Chapter 9 - The Last Debt
A year after Connor’s kidnapping, Tessa believed the worst was behind them.
She was wrong.
The envelope arrived on a Tuesday.
No return address.
Inside was a photograph of Leo entering a federal courthouse.
Across his face, someone had drawn a red X.
Tessa immediately called Marco.
Leo was already under increased security.
Julian Rossi’s trial had begun.
Adrian Bellini had agreed to testify in exchange for avoiding life imprisonment.
That made enemies nervous.
Then Connor called.
“Tess, somebody followed me.”
Her blood turned cold.
“Where are you?”
“Rehab center parking lot.”
“Stay inside.”
“I’m not using anymore.”
“I know.”
“I mean gambling.”
“I know, Connor.”
He hesitated.
“There’s something else.”
A man had approached him the previous evening.
He offered Connor $100,000.
All he had to do was leave a side gate at the Rossi estate unlocked during Sunday dinner.
Connor refused.
Tessa felt sick.
“Did you tell Leo?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted to tell you first.”
That mattered.
A year earlier, Connor would have taken the money.
Now he had walked away.
“Do you know who he was?”
“No.”
But security footage did.
The man worked for one of Carlo Rossi’s former captains.
The old organization had not disappeared.
Parts of it wanted Leo dead.
Carlo offered a simple solution.
“Leave Chicago.”
Leo refused.
“They’ll follow.”
“Then eliminate the problem.”
“No.”
Carlo stared at his son.
“You think becoming legitimate makes wolves stop being wolves?”
“No.”
“Then act like a Rossi.”
Leo looked toward Tessa.
“No. That’s exactly what got us here.”
Instead, Leo worked with federal investigators.
Connor agreed to wear a wire.
Tessa hated the plan.
Connor insisted.
“For once, let me be the one helping you.”
The meeting happened in a parking garage.
Agents waited nearby.
The former captain arrived.
Connor remained calm.
He got the confession.
Then the man realized he was being recorded.
He pulled a gun.
Connor ran.
Agents moved.
Shots echoed.
The captain was arrested.
Nobody died.
When Connor emerged from the garage, Tessa ran to him.
He hugged her.
“I’m okay.”
She hit his shoulder.
“Ow.”
“Don’t ever do that again.”
“You kissed a mafia boss during a shootout.”
“That was different.”
“How?”
“I’m older.”
Connor laughed.
Leo watched them from several feet away.
Something inside him settled.
Family had once meant obligation.
Blood.
Fear.
Inheritance.
Now he understood what Daniel Mercer meant.
Family was what you chose to build.
That night, Leo took Tessa back to the estate.
The staff had gone home.
The halls were quiet.
They reached his office.
Tessa stopped outside the door.
Exactly where he had found her crying one year earlier.
Leo opened it.
Inside, candles glowed.
Tessa stared.
“Leo.”
“I had a speech.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
“It was.”
“What happened?”
“I forgot it.”
She smiled.
Then she saw the small velvet box in his hand.
Her breath caught.
Leo did not kneel immediately.
He looked almost nervous.
That alone nearly broke her heart.
“I spent most of my life believing fear was the same thing as respect,” he said. “Then you cried outside this door and somehow managed to destroy nearly every rule I had.”
Tessa laughed through tears.
“You kidnapped my phone.”
“You gave it to me.”
“Technicality.”
“You argued with me in a warehouse.”
“You were being annoying.”
“You pointed a gun at my cousin.”
“He was more annoying.”
Leo smiled.
Then his expression softened.
“You walked into a house built to make people feel small, and you never became small.”
Tessa stopped breathing.
Leo finally knelt.
“I don’t want you working for me.”
Her eyebrows rose.
“That is a terrible proposal opening.”
“I want you beside me.”
He opened the box.
A simple diamond ring rested inside.
Not enormous.
Not designed to advertise wealth.
Beautiful.
“Tessa Mercer, will you marry me?”
She stared at him.
Then at the door behind him.
A year ago, she had collapsed outside it believing she had nobody.
Now Connor was alive.
Her father’s name had been cleared.
Her future belonged to her.
And Leo Rossi, of all people, was waiting for permission to become part of it.
“Yes.”
Leo exhaled.
She laughed.
“Were you worried?”
“Terrified.”
“The great Leo Rossi?”
“Don’t tell anyone.”
She pulled him up and kissed him.
Then the office door opened.
Connor, Marco, Maria and Carlo were standing outside.
Tessa stared.
“You were listening?”
Connor grinned.
“Leo threatened us if we interrupted early.”
Leo sighed.
“I did not threaten anyone.”
Marco looked at Tessa.
“He strongly implied consequences.”
Everyone laughed.
Even Carlo.
For one perfect moment, the old house contained no secrets.
But later that night, Tessa noticed Leo standing alone beside the window.
“What is it?”
He handed her a letter.
It had arrived from the prosecutor.
Julian Rossi wanted to speak with Leo before sentencing.
Alone.
Tessa looked at him.
“You’re not going.”
“I have to.”
“Why?”
Leo looked at the final line.
May you like
Because Julian claimed Daniel Mercer had hidden one last secret.
A secret involving Tessa’s mother.
