Chapter 10 - The Date With Rules
Chloe said yes.
Then set rules.
"No private dining room."
Gabriel nodded.
"No men at the next table pretending not to watch."
He hesitated.
"One across the street."
"Fine."
"No buying the restaurant."
"You're very repetitive."
"No sending wine I can't pronounce."
"That's unreasonable."
They went to a small Korean restaurant Chloe liked.
Gabriel had never been.
Nobody recognized him.
He looked uncomfortable.
Good.
They talked about everything except Dominic.
Chloe's mother in Milwaukee.
Leo's terrible tattoos.
Gabriel's childhood obsession with baseball.
Beatrice's habit of hiding candy in handbags.
Then Gabriel said:
"I used to think my mother didn't want to talk."
Chloe looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because when interpreters weren't there, she stopped trying."
"That wasn't silence."
"I know."
He rubbed his thumb over the table edge.
"I trained her to expect failure."
Chloe did not rescue him.
He continued.
"Now when I sign badly, she waits."
"That's generous."
"Sometimes she laughs."
"That's also generous."
He smiled.
After dinner, he walked Chloe home.
At her building she said:
"You are not coming upstairs."
"I wasn't asking."
"Good."
"I was going to."
She laughed.
Then kissed him.
Once.
Brief.
Choice.
The next morning, Gabriel's world reminded him what it was.
Carlo Vezzi disappeared.
Not kidnapped.
He simply left Chicago with several men and a large amount of cash from an illegal fund.
Old Gabriel would have sent people after him.
New Gabriel called his lawyer.
Then federal investigators.
That decision cost him.
The fund's existence became evidence against his own organization.
Miriam warned him.
"You may be handing them a road to you."
Gabriel said, "Then they already had the road. I just stopped blocking it."
He faced investigation.
No magical immunity for changing.
Some criminal conduct was old.
Some current.
His attorneys negotiated cooperation where lawful.
He did not confess to things he had not done.
He did not deny what he had.
Beatrice signed:
GOOD.
Then:
SCARY.
Gabriel signed:
YES.
For the first time, he allowed his mother to know he was afraid.
She touched his face.
No interpreter needed.
Chloe watched from the kitchen doorway.
Then looked away.
Privacy.
Weeks later, Beatrice invited Chloe and Gabriel to Sunday dinner.
She cooked Salvatore's sauce using the old recipe box.
Gabriel tasted it.
"Too much garlic."
Beatrice signed:
YOUR FATHER SAID THAT TOO.
Gabriel laughed.
Then stopped.
The recipe box had become ordinary again.
That mattered.
During dessert, Beatrice signed to Chloe:
He likes you.
Chloe signed back:
He has poor judgment.
Gabriel frowned.
"What are you saying?"
Both women smiled.
He raised his hands.
SLOW.
They repeated.
He understood enough this time.
His face changed.
Then he signed to his mother:
RUDE.
Beatrice laughed so hard she nearly dropped her spoon.
Gabriel looked at Chloe.
"I understood that."
"Congratulations."
Small victory.
Then the doorbell rang.
Miriam stood outside.
She looked serious.
"Gabriel."
He stood.
"What happened?"
"Dominic changed his plea."
"To what?"
"Guilty."
Beatrice went still.
Miriam continued.
"And he asked to speak to your mother before sentencing."
Gabriel looked at Beatrice.
Old instinct rose in his face.
No.
Protect.
Decide.
Then he stopped.
He signed:
YOUR CHOICE.
Beatrice stared at him.
Then slowly nodded.
----------------------------------------
The next chapters are on the left side of your screen.
May you like
If you enjoyed the story, bookmark my site: https://metro.treeiq.biz
New stories are posted daily, so check back for updates.
