Chapter 57
The moon was big and round and glowing like a giant cheese ball in the sky.
Underneath it, everything felt like a dream. The fairy lights twinkled, the red balloons bobbed on the black water, and I was swaying in the arms of the most handsome man in the universe.
I looked up at him.
Gabriel's face was bathed in moonlight. His jaw was sharp enough to cut paper. His eyelashes were long and dark, casting shadows on his cheeks.
Huhuhu.
I wanted to cry. I literally wanted to cry because he is just so beautiful!
39.
That's the number on the cake. That's the age he whispered.
Thirty-nine!
I did the math in my head. That is almost forty! That is... that is ancient! (Okay, not ancient, but older than me!).
But look at him!
He has zero wrinkles! His skin is smooth like marble! His muscles are hard like rocks! He looks like he is in his late twenties!
Is he a vampire? I wondered, squinting at his neck. Does he drink the blood of the youth? Or is it the Logistics?
Maybe managing shipping crates is the secret to eternal youth? Maybe stress is actually good for the skin?
Or maybe he is Korean? Or Japanese? They have good skincare! But no... his eyes are deep and intense and very Italian. They look like espresso shots.
Ugh! It's unfair!
I am going to look like a raisin when I am thirty, and he will still look like a Greek God carved out of obsidian!
"What are you thinking about?" Gabriel asked, his voice low and raspy.
"Your face," I confessed honestly. "It is illegal to be this hot at thirty-nine. You are aging backwards like Benjamin Button!"
Gabriel chuckled. The sound vibrated through his chest and into mine.
"Genetics, Aleesha," he murmured. "And... maintenance."
"Snail mucin!" I nodded wisely. "It works!"
I stood on my tiptoes. I wrapped my arms tighter around his neck.
We swayed. Left. Right.
I closed my eyes and leaned in.
Our lips met.
It wasn't a hungry kiss. It was a soft, slow, moonlight kiss. It tasted like the dark chocolate cake and the cool night air. It felt like a promise.
We pulled apart slowly.
I smiled at him. I reached up and fixed his collar, smoothing the black fabric.
"Wait!" I gasped. "I have one more gift! The main event!"
I let go of him and dug into the pocket of my skirt.
I pulled out a small silver chain.
"Ta-da!"
Dangling from the chain was a silver heart locket. It wasn't expensive (I bought it with my own allowance money, not his credit card!), but it was shiny!
Gabriel looked at it.
He frowned. His eyebrows crunched together.
"A necklace?" he asked, looking at the heart like it was a grenade.
"Yes! A locket!" I chirped. "Turn around!"
He hesitated. He hates jewelry. He only wears his expensive watches.
"Aleesha, I do not wear—"
"It's my gift!" I pouted. "It's the birthday mandate! Wear it!"
Gabriel sighed. The sigh of a powerful Don defeated by a girl in flats.
He turned around.
I stood on my tiptoes again (struggling a bit) and fastened the clasp around his thick neck. The silver chain disappeared under his collar, but the heart rested against his chest.
He turned back to me. He picked up the pendant with two fingers, looking at it skeptically.
"Open it!" I urged.
He used his thumb to pry the locket open. Click.
Inside, there was a tiny, tiny picture.
It was us.
A selfie I took at the pizza parlor a few weeks ago. My cheeks were stuffed with pepperoni, and Gabriel was looking at the camera with his usual stoic, "I am tolerating this" expression. But in the photo, his hand was on my shoulder.
"See?" I beamed. "Now I am always with you! Even when you are doing logistics! Even when you are in meetings! I am right there, protecting your heart!"
Gabriel stared at the tiny photo.
His thumb brushed over my smiling face.
He didn't make fun of it. He didn't call it childish.
He closed the locket. Snap.
He tucked it under his shirt, so it rested against his skin.
"I will take care of it," he said seriously.
"You better!" I reached up and squeezed his cheeks. Squish. "Or I will bite you!"
I kissed him again. Quick and hard on the lips. Smack.
"Happy Birthday, Gabby."
I looked up at the sky. The moon was high.
"Oh no!" I gasped. "It is super duper midnight! I have classes tomorrow!"
Gabriel checked his watch. "It is 12:15 AM."
"We should go inside," I said reluctantly.
I looked at the daybed. The black silk sheets looked so inviting. The pond was making soft splish-splash noises. The fairy lights were glowing.
"Actually..." I bit my lip. "Gabby?"
"Hm?"
"Can we... sleep here?" I asked. "Outside? Just for tonight? It's not cold! And we can look at the moon!"
Gabriel looked at the daybed. He looked at the mansion.
He looked at me.
"Please?" I blinked my eyes rapidly.
"Fine," he agreed. "But we need blankets."
Gabriel helped me clean up the cake plates (he is a very neat husband). He went inside and brought out a thick duvet.
We settled onto the round bed.
It was magical!
We were lying under the stars (well, mostly trees, but still!).
"Okay," I whispered, pulling the duvet up to our chins. "Since it is your birthday, I will be the Big Spoon! I will take care of you!"
Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "You are half my size, Aleesha."
"Details!" I waved my hand. "Come here!"
I patted my chest.
Gabriel hesitated for a second, then he shifted. He laid his head on my chest. His heavy arm draped over my waist. His legs tangled with mine.
He felt heavy and warm and solid.
I started stroking his hair. Stroke. Stroke.
"Sleep, Gabby," I whispered. "No thinking about boxes. No thinking about enemies. Just sleep."
He let out a long breath. His body relaxed against me.
"Goodnight, Aleesha," he murmured.
We lay there for a while. The crickets chirped. The wind rustled the leaves. Gabriel's breathing evened out. He was asleep.
My heart felt so full.
See, Eli? He is peaceful. He is gentle. He is sleeping on my chest like a tired lion. He is not a monster.
BZZZT.
My phone vibrated on the mattress next to my head.
I jumped a little. Gabriel stirred but didn't wake up.
I reached for the phone carefully, trying not to stop stroking his hair with my other hand.
Who is texting me at midnight?
I squinted at the bright screen.
My stomach dropped.
The same number. The one that sent the True Crime file. The one that Eli warned me about (indirectly).
I shouldn't open it. Gabby told me to block it.
But curiosity... it's a curse!
I slid the notification open.
I frowned. I pouted at the screen.
What kind of question is that?
Of course I know him!
I know he likes black coffee. I know he hates cats. I know he has a scar on his shoulder. I know he is ticklish on his feet (I found out yesterday!). I know he is 39!
I typed back, my thumb moving fast.
Sent.
Almost immediately, a bubble appeared.
Typing...
Files? Again?
I hesitated. I looked down at Gabriel sleeping soundly on my chest. He looked so innocent.
Just look, a voice in my head whispered. Look so you can laugh at it and delete it.
I tapped the First File.
It opened.
It was a spreadsheet. Lots of numbers. Dates.
I blinked.
"Boring," I whispered.
It was just bank stuff! Numbers! Money! I know Gabriel is rich. I know he moves money. This proves nothing!
I opened the Second File.
More numbers. Mergers. Acquisitions.
Okay, bribe is a bad word. But... maybe it's a "tip"? Like at a restaurant?
I was confused. Why is this person sending me boring accounting homework?
"You are wasting my data," I muttered.
Then, I opened the Third File.
My breath hitched.
I froze.
I know that name.
Thomas Smith. The boy I removed from my research group because he's not contributing. The one who cornered me three months ago in the alleyway with his gang members..
He had a knife. A small switchblade. He cut my arm. Just a shallow cut, but it bled. He laughed. He said his father is part of the syndicate.
I ran away. Gabriel saw the cut. He was... quiet. He cleaned it. He told me not to worry.
And then... Thomas Smith disappeared.
Everyone said he transferred schools. Everyone said his family moved away.
I opened the file.
It wasn't a transfer slip.
My jaw dropped.
My phone almost slipped from my hand.
Executed? Dismembered?
Thomas... is dead? And his parents? And his friends?
I felt sick. The cake in my stomach did a flip.
I read the file frantically, scanning for a name. I needed to see who did this!
There was no name.
No "Gabriel Muratori." No "Logistics Company."
I let out a shaky breath.
See? It doesn't say it was him!
It says "Organized Crime." That could be anyone! Thomas's dad was a criminal! Maybe a rival gang killed them! Maybe they fought over... drugs? Or territory?
It wasn't Gabby. Gabby was with me that week! We watched movies!
I switched back to the text app.
My fingers were trembling.
A reply came instantly.
I gasped.
"Shut up!" I whispered furiously at the screen.
I was about to hit the "Block Contact" button. My thumb was hovering over it.
Ping.
One last file.
I stared at it.
It looked different. It looked... old. The icon was a scanned document, yellowed and grainy.
Don't open it, Aleesha, my brain screamed. Just block him.
But my thumb disobeyed.
I tapped it.
The image loaded.
It was a list. A ledger. Handwritten in cursive ink that was fading.
My eyes widened.
I scrolled down.
I stopped breathing.
The name.
It was there. In black and white. Over and over again.
It was a lineage. A history. A dynasty.
And the last entry... at the very bottom of the page... was a modern digital addendum.
I read the name silently.
I looked down at the man sleeping on my chest.
His face was relaxed. The silver heart locket was resting against his throat.
I looked at the fairy lights. They didn't look magical anymore. They looked like warning flares.
"Muratori," I mouthed.
The phone screen went dark.
But the word burned in my mind like a brand.