Chapter 2 - When the Chandeliers Went Dark
For the first time that evening, Khloe’s smile slipped.
Only slightly.
But Vincent saw it.
“My father worries about everything,” she replied.
“Does he?”
Vincent’s thumb moved lazily across the back of her hand, the gesture intimate enough to fool anyone watching them.
Khloe attempted to withdraw her fingers.
Vincent did not let her.
Across the room, Tommy Lombardi checked his watch again.
Vincent counted silently.
One.
Two.
Three.
Nothing.
Matteo was three blocks away.
Too far.
Khloe looked toward the restroom hallway.
That was when Vincent understood.
The nod Norah had witnessed had not been the final signal.
Khloe still had to give it.
Vincent smiled.
“Champagne?”
“No.”
“Interesting.”
“What is?”
“You never refuse champagne.”
Khloe stared at him.
In the kitchen, Norah pressed both palms against a stainless-steel counter and tried to control her breathing.
She had done it.
Whatever happened next, she had crossed a line she could never uncross.
“Norah.”
She turned.
The maître d’, Charles Bellamy, stood behind her.
His face was pale.
“Why did you serve Mr. Russo?”
“I was assigned his section.”
“No, you weren’t.”
Norah’s stomach tightened.
Charles stepped closer.
“What did you give him?”
“Scotch.”
“I saw the paper.”
Norah said nothing.
Charles reached into his jacket.
For one terrifying instant, she expected a gun.
Instead, he produced his phone.
On the screen was a security-camera image showing Norah leaning toward Vincent’s table.
“You need to leave.”
Norah stared at him.
“Now.”
“Why?”
Charles looked toward the kitchen doors.
“Because someone paid $100,000 to have three cameras in this restaurant disabled tonight. I took the money.”
Her blood went cold.
“You knew?”
“I thought they were stealing something. I didn’t know they were killing someone.”
A crash sounded from the dining room.
Then someone screamed.
Charles whispered, “Run.”
Norah did the opposite.
She pushed through the swinging doors.
Khloe was standing.
Her champagne flute lay shattered on the floor.
Every armed man in the room had moved at once.
Tommy’s hand disappeared beneath his jacket.
Vincent overturned the table.
The first suppressed shot punched through the chair where his chest had been.
Guests screamed and dropped beneath tables.
A second shot destroyed a wineglass.
Vincent pulled Khloe behind the overturned table with him.
“What are you doing?” she cried.
“Keeping my fiancée alive.”
“You’re insane!”
“No.”
Vincent looked directly into her eyes.
“Just disappointed.”
Khloe froze.
She knew.
Another shot struck the table.
Then the front doors exploded inward.
Matteo Russo entered with four security men.
Chaos swallowed the dining room.
Guests crawled toward walls. Waiters abandoned trays. Crystal shattered across marble.
Vincent saw Norah standing beside the kitchen entrance.
“Get down!”
She dropped just before a bullet struck the wall above her.
Matteo’s men moved quickly.
Within seconds, two attackers were disarmed. Another fled toward the rear corridor.
Tommy Lombardi grabbed Norah.
His arm locked around her throat.
A handgun pressed against her temple.
“Everybody stop!”
The room became still.
Tommy dragged Norah backward.
Vincent rose slowly from behind the overturned table.
His expression changed.
Until then, Norah had seen a businessman under attack.
Now she saw the man everyone in New York feared.
“Let her go,” Vincent said.
Tommy laughed.
“This waitress worth dying for?”
“No.”
Vincent straightened his jacket.
“She’s worth you dying for.”
Tommy’s smile disappeared.
Norah felt his grip tighten.
Then Charles Bellamy appeared behind him and smashed a champagne bottle across his skull.
Tommy stumbled.
Norah dropped.
Matteo tackled him.
The gun slid across the floor.
Silence followed.
Vincent looked toward Charles.
The maître d’ raised trembling hands.
“I can explain.”
“You will.”
Vincent turned toward Khloe.
She was gone.
The restroom corridor door swung gently.
“Matteo.”
“I see it.”
Two men raced after her.
Norah pushed herself upright.
Vincent crossed the room toward her.
“You hurt?”
“No.”
“That was a lie.”
“My shoulder.”
Blood stained the sleeve of her black uniform where broken glass had cut her.
Vincent removed his pocket square and pressed it against the wound.
Norah stared at him.
“You should go after her.”
“My men are going after her.”
“She tried to kill you.”
“I noticed.”
Even now, his voice was almost absurdly calm.
Norah looked around at the ruined dining room.
“I think I’m fired.”
Vincent almost smiled.
Then Matteo returned.
“Khloe’s gone.”
“How?”
“Service exit. Car waiting in the alley.”
Vincent’s expression hardened.
Matteo glanced at Norah.
“We also found something else.”
“What?”
“Tommy had photographs.”
He handed Vincent a small envelope.
Vincent opened it.
The first photographs showed his home.
The second showed his office.
The third showed Matteo.
Then Vincent reached the last picture.
He stopped.
Norah saw the color disappear from his face.
It was a photograph of her brother.
Liam Hayes stood outside a betting parlor in Queens.
A red circle had been drawn around his head.
On the back were four handwritten words.
THE GIRL WILL LEAD US.
Norah’s breathing stopped.
“What does that mean?”
Vincent looked at her.
Before he could answer, Tommy began laughing from the floor.
“You think she saved you by accident?”
Norah turned.
Tommy’s lip was bleeding.
“You don’t even know who she is, Russo.”
“I know exactly who she is.”
“No.”
Tommy smiled at Norah.
“Ask her what happened to her father.”
Norah went still.
“My father died when I was twelve.”
Tommy laughed again.
“That’s what your mother told you.”
Vincent crouched beside him.
“What are you talking about?”
Tommy looked directly at Norah.
“Daniel Hayes didn’t die.”
Norah’s face emptied.
May you like
Tommy whispered the rest.
“Vincent Russo’s father killed him.”
