Chapter 7 - The Empire Victor Burned Down
Fineian survived.
The bullet missed his heart by less than two inches.
Norah spent the night beside his hospital bed while Samuel sat silently on the opposite side.
They were strangers sharing the same mother.
Neither knew what to say.
Finally Samuel whispered, “She really talked about me?”
Norah showed him Evelyn’s letter.
He read it three times.
Then cried without making a sound.
Across the city, Victor began dismantling his father’s legacy.
Not Mercer.
Not the police.
Victor himself.
He handed financial records to federal investigators.
He shut down illegal gambling rooms.
He released businesses trapped beneath predatory loans.
Men who had served the Russo family for decades called it betrayal.
Victor called it overdue.
Norah found him three days later in his office.
“You’re destroying your own organization.”
“I’m separating legitimate businesses from criminal ones.”
“You make that sound like cleaning a closet.”
“It’s slightly more paperwork.”
She smiled.
Victor did not.
“What?”
He slid a folder toward her.
Inside were transfer documents.
A house.
Her name.
Norah closed the folder.
“No.”
“It’s not payment.”
“It looks remarkably like payment.”
“Mercer destroyed your apartment.”
“I can rent another.”
“Norah.”
“No.”
Victor stood.
“Why is accepting help so difficult for you?”
“Why is giving people expensive things easier for you than telling them how you feel?”
That stopped him.
Norah stepped closer.
“You can buy me a house because it doesn’t scare you.”
“Very little scares me.”
“Liar.”
His jaw tightened.
She touched his tie.
“I scare you.”
“Yes.”
The admission was barely audible.
Norah looked up.
Victor continued.
“You could leave.”
“So could you.”
“I wouldn’t.”
“Then stop assuming I will.”
Something broke open inside his expression.
Victor pulled her against him.
“I love you.”
Norah’s breath caught.
He seemed almost angry at the words.
Perhaps because they gave her power no gun ever could.
She smiled.
“That looked painful.”
“Extremely.”
“I love you too.”
Victor kissed her.
Gabriel opened the door.
“Should I come back?”
“Yes.”
“Fantastic. Unfortunately, someone is trying to kill us.”
Victor closed his eyes.
Norah laughed.
Gabriel tossed a photograph onto the desk.
A car bomb had been found beneath Victor’s SUV.
Mercer was in federal custody.
So who had planted it?
The answer arrived that evening.
Samuel disappeared.
Again.
This time he left a note.
Mercer wasn’t working alone.
Norah’s stomach dropped.
The ledger contained one recurring set of initials.
V.R.
Everyone had assumed Vittorio Russo.
But Vittorio had been dead for fifteen years.
Some entries bearing those initials were dated only three years earlier.
Victor stared at the dates.
“That’s impossible.”
Gabriel understood first.
“No.”
Victor turned.
Gabriel looked sick.
“Your uncle.”
Victor’s father had a younger brother.
Vincent Russo.
A respectable businessman who had supposedly left the family decades earlier.
Victor had not seen him since Daniel’s funeral.
Norah whispered, “Where is he?”
Victor looked toward the river.
“Boston.”
The next morning, Vincent called.
His voice was warm.
Almost paternal.
“Victor. We should have spoken years ago.”
Victor put the call on speaker.
“Where is Samuel?”
“With me.”
Norah stepped closer.
Vincent continued.
“Elias became careless. Emotional. I warned him.”
“You financed Mercer.”
“I financed stability.”
“You ordered the car bomb.”
“I wanted to see whether you were still paying attention.”
Victor’s face became stone.
“What do you want?”
“The evidence Evelyn kept.”
“It’s with prosecutors.”
“Copies exist.”
“And if I refuse?”
Vincent laughed softly.
“Then your newest little brother discovers how Daniel felt in the seconds before his brakes failed.”
Victor’s hand curled.
Norah took it.
Vincent heard the silence.
“Is she there?”
Victor said nothing.
“Norah Hastings. Evelyn’s daughter.”
Vincent sounded pleased.
“You have your mother’s courage, sweetheart.”
Norah leaned toward the phone.
“And you have your brother’s habit of hiding behind other people.”
Victor looked at her.
Gabriel covered a smile.
Vincent did not laugh.
“Careful.”
“No. You’ve all been telling women in my family to be careful for fifteen years.”
Her voice hardened.
“My mother ran. I’m not going to.”
Vincent hung up.
Victor stared at Norah.
“What?”
He shook his head.
“I was just remembering the ballroom.”
“And?”
“I thought you were reckless.”
“I am.”
“No.”
He lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles.
“You’re terrifying.”
Hours later, they discovered where Vincent was holding Samuel.
Not Boston.
He had never left the city.
The location was printed on the oldest page of Evelyn’s ledger.
A church.
May you like
The same church where Daniel Russo had been buried.
And where Victor’s father still lay beside him.
