Chapter 2 - What Beatrice Had Been Trying to Say
Chloe had barely reached the kitchen when Marco grabbed her by both elbows.
“What did you do?”
Chloe balanced the stack of plates against her hip.
“I changed a veal order.”
“You corrected Gabriel Costello in front of six men.”
“Technically, his mother corrected him.”
Marco stared at her as though she had announced plans to set the restaurant on fire.
“You need to understand something.”
“I understand seafood risotto takes eighteen minutes.”
“Chloe.”
She looked at him.
“That man owns half the buildings on this block.”
“Then he can probably afford risotto.”
Marco closed his eyes.
“You have a death wish.”
“No.”
Chloe pulled away.
“I have rent.”
She carried the plates toward the dish station.
Her hands did not begin shaking until nobody was looking.
For several minutes, she concentrated on ordinary things.
Stacking plates.
Folding napkins.
Checking tickets.
Pretending she had not just told one of the most feared men in Chicago that he had been ignoring his deaf mother.
Then the mahogany doors opened.
One of Gabriel's men stepped into the kitchen.
Conversation stopped instantly.
He was the youngest man from the table.
Tall.
Dark blond hair.
Gray suit.
A scar disappearing beneath his right ear.
He looked around until he found Chloe.
“Mr. Costello wants you.”
Marco whispered something that sounded like a prayer.
Chloe wiped her hands on her apron.
“Does Mr. Costello always summon people like a medieval king?”
The man's mouth twitched.
“Usually they complain less.”
“Usually they're not carrying three tables.”
“Marco will cover them.”
Marco nodded far too quickly.
Chloe followed the man through the doors.
Table 7 looked different now.
The plates were gone.
The wine had arrived.
Beatrice was smiling over a bowl of seafood risotto.
Gabriel was not smiling.
The other men had moved away from the table.
Only Gabriel and his mother remained.
Gabriel gestured toward the chair opposite him.
“Sit.”
“I’m working.”
“You’re sitting.”
Chloe looked at Beatrice.
Beatrice rolled her eyes.
Chloe almost smiled.
Then she sat.
Gabriel leaned back.
“How fluent are you?”
“In ASL?”
“No, Mandarin.”
Chloe raised an eyebrow.
“Very fluent.”
His expression did not change.
“How?”
“My brother.”
“You mentioned him.”
“Leo was born deaf.”
“Was?”
Chloe's fingers tightened beneath the table.
“He died two years ago.”
Something softened briefly in Beatrice's face.
Gabriel noticed.
“What did my mother say?”
Chloe looked at him.
“When?”
“All night.”
“That seems like a broad request.”
“All night.”
Beatrice immediately began signing.
Chloe turned toward her.
The older woman's movements were faster now.
More urgent.
Gabriel watched Chloe's expression change.
The humor disappeared first.
Then the color.
Beatrice signed again.
Slowly this time.
Chloe did not translate.
Gabriel leaned forward.
“What did she say?”
Chloe looked at Beatrice.
“Are you sure?”
Beatrice nodded.
Gabriel's voice became colder.
“Chloe.”
She faced him.
“Your mother says she has been trying to warn you for six months.”
The room seemed to narrow.
“Warn me about what?”
Beatrice signed.
Chloe swallowed.
“She says someone in your family is stealing from you.”
Gabriel did not move.
Behind him, the youngest lieutenant stopped breathing.
Chloe continued.
“She says it isn't small amounts.”
Beatrice's hands moved.
“Companies.”
More signs.
“Properties.”
Another sentence.
“Accounts she says you don't know exist.”
Gabriel stared at his mother.
“That’s impossible.”
Beatrice slammed one palm against the table.
Then she signed so sharply Chloe barely kept up.
“She says that is exactly what you said every time she tried to tell you.”
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
“I thought she was talking about household bills.”
Beatrice's expression changed.
Pain replaced anger.
Chloe hated translating the next sentence.
“She says you stopped listening before you ever understood the question.”
Gabriel looked away.
For the first time since Chloe entered the room, he looked less like a dangerous man and more like a son who had just realized he had failed somebody.
Beatrice signed again.
Chloe's eyes narrowed.
“What?”
Gabriel immediately noticed.
“What now?”
Chloe looked toward the door.
“Your mother says somebody has been changing her medication.”
Gabriel stood so quickly the chair scraped backward.
“What medication?”
Beatrice touched her chest.
Then her temple.
Chloe translated.
“Blood pressure medicine.”
Another sign.
“Sleep medication.”
Beatrice shook her head violently.
“She says the pills changed color three months ago.”
Gabriel looked at his mother.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Beatrice stared at him.
The answer did not need translation.
Still, Chloe gave it.
“She did.”
Silence filled the private room.
Gabriel reached for his phone.
“Who handles her prescriptions?”
A man near the wall answered.
“Dr. Brennan sends them directly to the house.”
“Who receives them?”
“Usually house staff.”
“Names.”
“Teresa.”
“Who else?”
The man hesitated.
“Victor sometimes.”
Gabriel went completely still.
Chloe saw Beatrice's hands curl into fists.
Gabriel slowly turned toward his mother.
“Victor?”
Beatrice nodded.
The room temperature seemed to drop.
Chloe did not know Victor.
But everyone else clearly did.
The gray-suited lieutenant quietly shut the door.
Gabriel sat again.
“My uncle has managed family accounts since before I was born.”
Beatrice signed.
Chloe translated carefully.
“She says that's why nobody questions him.”
Gabriel looked toward the lieutenant.
“Nico.”
“Yes.”
“Call Dr. Brennan.”
Nico reached for his phone.
“No.”
Gabriel's eyes remained on Beatrice.
“Don't let Brennan know I'm asking.”
Nico nodded.
Gabriel turned to Chloe.
“You stay.”
Chloe blinked.
“I have four tables.”
“I’ll pay for the restaurant.”
“That’s not how restaurants work.”
“I assure you it is.”
Beatrice laughed silently.
Chloe saw it in her shoulders.
Then Beatrice reached across the table and touched Chloe's hand.
Her next signs were slower.
Chloe watched carefully.
There is something else.
“What?”
Gabriel leaned forward.
“What else?”
Beatrice looked toward the men by the wall.
Then back at Chloe.
Only you.
Chloe's stomach tightened.
“She wants everyone else out.”
Gabriel's face hardened.
“She's my mother.”
Beatrice pointed at him.
Then signed.
Especially you.
Nico glanced away to hide a smile.
Gabriel looked offended.
Chloe almost laughed.
Almost.
Gabriel rose.
“Fine.”
He pointed toward Chloe.
“If she tells you something that concerns her safety, you tell me.”
Beatrice signed instantly.
Chloe translated.
“She says stop giving orders in her conversation.”
Nico coughed.
Gabriel stared at his mother for several seconds.
Then he walked toward the door.
The other men followed.
Before leaving, Gabriel stopped beside Chloe.
“If she says she's in danger, you call me immediately.”
Chloe looked up.
“I don't have your number.”
Gabriel held out his hand.
Chloe reluctantly gave him her phone.
He typed something.
His own phone vibrated in his pocket.
He returned hers.
Now she had a contact labeled simply GABRIEL.
He left.
The door closed.
Chloe turned toward Beatrice.
The older woman's smile vanished.
Her hands rose.
What she signed next made Chloe's stomach turn cold.
Victor is not the person I am most afraid of.
Chloe leaned closer.
Beatrice continued.
There is someone Gabriel trusts more.
Someone who sits beside him every day.
Someone who has keys to his house.
Someone who knows when he sleeps.
Chloe's pulse accelerated.
Who?
Beatrice looked toward the closed door.
May you like
Then signed one name.
Nico.
