Chapter 5 - When the King Came for Her
The first attacker entered through the shattered balcony door.
Clara heard his shoe touch broken glass.
One step.
Two.
She looked at Sebastian.
He nodded.
They moved simultaneously.
Sebastian fired high.
The attacker ducked.
Clara came low, sweeping his ankle before driving her elbow into his wrist.
The gun skidded beneath a table.
She seized it.
Five years beside Arthur had taught her many ugly skills.
Survival was the most useful.
“Bedroom corridor,” Sebastian whispered.
They moved.
Another burst of gunfire tore through the kitchen.
Clara reached the hall.
Then the elevator chimed.
Everyone froze.
The doors opened.
Arthur Costello stepped out.
Clara stared.
White shirt.
Black trousers.
No jacket.
Gun in one hand.
Blood already streaking his sleeve.
Salvatore and six Costello men emerged behind him.
Arthur’s gaze found Clara instantly.
Not Sebastian.
Not the attackers.
Her.
“You’re hurt.”
Clara looked down.
A thin cut crossed her forearm.
“That’s glass.”
Arthur’s expression remained murderous.
“Stay behind me.”
The command awakened something furious inside her.
“No.”
His eyes snapped toward hers.
“I did that for five years.”
Gunfire interrupted them.
Arthur shoved her sideways as a bullet struck the wall where she had been standing.
They fell together behind a column.
For one breath, their faces were inches apart.
Clara could smell smoke on him.
Arthur’s hand remained around her waist.
She removed it.
“Don’t touch me.”
Something moved behind his eyes.
Pain, perhaps.
He released her immediately.
The firefight lasted four minutes.
Vincent’s men retreated when police sirens approached.
Two were captured.
Three were dead.
One escaped.
Sebastian’s penthouse looked like a bomb had passed through it.
Clara stood among broken glass.
Arthur approached carefully.
“I found Daniel’s file.”
Her expression changed.
“You knew?”
“No.”
“Your family took him.”
“Yes.”
“Your father killed mine.”
Arthur did not hide.
“My uncle authorized it.”
“But your father covered it up.”
“Yes.”
She looked away.
Arthur’s voice became quieter.
“I’m sorry.”
Clara laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“Do you know how many nights I imagined hearing a Costello say that?”
He remained silent.
“I thought it would matter.”
“Does it?”
“No.”
Arthur accepted the answer.
Sebastian approached.
“We need to move.”
Arthur’s gaze hardened.
“She comes with me.”
Clara turned.
“No.”
“Vincent is hunting you.”
“He was hunting me before you arrived.”
“I can protect you.”
That almost made her smile.
“Arthur, you were the person I needed protection from.”
He absorbed it without reacting.
She continued.
“You don’t get to humiliate me, tell me I’m replaceable, then arrive with guns and decide I belong to you again.”
“I never said you belonged to me.”
“You never had to.”
Arthur looked around the ruined penthouse.
“I said things I shouldn’t have.”
“That is an impressive description of emotional vivisection.”
Salvatore suddenly found the floor interesting.
Arthur ignored him.
“I wanted you to leave.”
Clara blinked.
“What?”
Arthur’s jaw tightened.
“The night you left, I had received information that Vincent believed someone close to me was investigating old Costello business.”
Understanding slowly entered her eyes.
“You suspected me.”
“Yes.”
“So you tried to push me away.”
“I thought distance would keep you outside whatever was coming.”
Clara stared at him.
Then slapped him.
Hard.
Nobody moved.
Arthur’s head turned slightly with the impact.
Clara’s voice shook for the first time.
“You don’t get to turn cruelty into sacrifice.”
Arthur looked back at her.
“I know.”
“You could have told me.”
“I didn’t trust anyone.”
“You trusted me with your life.”
“Yes.”
“But not with the truth.”
Arthur had no answer.
Clara stepped away.
Sebastian’s phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“Daniel moved.”
Clara turned instantly.
“What?”
“The marina in Split was compromised. He boarded a cargo vessel yesterday.”
“Where is he going?”
Sebastian listened.
Then looked at Arthur.
“New York.”
Arthur frowned.
“Why?”
Sebastian lowered the phone.
“Because Daniel has the original ledger.”
Clara went still.
“What ledger?”
“The one proving Vincent ordered Thomas Mercer’s murder and financed trafficking through Costello ports.”
Arthur understood immediately.
If Daniel delivered it to federal authorities, Vincent’s entire network collapsed.
Perhaps Arthur’s with it.
Clara watched his face.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The calculation.”
Arthur looked at her.
“You’re wondering whether saving Daniel destroys you.”
Arthur slowly holstered his gun.
“No.”
She waited.
He pulled out his phone and called Salvatore.
“Shut down every Costello-controlled port except Pier Nine.”
Salvatore frowned.
“Why?”
“Make it the only safe route Daniel can use.”
“And Vincent?”
“Will know the same thing.”
Arthur looked directly at Clara.
“Good.”
Salvatore understood.
They were building a trap.
Clara studied Arthur.
“You’re willing to expose the organization?”
“If that ledger says what Sebastian claims, yes.”
“Why?”
Arthur’s answer came without hesitation.
May you like
“Because your brother comes home first.”
For once, Clara had no reply.
