Chapter 12 - THE TIDE TURNS
"Isabella." Gabriel’s voice cut through the roaring wind.
She stood twenty yards away, her designer coat flapping in the sea breeze. The rifle in her hands was steady. Her eyes were red-rimmed and hollow.
"I told you I loved you, Gabriel," Isabella screamed over the crashing waves. "I tried to fix it. I really did. But my father called me this morning. He knows Sarah ran. He knows about the second ledger."
Gabriel stepped in front of me, shielding me and my family with his own body.
"Put the gun down, Isabella," Gabriel said calmly. "Alejandro is going to prison. Don't throw your life away for him."
"He's my father!" she cried, tears streaming down her face. "He told me to get the ledger, or he would have me killed, too! I have no choice!"
She raised the rifle, peering down the sights.
"Give me the metal tube, Gabriel. Toss it on the ground."
I squeezed my eyes shut, holding my mother's hand tightly.
Gabriel didn't throw the tube.
He simply reached into his pocket.
And he pulled out his cell phone.
"Call him," Gabriel said.
Isabella frowned, her finger trembling on the trigger. "What?"
"Call your father," Gabriel yelled. "Right now. Put him on speaker."
Isabella hesitated. She kept the rifle aimed with one hand, clumsily pulling her phone from her pocket with the other. She dialed.
The phone rang twice.
"Isabella?" Alejandro Varela's smooth, arrogant voice echoed from the phone’s speaker. "Do you have the ledger?"
Gabriel spoke before she could answer.
"Alejandro. It's Gabriel Romano."
Silence on the other end of the line.
"Your daughter is currently aiming a rifle at me in Montauk," Gabriel said, his voice entirely devoid of fear. "But I think you should turn on Channel 4 News before she pulls the trigger."
Isabella looked confused.
Over the phone, we heard the sound of a television clicking on.
Then, a sharp intake of breath from Alejandro.
"How?" Alejandro gasped.
"My head of security, Anthony, didn't go looking for Leo this morning," Gabriel said coldly. "He went to the FBI. The file I sent them thirty minutes ago contained the contents of the first ledger. Your offshore accounts, your bribes, your connection to Marcus. It's all gone, Alejandro. The feds are probably kicking down your door right now."
Sirens suddenly wailed through the phone speaker.
"You bastard!" Alejandro screamed, before the line abruptly went dead.
Gabriel looked at Isabella.
"Your father’s empire is gone," Gabriel said softly. "The second ledger doesn't matter anymore. It's over, Isabella. You don't have to do this."
Isabella stared at the phone in her hand. The screen went black.
She looked at Gabriel. The man she was supposed to marry. The man she had betrayed.
With a shattering sob, she dropped the rifle onto the gravel.
She fell to her knees, burying her face in her hands, weeping for the destruction of her life.
Gabriel didn't gloat. He simply kicked the rifle away.
Five minutes later, Anthony arrived with two black SUVs and local police. They gently took Isabella into custody. She didn't fight. She looked completely broken.
Gabriel watched the police cars drive away, the flashing red and blue lights fading into the morning mist.
Then, he turned around and walked back to us.
He knelt in front of Leo's wheelchair.
"It's done, brother," Gabriel said, placing a hand on Leo's knee. "No more running. No more hiding."
Leo smiled, leaning back in his chair. The heavy, suffocating weight of eighteen years finally lifted from his shoulders. "Thank you, Gabriel."
Gabriel stood up and looked at my mother. "Sarah. Anthony is going to take you, Leo, and Elijah to the Hamptons house. My father is already on his way there to meet you."
My mother nodded, tears of profound relief shining in her eyes. "Thank you. For everything."
Elijah ran forward and hugged Gabriel's legs. Gabriel laughed, scooping the little boy up and giving him a tight squeeze before setting him down.
Anthony helped them into the SUV.
I stood by Gabriel's side, watching them drive away toward their new, safe life.
We were alone on the cliffs. The sun was fully risen now, casting a brilliant golden light over the ocean.
Gabriel turned to me.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small velvet box from earlier that morning.
"I gave you the key to the house," Gabriel murmured, stepping close to me. "But I realized I didn't give you this."
He opened the box again.
Underneath the velvet cushion, hidden in a small compartment, was a necklace.
It was a delicate silver chain, holding a single, flawless emerald cut into the shape of a teardrop.
"This belonged to Eleanor," Gabriel said softly. "My father gave it to me last night. He told me to give it to the woman I love."
Reversal. The final, beautiful truth.
My breath hitched in my throat. I looked up into his deep brown eyes, seeing the absolute certainty shining there.
"Gabriel..." I whispered.
"I love you, Claire," he said, his voice steady and true. "You brought my family back to life. You brought me back to life. I don't want to spend a single day without you."
He reached around my neck, gently clasping the cool silver chain against my skin. The emerald rested over my heart.
I smiled, reaching up to cup his face in my hands.
"I love you too," I whispered.
Gabriel pulled me in, and kissed me against the backdrop of the crashing waves.
May you like
The storm was finally over. The Romano family was whole. And as Gabriel held me tight, I knew, for the first time in my life, I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
Home.
