Chapter 9 - EVERYONE WANTED ME DEADThe first attack hit six minutes later.
Not Samuel’s men.
Not Adrian’s.
Professionals.
Three vehicles rammed the Romano estate gates while a drone dropped an explosive device onto the west roof.
The mansion shook.
Alarms screamed.
Victor pulled Elena through the underground tunnel while Giovanni carried Leo.
Samuel followed.
Nobody trusted him.
Nobody had time to kill him.
Thomas and Daniel met us near the garage.
Daniel saw Elena’s blood.
“Oh, hell.”
“She needs a surgeon,” Victor said.
“I can help stabilize.”
“You’re not a doctor.”
“No, but I’ve spent more time in hospitals than most interns.”
Fair.
We loaded Elena into an armored SUV.
Victor looked toward his father.
“Take Leo.”
“No,” Leo said.
Everyone froze.
He clung to Victor.
“I’m staying.”
Victor knelt.
“You’re going with Grandpa.”
“No.”
“Leo.”
“You always send me away!”
The words cut through the chaos.
Victor stopped.
Leo’s lower lip trembled.
“Mom went away.”
Victor closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“Then Grandpa went away.”
Giovanni looked down.
“And Claire got shot.”
My chest tightened.
Leo grabbed Victor’s coat.
“If I go, people disappear.”
Victor looked broken.
I crouched carefully beside them.
“Leo.”
He turned.
“Going somewhere safe doesn’t make people disappear.”
“Yes, it does.”
“No.”
I touched the cracked wooden block he had kept in his pocket.
“You remember what we said?”
“Broken blocks are better.”
“Why?”
“Because scratches don’t matter.”
“Right.”
I pointed toward Victor.
“Your dad is scratched.”
Victor raised an eyebrow.
“Emotionally.”
Daniel muttered, “Severely.”
I continued.
“But he comes back.”
Leo looked at him.
Victor nodded.
“Always.”
Finally, Leo let Giovanni lift him into the second vehicle.
Before the doors closed, he looked at me.
“You too?”
“I’ll come back.”
“Promise?”
My heart tightened.
“Promise.”
The convoy split.
Giovanni took Leo toward an undisclosed safe location.
Victor, Thomas, Daniel, Samuel, Elena, and I headed toward a private medical facility.
We made it seven blocks.
Then the road exploded.
The lead SUV flipped.
Victor grabbed me as our vehicle swerved.
Glass cracked.
Men opened fire from rooftops.
Samuel laughed from the back seat.
“Now this feels familiar.”
“Shut up,” Victor snapped.
The driver reversed.
Another explosion blocked us.
We were trapped.
Victor looked at Samuel.
“Who?”
Samuel examined the weapon style.
“Not mine.”
“I know.”
“Federal subcontractors.”
Thomas went pale.
“The ledger names them.”
Samuel nodded.
“They don’t want prosecutors reading bedtime stories.”
Elena groaned.
Her breathing weakened.
I pressed harder against her wound.
“She needs a hospital.”
Victor looked at the blocked road.
“We aren’t getting one.”
Daniel pointed toward a building.
“Urgent care.”
Victor stared.
“Seriously?”
“It’s that or she bleeds in your car.”
We crashed through the back entrance of a private clinic.
Employees screamed.
Victor’s men secured the hall.
Daniel grabbed a wheelchair.
Elena whispered, “I hate hospitals.”
“You’re going to love this one,” I said. “We’re bringing guns.”
Inside an examination room, an emergency physician stabilized her while Victor stood outside the door.
I watched from the hallway.
Samuel leaned against the wall.
Still technically our enemy.
“You saved Adrian once,” I said.
He smiled.
“I shot him.”
“You stopped him from shooting Victor.”
“Temporary alignment.”
“Why?”
Samuel looked toward the ceiling.
“Because Adrian became ambitious.”
“That’s it?”
“Ambition without patience is irritating.”
“You tried to kill Leo.”
His expression hardened.
“I ordered men to frighten Victor.”
“They fired armor-piercing rounds at a child.”
“I killed the team leader afterward.”
“That doesn’t make it better.”
“No.”
For once, he did not pretend.
“Then why should we trust you?”
“You shouldn’t.”
At least he was consistent.
Thomas joined us.
“You knew about Claire’s trust.”
Samuel nodded.
“I knew Elias left something.”
“You used my children.”
“I used everyone.”
“You’re proud of that?”
“No.”
Samuel looked strangely tired.
“I’m simply not ashamed enough to lie.”
Thomas punched him.
Samuel staggered.
Victor did not intervene.
I probably should have.
I did not.
The doctor emerged.
“Mrs. Romano is stable.”
Victor exhaled.
“She needs surgery.”
“Can you do it?”
“No.”
“Then find someone.”
“Mr. Romano—”
“Find someone.”
The doctor swallowed.
“There is a surgical center four miles east.”
Thomas looked toward the windows.
“Too dangerous.”
I stared at the archive files we had managed to take from the vault.
Only three boxes.
But enough.
“Maybe we stop running.”
Victor looked at me.
“What?”
“They’re attacking because they think we’re hiding evidence.”
“We are.”
“Then we make hiding pointless.”
Thomas understood first.
“Release it.”
Samuel laughed.
“Oh, that would be beautiful.”
Victor frowned.
“You want to publish the archive.”
“Not all of it.”
“Why not?”
“Because there are innocent names in there. Informants. Family members. People who could be killed.”
Victor nodded slowly.
“We need someone we trust.”
Daniel raised his hand.
“Journalist.”
We all looked at him.
“What?”
“I know one.”
“How?” I asked.
“Physical therapy.”
Of course.
“Her name is Maya Reynolds. Investigative reporter.”
Victor looked skeptical.
“For who?”
“A national network.”
“Can she be bought?”
Daniel shrugged.
“She complained for forty minutes because her editor wanted her to soften a pharmaceutical investigation.”
“That’s promising.”
We contacted Maya.
She arrived at the clinic in forty-five minutes wearing jeans, a winter coat, and an expression that suggested she regretted all life choices leading to the moment.
Then she saw Victor Romano.
“Oh my God.”
Daniel smiled.
“Hi.”
“You said your sister needed help.”
“She does.”
“You did not mention organized crime.”
“That would have sounded dramatic.”
I held out the first file.
“You’re going to want to sit down.”
For two hours, Maya reviewed documents.
Her skepticism disappeared.
Then fear arrived.
“This is federal.”
“Yes.”
“International.”
“Yes.”
“Some of these people are still in office.”
“Yes.”
She stared at me.
“You understand what happens if I publish this.”
“They stop being able to kill me quietly.”
Victor looked at me.
“And they start trying publicly.”
“They already blew up a road.”
“Fair.”
Maya agreed to release a carefully verified portion through multiple journalists at the same time.
No single newsroom could bury it.
No single government official could stop it.
Copies went to attorneys.
Federal oversight committees.
Two international investigative groups.
At 6:32 p.m., the first story went live.
By 6:41, television trucks appeared outside federal buildings.
By 7:05, three officials resigned.
By 7:17, one tried to flee the country.
By 7:30, the attack outside our clinic stopped.
Exposure had changed the battlefield.
Victor watched the news silently.
“They’re afraid now.”
Samuel smiled.
“They should be.”
Then Maya’s phone rang.
She answered.
Her face changed.
“What?”
She turned toward me.
“That was my editor.”
My stomach tightened.
“What happened?”
“One of the files contains a payment record tied to the car bombing that killed Sofia Romano.”
Victor stopped.
Maya swallowed.
“The authorization code belongs to Samuel.”
Every gun in the hallway turned toward him.
Samuel did not move.
Victor stepped forward.
“You said Adrian killed her.”
Samuel’s expression was unreadable.
“I said he arranged it.”
“The payment code is yours.”
“Yes.”
The word detonated.
Victor slammed him into the wall.
“You killed my wife.”
“No.”
“Then explain.”
Samuel looked directly at him.
“I funded the account.”
Victor pressed a gun under his jaw.
“Why?”
“Because Adrian told me the target was Giovanni.”
Giovanni.
Victor’s father.
Samuel continued.
“I wanted my brother dead.”
Thomas whispered, “Jesus.”
“But Sofia drove the car instead.”
Victor froze.
“You ordered a hit on my father and killed my wife.”
Samuel’s voice dropped.
“Yes.”
There was no excuse.
No clever deflection.
Victor’s hand shook.
I stepped closer.
“Victor.”
“Stay back.”
“If you kill him now—”
“He murdered Sofia.”
“I know.”
“He made Leo watch her die.”
“I know.”
Victor’s eyes filled with something terrifying.
“He took everything.”
“No.”
Victor looked at me.
“He didn’t.”
I touched his wrist.
“He took Sofia.”
My voice softened.
“He did not take Leo.”
Victor’s breathing slowed.
“He did not take who you are now.”
His grip loosened.
Samuel watched us.
Almost curious.
I continued.
“And if you kill him in a clinic hallway, Leo loses another piece of you.”
Victor closed his eyes.
Then lowered the gun.
Samuel exhaled.
“Thank Claire.”
Victor looked at him.
“No.”
Then he punched him unconscious.
Daniel nodded.
“Reasonable compromise.”
Hours later, federal agents arrived.
Not all could be trusted.
Maya had arranged for two separate agencies and independent observers to come simultaneously.
Samuel was taken into custody.
So was Giovanni temporarily.
Thomas agreed to testify.
Elena went into surgery.
For the first time in days, nobody was shooting.
Victor and I sat on the clinic roof beneath a cold Chicago sky.
“You stopped me,” he said.
“Yes.”
“You should not have.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to kill him.”
“I know.”
“I still do.”
“I know.”
He looked at me.
“Does that scare you?”
“Yes.”
The answer surprised him.
I continued.
“But not enough to leave.”
His expression changed.
“Claire.”
“I don’t know what happens to the syndicate.”
“Neither do I.”
“I don’t want Leo growing up in this.”
“Neither do I.”
“I don’t want guards outside every bedroom forever.”
“Neither do I.”
I smiled faintly.
“You’re agreeing a lot.”
“I’m married now. I’ve heard that happens.”
I laughed.
Then winced.
He touched my side gently.
“Still hurting?”
“Yes.”
“Then stop laughing.”
“You’re not that funny.”
His hand remained against my waist.
The city lights reflected in his eyes.
“What happens after this?” I asked.
“With us?”
“Yes.”
“You decide.”
“That’s new.”
“I learn.”
I looked at the sapphire ring.
“Do you want me to stay?”
Victor did not answer immediately.
When he did, his voice was quiet.
“More than I should.”
“Why?”
“Because I sleep when you are in the house.”
My chest tightened.
“Because Leo laughs.”
He moved closer.
“Because you argue with me.”
“That seems like a strange selling point.”
“Nobody argues well.”
“I’m excellent.”
“Yes.”
His thumb brushed my cheek.
“And because every time you walk into a room, I notice.”
The words landed differently now.
No gunfire.
No hostage exchange.
No contract.
No strategic marriage.
Just Victor.
I touched his jaw.
“This is probably a terrible idea.”
“Yes.”
Then I kissed him.
Slowly.
Carefully.
The feared mafia boss kissed me like I might break.
When we separated, his forehead rested against mine.
For one perfect second, nothing else existed.
Then his phone rang.
Victor groaned.
I laughed.
He answered.
“Romano.”
His expression changed immediately.
“What?”
I straightened.
“What happened?”
He lowered the phone.
“Leo’s safe house.”
My stomach dropped.
“What about it?”
Victor looked toward the city.
“It’s empty.”
My blood turned cold.
“What do you mean empty?”
“Giovanni is gone.”
“And Leo?”
Victor’s face drained of color.
“Gone with him.”
I stood.
“No.”
Victor checked the message that had just arrived.
Then handed me the phone.
A photograph showed Giovanni driving.
Leo sat in the passenger seat.
Below it was one sentence.
I’M SORRY, SON. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO END IT.
Victor stared into the night.
May you like
“My father took my son.”
And suddenly, the man who had just chosen family was about to learn whether his own father had chosen betrayal one final time.
