THE MAFIA'S OBSESSION

Chapter 5

Gabriel woke to the smell of antiseptic and freshly brewed coffee. For several seconds, he did not remember where he was. Then pain pulsed through his upper arm. The warehouse, the gunfire, and Alessandro's face.

Gabriel sat up too quickly and immediately regretted it.

“Careful.”

Alessandro stood beside the hospital bed, holding a cup of coffee.

Gabriel stared at him.

“Have you been here all night?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because you were shot.”

“That's not a reason to lose sleep.”

Alessandro placed the coffee on the bedside table.

“Apparently, you have a talent for making terrible decisions.”

Gabriel looked at his bandaged arm.

“How bad is it?”

“The bullet passed through the muscle. The doctor says you'll recover.”

“Good.”

“Good?”

“I dislike hospitals.”

Alessandro folded his arms.

“You nearly died.”

“But I didn't.”

“You could have.”

“So could you.”

The words silenced them.

Alessandro looked away first.

“I know.”

Gabriel studied him.

The man who had walked into the alley without hesitation now looked exhausted. His shirt was wrinkled, his hair disheveled, and dark circles shadowed his eyes.

For once, he did not look like a mafia boss.

He looked like a man who had been frightened.

Gabriel did not know what to do with that realization.

“Thank you,” he said quietly.

Alessandro turned.

“For what?”

“For staying.”

Something softened in Alessandro's expression.

“You don't have to thank me.”

“I know. I'm doing it anyway.”

Alessandro pulled a chair beside the bed.

For a while, they talked about the attack. Matteo had identified one of the attackers as a former security contractor who had worked for Vittorio De Luca. The man had disappeared years earlier and was believed to be working for Stefano Vescari.

The name meant nothing to Gabriel until Alessandro explained the connection.

“Vescari handled my father's private shipments,” Alessandro said. “He had access to the records, the warehouses, and the people who managed our security.”

“Do you think he ordered the attack?”

“I think he's involved.”

“Then why hasn't he contacted you?”

“Perhaps he has.”

Alessandro showed him a message received shortly after the shooting.

**Your father was right about one thing. Blood always wins.**

Gabriel read it twice.

“Whoever sent this knows about your father.”

“And knows exactly how to provoke me.”

Alessandro pocketed the phone.

“I want you to tell me what you know.”

Gabriel's heart began to race.

“What do you mean?”

“The warehouse symbol. You recognized it before I did.”

“I've seen it in documents.”

“What documents?”

Gabriel hesitated.

This was the moment he had feared.

He could continue lying, preserving his cover for a little longer. Or he could offer Alessandro enough truth to establish an alliance.

But every revelation brought him closer to exposing his identity.

“I'm investigating the shipments,” he admitted.

Alessandro's expression became unreadable.

“For whom?”

“A financial investigation team.”

“Government?”

Gabriel did not answer.

Alessandro leaned back.

“Are you an investigator?”

“Something like that.”

“Were you sent to investigate my family?”

Gabriel looked at the floor.

The silence answered for him.

Alessandro stood.

For several seconds, Gabriel thought he might call his guards.

Instead, he walked to the window.

“How long?” he asked.

“Six months.”

Alessandro nodded slowly.

“And the dinner? The conversations? Everything?”

Gabriel felt sick.

“Not everything.”

“Which parts were real?”

Gabriel struggled to answer.

He could tell Alessandro that the mission had been real, that the investigation had been real, and that every conversation had begun as an attempt to gather information.

But he could not deny the rest.

“The parts that mattered to me,” he said, “were real.”

Alessandro turned.

“You expect me to believe that?”

“No.”

“Good. At least you're honest about something.”

The words hurt more than Gabriel expected.

Alessandro moved toward the door.

“Get some rest. We'll discuss the rest when you're discharged.”

“Alessandro.”

He stopped.

Gabriel swallowed.

“I never intended for you to get hurt.”

Alessandro looked at him over his shoulder.

“Neither did I.”

Then he left.

The door closed softly.

Gabriel stared at it until his eyes burned.

He had known this moment would come. He had prepared for anger, threats, and betrayal. He had rehearsed explanations that might preserve his cover.

He had not prepared for the quiet disappointment in Alessandro's voice.

For the next two days, Alessandro did not visit.

Matteo brought updates about the investigation, along with food Gabriel barely touched. The attackers had escaped. Stefano Vescari remained missing. The De Luca family was under increasing scrutiny after the discovery of the weapons shipment.

Gabriel's agency ordered him to return immediately.

He refused.

Then Elena called.

“Gabriel, what are you doing?”

“Trying to find Daniel.”

“You are supposed to be recovering.”

“I can recover while working.”

“You've already compromised the operation.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you still there?”

Gabriel looked at the window.

“Because Alessandro might be innocent of the crimes we're investigating.”

Elena was silent.

Finally, she said, “You cannot let your feelings determine the evidence.”

“I won't.”

“Then prove it.”

The call ended.

That evening, Gabriel was discharged.

He returned to his apartment and discovered that someone had left a package outside his door.

Inside was a photograph of a young man.

Daniel.

He looked thinner than Gabriel remembered, but unmistakably alive.

On the back of the photograph was an address and a message.

**COME ALONE. BRING THE DE LUCA RECORDS.**

Gabriel's hands trembled.

He immediately called Elena, but the number went unanswered.

He tried again.

Nothing.

For the first time in three years, he had proof that his brother might still be alive.

He could not ignore it.

But the original records were inside the De Luca mansion, and Alessandro would never willingly hand them over to someone he no longer trusted.

Gabriel stared at the photograph.

Then he picked up his phone and called Alessandro.

The answer came after the first ring.

“What happened?”

Gabriel closed his eyes.

“I need your help.”

There was a long silence.

“Where are you?”

“At home.”

“Stay there.”

“Alessandro—”

“I said stay there.”

The line went dead.

Twenty minutes later, Alessandro arrived.

He entered the apartment without his usual smile.

Gabriel handed him the photograph.

Alessandro studied it carefully.

“Who is this?”

“My brother.”

“You told me your family was gone.”

“I thought he was dead.”

Alessandro looked at the address.

“Who sent this?”

“I don't know.”

“And they want my father's records?”

“Yes.”

Alessandro's expression hardened.

“This is a trap.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you considering going?”

“Because he might be alive.”

Alessandro stared at him.

Gabriel expected another argument.

Instead, Alessandro placed the photograph on the table.

“We'll go together.”

“No.”

“Gabriel.”

“They said to come alone.”

“Then they're expecting you to obey.”

“If you come, they'll kill him.”

“If you go alone, they may kill you.”

Gabriel looked away.

“I can't lose him again.”

Alessandro stepped closer.

“You won't.”

“You can't promise that.”

“No,” Alessandro admitted. “But I can promise you won't face this alone.”

Gabriel's composure finally broke.

He pressed a hand over his eyes, ashamed of the tears gathering there.

Alessandro did not touch him immediately.

He waited.

When Gabriel finally lowered his hand, Alessandro asked softly, “May I?”

Gabriel nodded.

Alessandro pulled him into an embrace.

For a moment, Gabriel allowed himself to lean against him. He felt the warmth of Alessandro's body, the steady beat of his heart, and the strength of the arms holding him.

He had spent years believing that attachment was a weakness.

Now he understood why people risked everything for it.

Alessandro drew back slightly.

Their faces were close.

Gabriel could have stepped away.

He should have.

Instead, he looked at Alessandro's mouth.

Alessandro noticed.

“Tell me to stop,” he whispered.

Gabriel's breath caught.

“Why?”

“Because I don't want you to regret this.”

Gabriel searched his face.

“I already regret a hundred things.”

“And this?”

Gabriel shook his head.

“No.”

Alessandro kissed him.

It was gentle at first, almost hesitant, as though he feared Gabriel might disappear if he moved too quickly. Gabriel's hand rose to Alessandro's cheek, and the kiss deepened with all the longing they had refused to acknowledge.

For a few seconds, the mission vanished.

There were no weapons, no secrets, no criminal empires, and no dead men whose blood demanded revenge.

There were only two men who had found something unexpected in each other.

When they finally separated, Gabriel rested his forehead against Alessandro's.

“This changes everything,” Gabriel whispered.

Alessandro's expression grew serious.

“Yes.”

“You should hate me.”

“Perhaps I should.”

“I'm investigating your family.”

“I know.”

“I lied to you.”

“I know that, too.”

“Then why did you kiss me?”

Alessandro brushed his thumb across Gabriel's cheek.

“Because knowing all of that doesn't change what I feel.”

Gabriel's eyes filled again.

He wanted to believe him.

He wanted to stay.

But the photograph remained on the table, and somewhere in Palermo, someone was holding his brother.

Love could wait.

Daniel could not.

Gabriel stepped away.

“We leave tonight.”

Alessandro nodded.

“Then we leave tonight.”

Neither man noticed the tiny camera hidden behind the bookshelf.

Neither noticed the red light blinking in the darkness.

And neither knew that Stefano Vescari had watched their kiss in real time.

On the other side of the city, Vescari smiled at the screen.

“Excellent,” he murmured.

His assistant approached.

“What do we do now?”

Vescari closed the laptop.

“Let them come for the boy.”

“And the records?”

“Forget the records.”

He picked up the photograph of Daniel Reyes.

“What matters now is that Alessandro De Luca has finally found something he loves.”

Vescari's smile widened.

“And when a man like Alessandro falls in love, he becomes very easy to destroy.”

The trap was ready.

The blood oath was waiting.

And before sunrise, Alessandro and Gabriel would discover that saving one another might require them to destroy everything they had ever believed about family, loyalty, and love.