Page 68 of Vanessa’s Bravery

Vanessa laughed softly, before he kissed her and drowned out her laughter.

32

Samson opened the door to Gabriel’s office. “You wanted to speak to me?”

Gabriel nodded. “Come in, close the door.”

Samson pointed over his shoulder. “Mind if Patrick joins us?”

Gabriel motioned them to enter. Patrick closed the door behind them.

“What’s wrong?” Samson asked.

Gabriel turned the computer screen so that Samson and Patrick could see it. It showed the photo of a man he hadn’t laid eyes on in over three decades. He’d practically forgotten all about him.

He looked away from it and met Gabriel’s eyes. “What are you saying?”

“That’s the vampire who turned those incels.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. I saw him in Mike Harris’s memories. It’s him. I never met him back then, but when I read the notes in his file, I realized who he was. Now I understand why he told the incels that his name was Thomas. That’s sick.”

Samson dropped into the chair in front of Gabriel’s desk. “Fuck!” He rubbed his nape. “I never expected him to come back.”

Gabriel’s scar seemed to pulse. “Nobody did, I’m sure. But he’s back. And I can guess what his motives are.”

Samson nodded. “Revenge.”

“He waited a bloody long time for it.”

“Dad, Gabriel, you know this guy?” Patrick asked, his gaze bouncing between them. “Who is he?”

Samson turned his face to his son. “That’s Milo. He was Thomas’s lover a long time ago.”

“Okay? So, why would he want revenge?” His forehead furrowed. “Because Thomas dumped him, I’m assuming?”

Samson exchanged a look with Gabriel. While Gabriel knew the full story, Samson had never told his children about Milo. There’d never been a need to. But it appeared, it was time to talk about the past.

Samson took a deep breath. “Milo tried to have your mother killed.”

“Fuck!” Patrick cursed. “When? How?”

“A long time ago. I’d only just met her. She was auditing Scanguards at the time, and Milo and my ex, Ilona, who turned out to be his sister, tried to get access to my money to steal it. They knew that Delilah would figure it out during her audit, and would be able to stop them, so they tried to get rid of her.”

“Oh, fuck!” Patrick let himself fall into a chair, all air rushing from his lungs. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Do Grayson and Isabelle know about it?”

Samson shook his head. “None of them knows. Why burden you kids with that knowledge? After all, we’d prevented the theft, and your mother was safe.”

“Safe? But if Milo and his sister are back, nobody’s safe.”

“Ilona isn’t back. Amaury killed her when she made a last-ditch effort to kill Delilah, and injured me.” How gravely he was injured back then, impaled on spikes of a wrought-iron fence, he decided not to reveal to his son. Delilah had saved him with her blood.

“And Milo got away?”

Samson shook his head. “It was up to Thomas to punish Milo. He decided not to kill him.” He locked eyes with his youngest son. “You see, Thomas still loved him. He couldn’t kill him.”

“But—”