Chapter 7 - VICTOR ROMANO WALKS AWAYBy the following morning, three things happened across New York.
First, federal agents arrested two senior accountants attached to Romano Holdings.
Second, Dominic Romano called an emergency gathering of men who had spent decades swearing loyalty to Victor.
Third, Victor sent Rebecca Sloan a message that changed everything.
I’ll cooperate. Fully.
Sloan arrived at the hospital less than an hour later.
She looked suspicious.
“You understand what ‘fully’ means?”
Victor nodded.
“It means I stop deciding which laws apply to me.”
Luca looked uncomfortable.
Sloan opened a recorder.
“It may mean prison.”
“I understand.”
Elena watched from her bed.
Victor continued.
“My legitimate companies stay protected. Employees who had nothing to do with criminal activity stay protected.”
“I can’t promise outcomes.”
“You can promise to distinguish people who earned paychecks from people who committed crimes.”
“I can promise we follow evidence.”
Victor nodded.
“Then we have a deal.”
Sloan stared at him.
“There is no deal yet.”
“Fine.”
Victor leaned back.
“You have my cooperation anyway.”
Even Sloan looked surprised.
“For Elena?”
Victor glanced toward his wife.
“For myself.”
Elena’s expression changed.
Victor continued.
“I spent years telling myself I was different from my father because I made fewer cruel decisions.”
His smile was bitter.
“That’s an impressive standard.”
Nobody spoke.
“I’m done.”
Luca stepped forward.
“Victor.”
Victor looked at him.
“You don’t owe me this.”
Luca understood.
For fifteen years, loyalty to Victor had defined his life.
Victor was releasing him.
Luca shook his head.
“I’m not leaving.”
“This isn’t a test.”
“I know.”
“You have children.”
“I also have a conscience.”
Victor raised an eyebrow.
“Recently discovered?”
Luca almost smiled.
“Apparently.”
Sloan interrupted.
“We need Dominic alive.”
Victor’s face hardened.
“I know.”
“No revenge.”
“I heard you.”
“No private justice.”
Victor looked at Elena.
The old Victor would have promised nothing.
The new one said:
“All right.”
That afternoon, Elena was transferred to a secure rehabilitation clinic outside Manhattan under federal protection.
Victor did not accompany her.
She asked him not to.
Instead, he returned to Romano Holdings.
Word had already spread.
The lobby was unusually quiet.
Employees watched him walk toward the elevators.
Some admired him.
Some feared him.
Some knew rumors.
Few knew the truth.
On the thirty-eighth floor, Victor found twenty-one men seated around the conference table.
Dominic stood at the windows.
“Cousin.”
Victor entered alone.
Dominic smiled.
“No Luca?”
“No.”
“Bodyguards?”
“No.”
Several men exchanged glances.
Victor took his usual seat at the head of the table.
Dominic remained standing.
“You’ve been distracted.”
“So I hear.”
“Your wife’s accident is unfortunate.”
Victor looked at him.
Dominic’s smile weakened.
“You know.”
“Yes.”
The room went silent.
One captain shifted toward his jacket.
Victor noticed.
“Relax, Anthony. I didn’t bring weapons.”
Dominic laughed.
“That would be a first.”
Victor placed a folder on the table.
“I brought resignations.”
Dominic frowned.
Victor pushed copies across the polished wood.
“Effective immediately, I am stepping down from every private organization represented in this room.”
Nobody moved.
Dominic stared.
“What game are you playing?”
“No game.”
“You expect us to believe you’re walking away?”
“Yes.”
“From everything your father built?”
Victor leaned back.
“My father built fear.”
His eyes traveled around the room.
“I improved it. Professionalized it. Put suits on it. Bought cleaner buildings.”
He looked at Dominic.
“But fear remained fear.”
Dominic slammed one hand onto the table.
“You don’t get to become righteous because your wife caught you sleeping around.”
Victor’s expression hardened.
“No.”
He stood.
“I get to change because I finally understand what remaining the same costs.”
Dominic laughed contemptuously.
“You’re weak.”
Victor nodded.
“Maybe.”
That shocked the room more than anger would have.
Then Victor added:
“But you made one mistake.”
Dominic’s smile returned.
“Only one?”
“You thought I’d protect the empire from the government.”
Dominic went still.
Victor continued.
“I gave them everything.”
Chairs scraped backward.
Men shouted.
Victor didn’t move.
Dominic’s face became pale.
“You didn’t.”
“Financial records. Names. companies. accounts.”
“You son of a—”
“Careful.”
For one instant, the old Victor returned.
The room froze.
Then Victor smiled faintly.
“Habit.”
Dominic stared at him with pure hatred.
“You destroyed your own family.”
Victor’s smile vanished.
“No.”
“You did.”
Sirens became audible below.
Dominic looked toward the windows.
Victor checked his watch.
“They’re early.”
Chaos erupted.
Several men rushed toward exits.
Victor remained still.
Dominic grabbed him by the jacket.
“You think prison scares me?”
Victor looked down at his hands.
“No.”
Dominic’s voice lowered.
“You think Elena is safe because federal agents put her in some secret clinic?”
Victor’s eyes sharpened.
Dominic smiled.
There it was.
The mistake.
Knowledge he should not have possessed.
Only six people knew Elena had been moved.
Victor.
Gabriella.
Luca.
Rebecca Sloan.
Dr. Mercer.
And the federal transport commander.
Victor grabbed Dominic’s wrist.
“How do you know she’s in a clinic?”
Dominic’s smile disappeared.
Victor leaned closer.
“Who told you?”
Dominic shoved him away.
The conference-room doors burst open.
Federal agents entered.
“Hands where we can see them!”
Men froze.
Dominic backed toward the window.
Victor remained motionless.
Rebecca Sloan appeared behind the agents.
“Dominic Romano, you’re under arrest.”
Dominic laughed.
“On what?”
“Money laundering, conspiracy, fraud and attempted murder, for a start.”
Dominic looked at Victor.
“This won’t save her.”
Victor’s blood ran cold.
“What did you do?”
Agents grabbed Dominic.
He kept smiling.
“You still haven’t figured it out.”
“Figured out what?”
“Who told me she was pregnant.”
Victor froze.
Dominic was pulled toward the door.
Victor followed.
“Who?”
Dominic twisted around.
“She told him herself.”
Victor’s face changed.
“Who?”
Dominic’s grin widened.
“The doctor.”
Victor stopped.
Dr. Mercer.
The surgeon who saved Elena.
The man who knew about the pregnancy.
The man who knew about her recovery.
The man with access to her records.
But something didn’t fit.
Elena had never met Dr. Mercer before the crash.
Unless Dominic meant another doctor.
Victor grabbed Sloan.
“Elena’s obstetrician.”
Sloan stared.
“What?”
“Who is Elena’s obstetrician?”
Gabriella had mentioned a pregnancy confirmation.
Victor had never asked where.
Sloan pulled out her phone.
Minutes later, she had the answer.
Dr. Thomas Vale.
Victor stared at the surname.
Vale.
Selena Vale.
His mistress.
“No.”
Sloan looked at him.
“What?”
Victor felt suddenly sick.
Selena had told him her father was dead.
She had said his debts were the reason Dominic controlled her.
But what if that was another lie?
Victor called Selena.
Disconnected.
Again.
Disconnected.
He called the man watching her apartment.
No answer.
Then Luca called.
“Victor.”
“Where are you?”
“At Selena’s.”
Victor heard sirens behind him.
“What happened?”
“She’s gone.”
Victor closed his eyes.
“Marco?”
“Unconscious. Alive.”
“Any sign where she went?”
Luca hesitated.
“She left a note.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“What does it say?”
Luca read it.
“‘I’m sorry. My father promised Elena would only be frightened. He lied.’”
Victor’s entire body went cold.
“And there’s one more line.”
“What?”
“‘He knows where Elena is.’”
Victor turned toward Sloan.
“Move Elena.”
Sloan immediately began dialing.
The line rang.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
A federal agent tried the clinic directly.
Busy signal.
Sloan’s expression changed.
“Something’s wrong.”
Victor was already moving.
Sloan grabbed his arm.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
“My wife—”
“Is protected by federal officers.”
“Dominic knew where she was.”
Sloan hesitated.
Victor looked directly into her eyes.
“If you stop me and something happens to her—”
His voice broke.
Sloan released him.
“I’m coming.”
They drove north through pouring rain.
Twenty-three minutes later, the clinic appeared beyond a line of trees.
The front gates stood open.
Too open.
A federal SUV sat sideways near the entrance.
Driver door hanging open.
Victor jumped from the car before it stopped.
“ELENA!”
Sloan drew her weapon.
Agents spread out.
Victor ran inside.
The lobby was empty.
A nurse lay unconscious near reception.
Alive.
Victor took the stairs two at a time.
“Elena!”
He reached the second floor.
Her room was empty.
Blanket on the floor.
Wheelchair overturned.
Gabriella was gone too.
Victor stared at the abandoned room.
Then he saw something placed carefully on the bed.
A tiny pair of Yankees baby socks.
The pair Elena had bought for their son.
Victor picked them up with shaking hands.
Underneath was a note.
Saint Raphael’s. Come alone, or she dies knowing you chose wrong twice.
Victor closed his eyes.
Twelve years earlier, Saint Raphael’s Church had burned while Carlo Valenti supposedly died inside.
May you like
Tonight, a dead man was inviting Victor back.
And Elena’s life depended on whether Victor could finally make the right choice.
