Chapter 2 - THE PHOTOGRAPH OF MY DEAD BROTHER
My brother Gabriel had been dead for four years.
At least, that was what the police report said.
He'd been found inside a burned warehouse near the Hudson River, one of three victims of an attack attributed to the Bellini family.
I had identified his body by a watch our father gave him.
The remains were badly damaged.
I hadn't wanted to see more.
Now I stared at a photograph showing Gabriel with Elena Rossi.
They were standing outside a small restaurant in Brooklyn.
Gabriel had one arm around her waist.
She was smiling.
And he looked happier than I'd seen him in years.
“Where did you get this?” I asked.
“An old employee file,” Rocco answered. “Someone attached it to a background check performed when Elena was hired.”
“Who ordered the check?”
Rocco hesitated.
“Vivien.”
My stomach tightened.
“Elena has worked here for almost two years.”
“Yes.”
“Vivien moved in eighteen months ago.”
“Yes.”
I looked up.
“Then how did Vivien order Elena's hiring investigation?”
Rocco slid another document toward me.
The date had been altered.
Someone had accessed Elena's original personnel file three months earlier, copied her identification documents, and added the photograph.
The changes had been made using the credentials of our former estate manager, Paul Mercer.
Mercer had retired six months ago.
Or so I'd been told.
“Find him,” I said.
“We're trying.”
I looked toward the photograph again.
Gabriel.
Elena.
And Mia.
Three years old.
Gabriel had died four years ago.
The dates were close enough to make my chest tighten.
“Does Elena know who Gabriel was?”
“I don't know.”
“Then don't assume anything.”
Rocco nodded.
At ten-thirty, I went to my mother's sitting room.
Isabella sat beside the fireplace, knitting a blue scarf.
She looked up.
“You're angry.”
I closed the door.
“Did Gabriel know a woman named Elena Rossi?”
The knitting needles stopped.
My mother stared at me.
“Where did you hear that name?”
I felt cold.
“You knew.”
She looked away.
“Lorenzo—”
“Mother.”
Her eyes filled.
“Gabriel loved her.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“How long?”
“Nearly two years.”
“Why didn't he tell me?”
“Because he knew you would worry about her safety.”
I stared.
“Did they marry?”
“No.”
“Did they have a child?”
My mother closed her eyes.
“Gabriel told me Elena was pregnant shortly before he disappeared.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
I stepped backward.
“Disappeared?”
She opened her eyes.
For four years, everyone had called Gabriel's death a murder.
My mother had just used a different word.
“What do you mean, disappeared?”
Isabella's hands trembled.
“Your brother came to me the night before the warehouse fire. He said someone inside our organization was working with the Bellinis.”
“Who?”
“He didn't know.”
I swallowed.
“What else?”
“He said he was going to meet someone who could help him prove it.”
“And then?”
She looked down.
“Then the warehouse burned.”
I stared at her.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because after Gabriel died, someone left a note beneath my bedroom door.”
She rose slowly and opened a drawer.
Inside was a folded sheet of paper.
She handed it to me.
There were only nine words.
ASK ABOUT THE BABY, AND YOU'LL BURY ANOTHER SON.
I read it twice.
Then looked at my mother.
“Who sent this?”
“I never found out.”
“And Elena?”
“I tried to find her. She'd vanished.”
My chest tightened.
“She was here the whole time.”
Isabella began crying.
“I didn't know.”
I left my mother's room just before midnight.
The corridor was dark.
At the far end, a small figure stood beside the staircase.
Mia.
She wore yellow pajamas and held a stuffed rabbit by one ear.
“Uncle Lorenzo?”
I crouched.
“Why are you awake, little bird?”
She looked toward Elena's room.
“Mommy's crying.”
I felt my chest tighten.
“Do you know why?”
Mia nodded.
“Bad lady.”
I opened my arms.
She walked into them.
I held her gently.
Then she whispered:
“Uncle Lorenzo?”
“Yes?”
“Do you know my daddy?”
My breath stopped.
I looked into her eyes.
“Why do you ask?”
She touched my cheek.
“Mommy says I have his smile.”
May you like
I couldn't answer.
Because Gabriel had smiled exactly like that.
