Chapter 7 - She Came Home, But Not to Him
Norah returned to the Costello estate 4 days later.
For Eli.
Not Arthur.
She made that distinction clear.
"I need stability until this is finished."
Arthur stood across from her in the foyer where he had once dragged her toward the doors.
"You can stay as long as you want."
"I'm not promising anything."
"I know."
"I'm not your wife because a piece of paper says I am."
"I know."
"Stop saying that."
Arthur lowered his eyes.
"Okay."
Norah hated how different he seemed.
Anger would have been easier.
Arrogance would have given her something to fight.
Instead, Arthur moved into the guesthouse and gave Norah the entire main residence.
He dismissed half the security staff.
He changed every lock.
He put the estate accounts in an independent trust for Eli.
He never entered Norah's room without permission.
And every morning at exactly 7, Eli ran across the courtyard in dinosaur pajamas to find his father.
Norah watched from the window.
Arthur did not know how to be a father.
That became obvious immediately.
He bought Eli a miniature Italian suit.
Eli hated it.
Arthur ordered an elaborate electric sports car.
Eli preferred the cardboard box.
Arthur hired a private chef to make breakfast.
Eli demanded pancakes shaped like bears.
Arthur attempted them himself.
The first looked like roadkill.
Norah laughed before she could stop herself.
Arthur turned.
Their eyes met.
The smile disappeared from her face.
His remained for one extra second.
Then he looked down.
That hurt too.
One evening, Norah entered the library and found Arthur sitting on the floor building wooden train tracks with Eli.
The most feared man in the city's criminal world was arguing seriously with a 3-year-old about whether bridges could curve.
"They can," Eli insisted.
"Structurally, that's questionable."
"You're questionable."
Norah covered her mouth.
Arthur looked up.
"Did my son just insult me?"
"Your son has excellent instincts."
Something warm passed between them.
Then Eli yawned.
Norah carried him upstairs.
When she returned, Arthur stood beside the fireplace.
"I've started selling the docks."
Norah stopped.
"What?"
"The legitimate businesses stay. Everything else goes."
"You spent your entire life building that organization."
"No."
Arthur looked at her.
"I spent my entire life inheriting my father's mistakes."
Norah said nothing.
"I don't want Eli inheriting mine."
"Arthur..."
"I'm not doing it to win you back."
He paused.
"I'd be lying if I said I don't want you back. I do. More than anything."
His voice softened.
"But you don't owe me forgiveness."
Norah's eyes filled.
"Do you know what the worst part was?"
Arthur waited.
"It wasn't being alone."
Her voice shook.
"It wasn't giving birth without you. It wasn't running every few months."
She looked directly at him.
"It was that moment in the study."
Arthur's face tightened.
"I looked at you, and I thought you'd know."
He lowered his head.
"I thought after everything we'd survived together, you'd look into my face and know I wasn't betraying you."
Arthur's eyes filled.
"But you believed him immediately."
"I know."
"You grabbed me."
His breathing stopped.
"You looked at me like I was disgusting."
"Norah—"
"I was carrying your baby."
A tear slipped down her cheek.
"And I couldn't tell you."
Arthur stepped backward as if she had struck him.
"I'm sorry."
"I know you're sorry."
Norah wiped her face.
"But sorry doesn't erase what my body remembers."
Arthur nodded slowly.
"No."
Then he did something she did not expect.
He left.
No argument.
No demand.
No plea.
Norah stood alone beside the fireplace.
Later that night, she found something outside her bedroom door.
The brass key to the room.
Beneath it was a note.
Nothing in this house is locked to you anymore.
Nothing is expected from you either.
A.
Norah sat on the floor.
She cried silently.
Across the courtyard, Arthur sat alone in the guesthouse holding the photograph of her from Bellhaven.
He did not know whether she would ever love him again.
He was beginning to understand that love was not the right to be forgiven.
It was the willingness to become safe even if forgiveness never came.
At 2:14 a.m., his phone rang.
Federal prosecutor Elena Ward.
"We have a problem."
Arthur sat upright.
"What?"
"Vincent agreed to cooperate."
Arthur frowned.
"Against who?"
"Everyone."
"He's trying to save himself."
"Probably."
A pause.
"But he gave us something about Norah."
Arthur's blood chilled.
"What?"
"Vincent claims Norah didn't tell you everything."
Arthur looked toward the main house.
"What does that mean?"
"He says the night she disappeared, she didn't leave the estate empty-handed."
Arthur's jaw tightened.
"He says she took a second ledger."
"He's lying."
"Maybe."
Then Ward said the words that threatened the fragile peace Arthur had only just begun to build.
"We searched an account Vincent gave us."
Silence.
May you like
"It's in Norah's name."
"And there is $8.4 million sitting inside it."
