GABRIEL I didn't hear the news about Felice's passing until I left the hotel and went back to the palazzo. I still couldn't get over the fact that Pop was here, that he was no longer fighting me on this, though I think his presence is a two-edged sword. I'm sure that though he says he's given up fighting me on this that there's some underlying purpose going on that I can't see clearly yet. Sal was looking even more beleaguered than he had this morning, and the house was a whole lot fuller than it was then too. Everyone had gathered to commemorate and commiserate with each other over the dead woman. "I'm sorry niputi, that you had to be here for this. I will understand if you want to take dinner in your rooms, but it would do me a great honor if you should stay." "If you want me to, I will." He clung to my side all evening, introducing me as his grandson, and the proof that he held such power over everyone else in the room was evident by the mere fact that no one asked how I came

GIANNA "What?" Lyon, why does that name sound so familiar? I knew I'd heard it somewhere in the not too distant past but couldn't for the life of me bring it to mind. It came to me in a rush when the woman spoke again. She'd just been standing there with her mouth hanging open as she stared up at me. "Oh, my word, Daniel, that face!" "I see; I told you she looked like you. Spitting image of you at that age." "It's uncanny, first little Catalina and now this beautiful girl." She came forward with one arm outstretched and the other clutching Thor to her chest and enveloped me in a hug so warm it brought tears to my eyes. "You dear-dear girl, I'm your aunty Elena, your grandmother and I are cousins." I was so flabbergasted I couldn't think of anything to say when she finally released me, so I said the first thing that came to mind. "How did you get Thor?" "Oh, that, Eloise said the boy sent him to her a few days ago. She asked us to bring him with us so you'd trust us." We wer

GABRIEL I had to move and speak fast before anyone inside realized we had a visitor. Pop was in no mood to take my word for anything, so I jumped in the backseat before he could get out of the car and ordered Tommy to drive. "Where?" He looked in the rearview between Pop and I for instructions, but Pop was too busy looking me over. "Anywhere, just get outta here." "You're good; tell me what happened in there." "Give me a minute, Pop; I'll tell you everything." First, I had to get my thoughts together. Now it all makes sense. The gaunt, far away look I'd noticed since my return that I'd suspected was about more than her mother being ill or dying. And Jr., nothing will convince me that he didn't know or suspect something. The look on his face when he ran into the room, his own rebellious nature that seems to have ramped up here of late, and his willingness to self-destruct. Why didn't I think of any of this? Because I didn't care. I didn't expect to, at any rate. But I can'

GABRIEL "Where are the children? What's going on?" Sal came down to the breakfast table the next morning to find only me in attendance. I'd had some time to think in the hours since awakening and sending them out of the house while waiting for him to show his face. "What do you plan on doing with your son?" I ignored his question. "Ah, this is a good question. I have many options, but I cannot decide on any one of them." "Tell me about them." He seemed to realize the change in my tone, but though he looked at me, askance did not make mention of it. "Do you think it's an easy thing for a man to kill his own son?" "Is that one of your options?" I didn't look at him as I continued sipping on my coffee. "I think you have the mind of my father. He saw no grey area, only black and white. I, too, wished to be like this." He seemed to get lost in thought as I waited for what else he had to say. If there's one thing I hate, it's an enabler. Anyone who makes excuses for evil is jus

GABRIEL "We're here!" Pop's voice broke through the fog of my inner musings. "What are you thinking?" He was asking this because I hadn't moved. "I'm trying to figure out if we're walking into a trap." "It's not a trap; I met this Mancini guy; he's on the up and up." "Mancini, thanks." "Dammit, Gabe." I just smiled and grabbed my stuff before following him off the plane. I pretended to forget something, but what I was really doing was getting info from the pilot. Now I had two names to look into. Mancini and Andros, I'm betting that Memnon knew one or both of them at this point. While Pop was taking his eight-hour nap earlier, I was busy thinking in between watching over him. He looked tired. I only now realize how much stress he's been under because of me. I caught up to him in the car, where he was already on the phone with someone though it's only a five-minute drive from the private airstrip to the house. "Let's go by Gianna's house." I was sure she wouldn't be there;