Chapter 6 - Blood Between Brothers
Mercer survived.
Barely.
The bullet missed his heart but damaged a lung.
Police sealed the medical office while Roman stood outside beneath flashing blue lights.
Evelyn found him alone.
“You okay?”
“No.”
It was the first time she had heard Roman answer that question truthfully.
“My father died when I was twenty-two.”
She stood beside him.
“They told me heart attack.”
“Mercer could be lying.”
“He could.”
Roman stared into the night.
“But I remember Victor arriving first.”
Evelyn said nothing.
“My father and Victor had been fighting. I thought it was business.”
“Maybe it was.”
Roman looked at her.
“In my family, business has buried people.”
There it was.
The part of Roman she had deliberately avoided examining.
He wasn’t simply a wealthy businessman with frightening friends.
His empire had shadows.
“How many people have you hurt?”
Roman’s face became unreadable.
“Enough that you should be careful what you imagine about me.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No.”
She waited.
Finally, he said, “I inherited a criminal organization from my father. I spent years dismantling parts of it and legitimizing others. Not because I became a saint. Because I got tired of funerals.”
“And the armed men?”
“Security.”
“The people afraid of your name?”
“Some fear is inherited too.”
Evelyn studied him.
“Have you killed anyone?”
Roman looked directly at her.
“Yes.”
She felt the answer in her chest.
He didn’t excuse it.
Didn’t romanticize it.
“Why tell me?”
“You asked.”
“That simple?”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“But if you ever choose to trust me, I want you trusting the man I actually am.”
Before Evelyn could answer, Roman’s phone rang.
Claire.
Victor had disappeared.
So had Eleanor.
Roman’s face changed.
“What?”
Claire was crying.
A hospital orderly had arrived claiming Eleanor needed imaging.
The transfer paperwork looked authentic.
Ten minutes later, staff discovered no imaging had been ordered.
Eleanor was gone.
Roman became frighteningly calm.
“Lock every exit.”
“They already did.”
“Cameras.”
“They’re checking.”
Evelyn grabbed his arm.
“Roman.”
He looked at her.
“Think.”
“My mother has been kidnapped.”
“Exactly. So think instead of reacting.”
His breathing slowed.
“You’re right.”
The security footage showed Eleanor being moved through a service elevator.
The orderly removed his mask near the loading dock.
Roman recognized him.
Victor’s driver.
Then Roman received a video.
Eleanor sat in a chair inside an unfamiliar room.
Victor stood behind her.
“Roman,” Victor said calmly, “you have something I need.”
Roman’s fist tightened.
“The files Evelyn received.”
Evelyn looked at him.
Victor continued.
“Bring the drive and sign over Eleanor’s voting shares. In return, your mother comes home.”
Eleanor shouted weakly, “Don’t you dare!”
Victor muted the recording.
“One hour.”
The video ended.
Roman immediately reached for the flash drive.
Evelyn blocked him.
“No.”
“That is my mother.”
“And Victor will kill you once he has everything.”
“I don’t care.”
“I do.”
The words escaped before she could stop them.
Roman stared at her.
Neither spoke.
Then Evelyn continued.
“He needs the evidence destroyed. That means the evidence is leverage.”
“You have a plan?”
“Yes.”
“Is it a good one?”
“No.”
Roman almost laughed.
“Finally, something we agree on.”
They copied the drive.
One copy went to police.
Another to a federal prosecutor Roman’s attorney trusted.
A third went into encrypted cloud storage.
Then Roman took the original.
Victor directed him to an abandoned private clinic outside Chicago.
Roman entered carrying the drive.
Evelyn remained with police.
This time, she actually stayed behind.
Mostly.
Through a hidden microphone, they heard Victor.
“You always were Richard’s favorite.”
Roman’s voice remained steady.
“Let my mother go.”
Victor laughed.
“You think your father was a good man?”
“No.”
“Then why avenge him?”
“I’m not here for him.”
Roman looked toward Eleanor.
“I’m here for her.”
Victor demanded the drive.
Roman handed it over.
Then came the papers.
Roman signed.
Victor smiled.
“Your father signed papers too.”
Roman looked up.
“What papers?”
“The night he died.”
The room went silent.
Victor’s arrogance did what Roman predicted.
It made him talk.
Richard had discovered the medical fraud network.
He threatened to expose Victor.
Victor arranged for Richard’s medication to be altered.
A heart condition did the rest.
“You killed your own brother,” Roman said.
Victor shrugged.
“He would have destroyed everything.”
Eleanor began crying.
Roman’s expression remained still.
“You’re confessing.”
“To you.”
Victor smiled.
“And you won’t leave.”
He raised a gun.
Police burst through the side entrance.
Victor fired.
Roman threw himself toward Eleanor.
A bullet struck the wall.
Another struck Roman.
Evelyn heard it through the microphone.
Then screaming.
She ran.
Officers shouted at her to stop.
She didn’t.
Inside, Victor was on the floor in handcuffs.
Eleanor was safe.
Roman wasn’t moving.
Evelyn dropped beside him.
Blood spread beneath his shoulder.
His eyes opened.
“You were supposed to stay outside.”
She was crying.
“You were supposed to not get shot.”
“Fair.”
She pressed gauze against his wound.
His hand covered hers.
“Evelyn.”
“What?”
“If I die—”
“You’re not dying.”
“But if—”
“I will personally kill you.”
Roman smiled despite the pain.
“That seems medically contradictory.”
She laughed through tears.
Then the paramedics pulled her away.
As they lifted Roman onto the stretcher, he refused to release her hand.
May you like
And for the first time in years, Evelyn realized something frightened her more than losing a career.
Losing him.
