Chapter 12 - Gabriel’s Last Insurance Policy
Matteo looked smaller behind prison glass.
Roman had imagined this meeting many times.
In some versions, he shouted.
In others, he walked away without speaking.
Reality was quieter.
Matteo picked up the phone.
Roman did the same.
“You look domestic,” Matteo said.
Roman ignored it.
“What did Gabriel plan?”
“Straight to business.”
“My child was mentioned.”
“That got your attention.”
Roman’s eyes hardened.
“Do not play with me.”
Matteo smiled faintly.
Then the smile faded.
“Gabriel created a contingency.”
“For what?”
“If he was arrested.”
Roman waited.
“There’s a trust.”
“Money?”
“Information.”
“What information?”
“Every person who ever worked with you. Every official. Every family member. Addresses. routines.”
Roman’s stomach turned.
“Amelia?”
“Yes.”
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“The baby isn’t born.”
“No.”
Matteo leaned closer.
“But Gabriel purchased access to hospital networks.”
Roman went cold.
“He intended to identify the delivery location.”
“Yes.”
“Who controls the files now?”
Matteo hesitated.
“That’s what I want to trade.”
Roman stared.
“You helped kidnap my pregnant wife.”
“I know.”
“You helped murder another woman to fake Amelia’s death.”
Matteo’s eyes dropped.
“I didn’t know Gabriel would kill her.”
“You always say that after the blood appears.”
Matteo looked away.
Roman’s voice lowered.
“What do you want?”
“Protection.”
“You’re in federal custody.”
“From Gabriel’s remaining people.”
“He’s also in custody.”
“Not everyone is.”
Roman said nothing.
Matteo continued.
“There’s a man named Adrian Kessler.”
Roman knew the name.
Cybersecurity contractor.
Legitimate reputation.
Had worked for Duca businesses.
“He holds the archive.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then you’re useless.”
“I know how to contact him.”
Roman sat back.
“Do it through federal investigators.”
Matteo frowned.
“You’re not negotiating?”
“No.”
“You really have become boring.”
Roman almost smiled.
“My wife prefers it.”
The archive became a federal operation.
Roman told Amelia immediately.
No secrecy.
No protection through ignorance.
She appreciated that more than she said.
Adrian Kessler was located in Delaware.
The archive was seized.
Hospital access credentials were revoked.
Every documented threat related to Amelia was flagged.
For the first time, the problem was solved without Roman sending anyone to break a door or a bone.
It felt strange.
Effective.
Almost embarrassingly simple.
“Law enforcement is useful,” Stefano observed.
Roman looked offended.
“Don’t become smug.”
“Impossible.”
With Gabriel’s final network dismantled, life became quieter.
Amelia moved into a townhouse of her own.
Roman helped assemble a crib.
Not the mansion nursery.
A new crib.
In a room Amelia chose.
He followed instructions badly.
“This screw is wrong,” she said.
“They are all identical.”
“They are not.”
Roman examined two screws.
“They appear identical.”
“One is thirty-two millimeters.”
“And the other?”
“Thirty-five.”
Roman stared at her.
“You know this by sight.”
“I restore buildings.”
“You terrifying woman.”
She smiled.
They finished after midnight.
Roman stood.
The room was painted pale green.
Small wooden stars hung over the crib.
Amelia leaned against the doorframe.
“I like it.”
“So do I.”
Roman touched the crib rail.
Then stepped back.
“Goodnight.”
She looked surprised.
“You’re leaving?”
“I assumed…”
He stopped.
Amelia saw the question.
Not expectation.
Question.
She answered slowly.
“You can stay for tea.”
Roman looked suspicious.
“Your tea.”
“Correct.”
“Good.”
They sat in the kitchen.
Amelia wore the ring on its chain every day now.
Roman never mentioned it.
That patience did more than grand gestures ever could.
“Do you miss power?” she asked.
Roman considered.
“I miss certainty.”
“What does that mean?”
“When I had power, I could pretend every problem had a solution.”
“And now?”
“I know some things can only be waited for.”
His eyes dropped briefly to her ring.
Amelia noticed.
“You mean me.”
“I mean many things.”
“Liar.”
Roman smiled.
“Yes.”
She rested her hands around the mug.
“I’m afraid.”
“Of me?”
“No.”
That answer visibly affected him.
“Of what?”
“The baby.”
“Something wrong?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“Being a parent.”
Roman relaxed slightly.
“Me too.”
She laughed.
“You’re supposed to reassure me.”
“I can lie if you prefer.”
“No.”
He looked thoughtful.
“I think being afraid may be useful.”
“How?”
“It means we know we can get it wrong.”
Amelia stared.
“Therapy is making you unbearable.”
“I’m told that is progress.”
At thirty-four weeks, Amelia developed contractions.
False labor.
But frightening enough that Daniel drove her to the hospital.
Roman was in a legal meeting.
Amelia hesitated before calling.
Then she did.
He arrived twenty minutes later.
No convoy.
No shouting.
No demands.
He sat beside her bed.
The doctor confirmed the baby was staying put.
Roman exhaled.
Amelia smiled.
“You looked terrified.”
“I am.”
“Roman Duca gets terrified?”
“Regularly now.”
She laughed.
He took her hand.
The hospital room dimmed.
For the first time in months, Amelia allowed herself to imagine a future where Roman was not a threat to peace but part of it.
Then the door opened.
A nurse entered carrying flowers.
“No name,” she said.
Roman’s entire body changed.
Old instincts.
He stood.
“Who delivered those?”
“Courier.”
Amelia stared.
White roses.
In the center, one red flower.
Gabriel’s signature from earlier threats.
Roman called security.
The bouquet was examined.
No device.
Only a card.
Roman opened it carefully.
One sentence.
Some prisons have doors. Some have witnesses.
Amelia frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Roman looked at the card.
A terrible thought formed.
He called the federal team supervising Gabriel.
The answer came three minutes later.
Gabriel Serrano was still in federal custody.
He had not sent the flowers.
Someone else had inherited the message.
Someone who knew Gabriel’s symbols.
Someone who still wanted Amelia afraid.
And when Roman checked the surveillance camera outside her hospital room, he saw a familiar woman placing the bouquet on the nurse’s cart.
May you like
Claire Serrano.
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