Chapter 10 - THE FRIEND WHO LIED
Marcus had known Gabriel since they were fourteen.
They had fought together.
Bled together.
Buried friends together.
Gabriel trusted him with his life.
Now Marcus’s name sat inside Michael Queen’s ledger beside nearly twelve million dollars in hidden transfers.
Gabriel closed the library doors.
“Talk.”
Marcus looked at Harper.
“She stays?”
“She stays.”
Marcus nodded.
“The money wasn’t mine.”
“Then whose?”
“Your mother’s.”
Gabriel froze.
Marcus continued.
“She knew Arthur was planning something.”
“When?”
“Months before she died.”
Gabriel’s voice dropped.
“You knew my mother?”
“My father worked security for her.”
Marcus pulled out a key.
“She created an emergency fund.”
“For what?”
“For you.”
Gabriel stared.
Marcus pushed the key toward him.
“Arthur controlled everything. Elena secretly moved money offshore in case she needed to escape with you.”
“Why is your name on the accounts?”
“Because after she died, my father became custodian.”
“And after your father died?”
“I did.”
Gabriel looked furious.
“You kept twelve million dollars from me?”
“I kept your mother’s insurance policy away from the organization your father built.”
Marcus met his eyes.
“She wanted you to leave.”
Gabriel’s anger faded slightly.
“She thought I could?”
“She believed you could become something else.”
Harper watched the words land.
Marcus continued.
“I was going to tell you when you were ready.”
Gabriel laughed bitterly.
“When exactly was that supposed to be?”
“When you stopped acting like Arthur.”
Silence.
Gabriel stepped closer.
“You think I’m like him?”
“I think you’re terrified you are.”
Harper looked at Gabriel.
Marcus had hit something true.
Gabriel walked away.
Harper opened another ledger file.
A recent payment appeared.
Lawson, Derek.
Fifty thousand.
Two years earlier.
Another.
Thirty thousand.
Then monthly transfers.
“He was being paid.”
Marcus nodded.
“By Vincent.”
Harper’s mouth went dry.
“Vincent knew who I was.”
“Yes.”
“Why marry me?”
“To find the ledger.”
The room seemed to tilt.
Harper thought about every early date.
Every charming smile.
Every question about her mother.
Every time Derek searched closets.
Every rage-filled accusation that she was hiding something.
It had never been jealousy.
It had been interrogation.
“He beat me because he thought I had it.”
Marcus looked away.
Harper stood.
“Where’s Vincent?”
Nobody answered.
Gabriel grabbed his phone.
Security footage showed Vincent leaving through the garage twenty minutes earlier.
“No.”
Gabriel called the gate.
No answer.
Then alarms exploded through the house.
Gunfire cracked downstairs.
Harper spun toward the door.
Gabriel drew a pistol from the drawer.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Harper.”
Another burst of gunfire.
Glass shattered somewhere below.
Marcus grabbed a weapon.
“Salvatores.”
Gabriel looked at Harper.
“Take Noah through the service tunnel.”
She froze.
“There’s a tunnel?”
“Basement. Morrison knows.”
Gabriel touched her cheek.
It was the first time he had touched her without fear or urgency.
“Go.”
Harper’s voice shook.
“Come with us.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
He looked toward the sound of gunfire.
“Because they came for me.”
Harper grabbed his shirt.
“I am not watching another man destroy himself because he thinks dying is protection.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“Harper—”
“No.”
Then Noah screamed from upstairs.
Harper’s blood turned cold.
She ran.
The bedroom door was open.
One guard lay unconscious.
The window was broken.
Noah was gone.
On the bed sat his wooden music box.
And a note.
MIDNIGHT.
May you like
BRING THE LEDGER.
OR BURY THE BOY.
