Chapter 7 - The King FallsAt 6:12 a.m., federal agents entered Gerardo’s penthouse.
He did not resist.
Molly stood barefoot in the hallway wearing one of his shirts over yesterday's clothes.
The lead agent read the charges.
Racketeering.
Fraud.
Conspiracy.
Obstruction.
Murder allegations remained under investigation.
Salvatore had produced financial documents carrying Gerardo’s signatures.
Some were genuine.
Others were excellent forgeries.
Gerardo extended his wrists.
Molly stared.
“You're just going with them?”
“Yes.”
“Gerardo—”
His eyes found hers.
“Trust Marco.”
Then the handcuffs closed.
Cameras waited outside.
By breakfast, Gerardo Romani’s arrest dominated every local broadcast.
By lunch, politicians who had once attended his charity galas claimed never to have known him.
By dinner, Crimson and Steel had emptied.
Fear had changed sides.
Molly went to work anyway.
The manager stared.
“You don't have to be here.”
“Yes, I do.”
At nine o'clock, Gerardo’s booth remained empty.
For the first time, Molly hated seeing it that way.
Marco arrived at ten.
“We have a problem.”
“Only one?”
“Salvatore has the ledger.”
“No. He has a ledger.”
Marco frowned.
Molly remembered her father.
An accountant terrified enough to hide evidence for seventeen years would not rely on one copy.
She returned to the tape.
She listened to James's message repeatedly.
Then she heard it.
A sentence she had ignored because it sounded sentimental.
When the stars are above you, remember Sunday.
Grand Central.
The ceiling.
The constellations.
Sunday trips with her father.
Molly ran to the old red scarf from box 317.
She examined the stitching.
One seam had been repaired by hand.
Inside was a narrow strip of microfilm.
Marco stared.
“Your father was paranoid.”
“He was alive long enough to have a reason.”
The microfilm contained photographs of every ledger page.
More importantly, it contained checks signed by Salvatore.
Transfers authorized by Keane.
Dates.
Accounts.
Names.
And one handwritten instruction connected to the Warner fire.
Resolve J.W. before Monday. Family irrelevant.
Molly stared at the final words.
Family irrelevant.
They had not meant to kill her.
But they had been willing to.
That distinction offered no comfort.
Gerardo’s attorney brought the evidence to federal prosecutors.
His release did not come immediately.
There were too many accusations.
Too much history.
Too many legitimate crimes surrounding the Romani businesses.
Molly visited him two days later.
Gerardo sat behind glass.
He looked strangely ordinary without his suit jacket.
“You found something.”
“How do you know?”
“You have the face.”
“What face?”
“The one you had before insulting me over spilled cognac.”
She smiled.
“We found the backup.”
Gerardo leaned forward.
“Enough?”
“For the pension scheme and my father's death. Maybe Keane too.”
“And Salvatore?”
“He's negotiating.”
“He'll run.”
“Then we'll make sure he can't.”
Gerardo studied her.
“You should leave New York.”
“No.”
“Molly.”
“No.”
“You could have a life after this.”
“I intend to.”
“A life away from me.”
She went silent.
Gerardo looked down.
For the first time, she saw what fear looked like on him.
It wasn't shaking.
It was withdrawal.
He was pushing her away before she could leave.
“You think you poison everything you touch,” she said.
His eyes lifted.
“You don't know everything I've done.”
“No.”
“I've hurt people.”
“I know.”
“I've built my life using fear.”
“I know.”
“I am not the misunderstood prince in one of those terrible books beside your bed.”
Molly narrowed her eyes.
“You insult my paperbacks again and we're done.”
He almost smiled.
She placed her palm against the glass.
“I don't need you to be innocent, Gerardo. I need you to decide what you're going to become.”
He stared at her hand.
Slowly, he placed his against the other side.
For once, there was no power between them.
No boss.
No waitress.
Just two people separated by glass.
“I don't know how,” he admitted.
Molly's eyes filled.
“Start small.”
“How small?”
“Stop deliberately breaking expensive glasses.”
His laugh surprised the guard.
Molly smiled.
Then Marco appeared behind her.
His face killed the moment.
“Molly.”
She turned.
“What happened?”
“Salvatore disappeared from federal custody during transport.”
Gerardo stood immediately.
“How?”
“Keane had another man inside.”
Marco looked at Molly.
“And Salvatore left a message.”
“What message?”
May you like
Marco hesitated.
“He said he's going to finish what he started seventeen years ago.”
