Chapter 5 - A Debt Written in Blood
Nick killed the kitchen lights even though the power was already gone.
“Basement.”
Teresa didn't move.
“This is my house.”
“Ma.”
“I survived your father. I survived you at sixteen. I'm not being chased out of my kitchen.”
Rachel stood.
“Mrs. Santoro, respectfully, your son looks like he's about to have an aneurysm.”
Teresa looked at Nick.
Then Rachel.
“I like her.”
“Basement,” Nick repeated.
This time Teresa went.
Anthony secured the rear door.
Nick counted shadows outside.
Six men.
Maybe more.
Then his phone rang.
Victor.
Nick answered.
“Nicholas.”
His uncle sounded calm.
“You've made this unnecessarily difficult.”
“You killed my father.”
Silence.
That was answer enough.
Victor sighed.
“Your father was weak.”
Nick’s hand tightened around the phone.
“He wanted out. He wanted legitimacy. He would've dismantled everything our family built.”
“So you poisoned him.”
“I preserved your future.”
Nick nearly laughed.
“My future?”
“You think you became who you are by accident? I taught you. Protected you. Built you.”
“You used me.”
“I loved you like a son.”
“You don't know what that word means.”
Victor’s tone changed.
“Give me the ledger and the Adams girl.”
Nick looked toward the basement door.
“No.”
“Then your mother dies tonight.”
Nick's voice became frighteningly quiet.
“You come near my mother, and whatever happens afterward is on you.”
Victor laughed softly.
“You sound exactly like your father.”
The line went dead.
Thirty seconds later, a window shattered.
Smoke rolled through the living room.
“They're flushing us out,” Anthony said.
Nick knew the house better than Victor's men did.
At twelve, he had hidden cigarettes beneath the basement stairs.
At fifteen, he had climbed from the coal window after Teresa grounded him.
At seventeen, his father had shown him the old utility tunnel connecting the basement to a detached garage behind the neighboring property.
He had not thought about it in years.
“Rachel!”
She appeared at the basement stairs.
“Take my mother through the coal room.”
“Where?”
“There's a hatch behind the furnace.”
Teresa immediately understood.
“Your father’s tunnel.”
“Go.”
Rachel grabbed the ledger.
Nick caught her wrist.
For one second they looked at each other.
“Don't lose that.”
“I was going to use it as a coaster.”
“Rachel.”
Her sarcasm disappeared.
“I won't.”
Something passed between them.
Something neither had time to name.
She followed Teresa downstairs.
Nick and Anthony remained behind long enough to convince the men outside that everyone was still inside.
Then they retreated.
Minutes later, the four emerged in a garage one property over.
Anthony had arranged a car.
They drove to a small apartment above a closed bakery in Carroll Gardens.
By dawn, everyone was exhausted.
Teresa slept in the bedroom.
Anthony took the couch.
Rachel found Nick standing alone beside the kitchen window.
“You okay?”
“No.”
It was the first completely unguarded answer he had given her.
She leaned against the counter.
“Good.”
He looked at her.
“Good?”
“I was starting to think you were a robot.”
Nick almost smiled.
Rachel's expression softened.
“My father was my hero.”
Nick looked away.
“Mine too.”
“When Dad died, everyone told me accidents happen. Move forward. Stop asking questions. Eventually I wondered if maybe I was the crazy one.”
“You weren't.”
“No.”
She looked at the ledger.
“And neither were you.”
Nick sat.
For the first time, Rachel saw him look tired.
Not physically.
Older than that.
“What happens now?”
“I kill Victor.”
Rachel was silent.
Nick looked at her.
“You disapprove?”
“I understand it.”
“That wasn't my question.”
“My father was a cop. He believed evidence mattered.”
“Your father is dead because of that evidence.”
“And if you kill Victor, what changes?”
Nick frowned.
“He stops breathing.”
“Wonderful. Then what? Another Victor replaces him?”
Nick said nothing.
Rachel sat opposite him.
“You control the ports, right?”
“Some.”
“You have legitimate companies?”
“Yes.”
“Employees?”
“Thousands.”
“You want revenge.”
“Yes.”
“Then destroy what Victor actually cares about.”
Nick studied her.
“Power.”
Rachel nodded.
“Expose him. Take everything. His money. His allies. His reputation. Make every person who protected him understand he's finished.”
Nick leaned back.
“You're ruthless for someone wearing a diner uniform.”
“I've worked brunch shifts.”
That earned a genuine laugh.
Rachel stared at him.
There it was again.
The man beneath the reputation.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Nick reached across the table and touched her hand.
Slowly.
Giving her time to pull away.
She didn't.
His thumb brushed her knuckles.
Rachel's breath changed.
Nick noticed.
Of course he noticed.
“You should sleep.”
“So should you.”
“I don't sleep much.”
“Neither do I.”
“Why?”
She withdrew her hand.
“Because my life is a disaster.”
“Specific.”
She hesitated.
“I owe money.”
“To whom?”
Rachel immediately regretted speaking.
Nick's eyes narrowed.
“To whom?”
“Forget it.”
“Rachel.”
She stood.
“Don't use that voice.”
“What voice?”
“The one that makes grown men reconsider their life choices.”
“Who do you owe?”
She folded her arms.
“A loan shark named Eddie Falco.”
Nick's expression became dangerous.
“How much?”
“Twenty-two thousand.”
“For what?”
“My mother got sick before she died. Insurance didn't cover everything. I borrowed money.”
“How much did you originally borrow?”
“Eight thousand.”
Nick stared at her.
“And now it's twenty-two?”
“Interest.”
Nick stood.
“It's handled.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No, Nick.”
He blinked.
Very few people told him no.
Rachel stepped closer.
“You are not paying my debt.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn't save you so you'd buy me.”
“I wasn't buying you.”
“Then don't behave like every favor creates an obligation.”
Nick's jaw tightened.
She grabbed her tote.
“I have spent eight years refusing to belong to anybody.”
Her voice softened.
“I’m not starting now.”
She walked toward the bedroom.
Nick watched her leave.
Anthony’s voice came from the couch.
“You're in trouble.”
Nick turned.
Anthony's eyes were still closed.
“Go to sleep.”
“She's not afraid of you.”
“Apparently.”
“You like that.”
Nick threw a dish towel at him.
Anthony grinned.
Then Nick's burner phone vibrated.
A photograph arrived.
Mel's Diner.
The windows had been smashed.
The owner stood outside talking to police.
Beneath the image was a message.
NEXT TIME IT BURNS.
Rachel appeared behind Nick.
She saw it.
Her face fell.
“That place is all Gus has.”
Nick looked at her.
Victor had made another mistake.
He thought destroying things Rachel loved would make her afraid.
Instead, Nick watched anger replace every trace of fear.
May you like
She picked up the ledger.
“Tell me how we ruin him.”
