Chapter 5 - The Voice in My House
“Dominic, we need to talk.”
Gabriel's voice echoed through every speaker in Ashford House.
Smooth.
Patient.
Almost affectionate.
The voice that had congratulated me when Ava was born.
The voice that gave a eulogy at my father's funeral.
The voice that told Harper bedtime stories after Elena died.
Ava looked sick.
“He's here?”
I looked at Marco.
“How?”
“Security system is compromised.”
Gabriel continued.
“I know you came home angry. I know Miami went badly.”
Marco quietly moved everyone toward the old wine corridor.
“I also know Evelyn has been filling your head with stories.”
Claire's mother flinched.
Gabriel laughed softly through the speakers.
“Hello, Evelyn.”
Claire looked toward the ceiling.
“You stay away from her.”
A pause.
Then Gabriel said, “Claire Bennett. We've never formally met.”
Claire's face hardened.
“Lucky me.”
Even Marco glanced at her.
That answer nearly made me smile.
Nearly.
Gabriel continued.
“I don't want the girls hurt.”
“Then leave,” I said.
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because Elena took something that belonged to me.”
“The ledger.”
Silence.
Confirmation.
Then:
“She didn't understand what she found.”
“She understood enough to die for it.”
Ava shut her eyes.
Gabriel's voice lowered.
“That wasn't supposed to happen.”
I slammed my fist against the wall.
“Do not insult me.”
“Dominic, I loved Elena.”
“No. You loved controlling people.”
“Your father understood necessity.”
“My father is dead.”
“And yet you continue living in the house he built and using the empire he gave you.”
That landed.
Because it was true.
I told myself for years that I was different from Thomas Ashford.
I eliminated certain businesses.
Protected neighborhoods under my influence.
Refused operations that targeted ordinary families.
But I still inherited his violence.
His money.
His walls.
Gabriel knew exactly where guilt lived.
“Come to the library alone,” he said.
“No.”
“I have Victor.”
Harper reacted.
Her fingers tightened around Claire's.
Gabriel continued.
“And Victor has something to tell you about Elena's final minutes.”
The intercom clicked off.
Marco looked at me.
“It's a trap.”
“Obviously.”
“You're still thinking about going.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
I turned.
Marco had never openly challenged me.
“Your daughters need you alive,” he said.
Ava stepped forward.
“For once, listen to him.”
I looked at her.
She was seventeen, but in that moment I saw Elena.
Same stubborn eyes.
Same refusal to be intimidated.
“We find the ledger first,” Claire said.
She was right.
The wine cellar entrance was hidden behind a false shelving unit.
Evelyn guided us.
The brass key opened an old mechanical lock.
Behind it, stone steps descended into darkness.
We used flashlights.
At the bottom was a narrow room containing dust-covered bottles and a steel safe embedded in brick.
Claire inserted the key.
Nothing.
“There's another lock.”
Evelyn looked confused.
“I don't know the combination.”
Harper walked toward the safe.
She stared at the keypad.
Then at Claire.
“Song.”
Claire frowned.
“What song?”
Harper hummed.
Three notes.
Ava recognized it.
“Mom used to sing that.”
Claire's eyes widened.
“My mother sang it too.”
Evelyn covered her mouth.
The melody had six notes.
Claire converted them to numbers using the positions on an old children's piano chart carved into the safe.
The door opened.
Inside sat a leather ledger.
Several flash drives.
A sealed letter.
And a photograph.
Claire picked up the photograph.
It showed Elena.
Evelyn.
Claire's father.
And another man.
Marco.
Claire looked at him.
“You knew them?”
Marco went pale.
I turned toward him slowly.
“Marco?”
His shoulders dropped.
“Yes.”
Ava stepped back.
Another betrayal.
“Explain.”
Marco looked exhausted.
“Your wife approached me four years ago.”
“You knew?”
“Not everything.”
“You lied to me.”
“She made me promise.”
“About what?”
“The network.”
I wanted to hit him.
Instead, I listened.
Elena had discovered Gabriel's operation and asked Marco to help gather proof.
She didn't tell me because she feared I would confront Gabriel immediately and start a war before she knew how deep the corruption went.
She was probably right.
“After she died?”
“I kept investigating.”
“For three years?”
“Yes.”
“And never told me.”
“I didn't know who was compromised.”
“Including me?”
Marco looked at me.
“Especially you.”
That hurt because I understood.
Power makes a man dangerous even when his intentions are good.
I opened Elena's sealed letter.
Dominic, if you found this, you finally know the truth about Gabriel. But knowing the truth isn't enough. You need to know why he chose our family.
Below that:
Gabriel isn't protecting your father's empire. He believes the empire belongs to him.
Marco exhaled.
“What?”
Evelyn whispered, “Thomas stole it from him.”
She explained.
Decades earlier, Gabriel and my father built the organization together.
Thomas became the public leader.
Gabriel remained invisible.
Then Thomas pushed him out.
Gabriel spent thirty years quietly regaining control.
The ledger wasn't only evidence.
It proved ownership of hidden accounts worth hundreds of millions.
“He doesn't just want to silence us,” Claire said.
“He wants everything.”
A gunshot echoed above.
Then another.
The old wine cellar door slammed shut.
Marco rushed upstairs.
Locked.
Ava whispered, “We're trapped.”
“No,” Evelyn said.
She pointed behind the safe.
“There used to be a tunnel.”
We moved the safe enough to expose a narrow service opening.
It led beneath the mansion.
One by one, we crawled through.
Halfway along the tunnel, Harper stopped.
“Someone.”
I heard footsteps ahead.
Marco raised his weapon.
A figure emerged.
Victor.
Blood on his forehead.
Hands raised.
Harper ran toward him before I could stop her.
Victor dropped to his knees.
“I'm sorry,” he whispered.
Harper touched his face.
“You came back.”
He nodded.
“I promised your mom.”
I wanted to kill him.
But Harper stood between us.
Victor looked at me.
“Gabriel has taken the library. He's waiting for you.”
“Why?”
“Because he doesn't know the ledger isn't there.”
Victor glanced at Claire.
“And there's something else.”
“What?”
“Gabriel knows Claire's mother survived.”
Evelyn went pale.
“He didn't come here for the ledger alone.”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
He looked directly at Claire.
“He came for you.”
Claire stared at him.
“Why?”
May you like
Victor swallowed.
“Because Claire Bennett isn't your real name.”
