fell backward through the shattered window.
Gone.
Silence.
Chloe walked to the edge.
Three floors below, Sebastian Vale lay motionless in the snow.
Twenty years ended in white.
Chloe lowered the gun.
Then she returned downstairs.
Gabriel still held Luca.
Chloe sat beside him.
No words.
Nothing could repair it.
Gabriel eventually looked at her.
"Is he dead?"
"Yes."
He nodded.
Then lowered his forehead against Luca's.
Chloe wrapped her arms around Gabriel.
May you like
And for the first time since she had entered his world, the king did not look powerful.
He looked human.
