Chapter 12 - The Table Where Everyone Was SeenTwo years later, Nora Bennett walked back into the Halston wearing navy blue.
By noon, shares in three Mercer companies fell.
By two, commentators declared the family empire finished.
By four, Nora found Julian sitting alone on the hospital roof.
Again.
“You have a habit of hiding up here.”
“I like the view.”
“You hate heights.”
He looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“Claire.”
“Traitor.”
“She also told me you cried during The Lion King when you were nine.”
“I was grieving the collapse of political stability.”
Nora laughed.
Julian smiled.
His arm was in a sling.
The federal investigation was ongoing.
Samuel Crane had agreed to cooperate.
Vincent faced charges connected to conspiracy, kidnapping, assault and financial crimes.
Gerald had taken a plea agreement.
Evidence from the storage unit supported Julian's claim that the offshore accounts had been created without his knowledge.
But none of it was finished.
Nora sat beside him.
“Why resign?”
“Because the organization has too many shadows.”
“You could clean it.”
“I spent years trying.”
“So try again.”
Julian shook his head.
“My father built parts of it with blood. Vincent preserved them through corruption. I kept telling myself legitimate revenue could bury the old foundation.”
“And?”
“You can't renovate rot.”
Nora looked toward the skyline.
“What happens now?”
“We split the companies.”
“Meaning?”
“Independent boards. External audits. Sell the businesses built on questionable assets. Keep the clean ones.”
“And your money?”
“I'll survive.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“On only several hundred million?”
“Potentially less.”
“Tragic.”
“Thank you for your compassion.”
“What about Claire?”
“She wants to run the charitable foundation.”
Nora smiled.
“That sounds like her.”
“She wants you involved.”
“Of course she does.”
Julian turned.
“What do you want?”
The question was simple.
Nora had no simple answer.
For years, wanting had felt irresponsible.
Survival demanded rent.
Food.
Bills.
There had been no room for ambition.
Now she looked at the man beside her.
“I want to finish nursing school.”
Julian nodded.
“Good.”
“I don't want you to pay for it.”
His jaw tightened.
“I didn't say anything.”
“You thought loudly.”
“Educational loans exist.”
“I applied yesterday.”
His eyebrows rose.
“And?”
“I was approved.”
“How?”
“Apparently having steady employment helped.”
“You quit.”
“I accepted another position.”
His expression changed.
“Where?”
“Northwestern's patient advocacy department.”
Julian blinked.
“When?”
“This morning.”
“What about Claire?”
“I'll still help her.”
“What about us?”
There it was.
Nora looked at him.
“What are we?”
“I don't know.”
“The feared Julian Mercer doesn't know?”
“No.”
She smiled.
“Good.”
“Good?”
“Means we're both figuring it out.”
He took her hand.
“No contracts?”
“No.”
“No salary?”
“Definitely no.”
“No security detail?”
She hesitated.
“One.”
He smiled.
“Two.”
“One.”
“One and Marco.”
“That is two.”
“Marco doesn't count.”
“Tell Marco that.”
Julian laughed.
Then grew serious.
“I don't know how to do normal.”
“Neither do I.”
“You're more normal than me.”
“I used duct tape inside my shoe because I couldn't afford another pair.”
“I know.”
Nora froze.
“How?”
“I saw it at the restaurant.”
“You noticed?”
“Yes.”
“And said nothing?”
“I thought mentioning it would embarrass you.”
Something warmed in her chest.
All along she'd believed Julian hadn't seen her.
He had.
“Why didn't you offer money then?”
“Because you looked like you would've stabbed me with a fork.”
“Accurate.”
He squeezed her hand.
“Nora, I can't promise my life will become simple.”
“I don't want promises you can't keep.”
“I can promise something else.”
“What?”
“I won't hide the truth to protect you.”
That mattered.
More than money.
More than security.
More than grand declarations.
Nora looked at him.
“And I won't let you decide what's best for me without asking.”
“Difficult.”
“Nonnegotiable.”
“Fine.”
She leaned forward.
He kissed her.
No gunshots.
No alarms.
No emergencies.
Just cold Chicago air and two people choosing something uncertain.
Three months passed.
Claire walked without assistance.
Her right hand regained most of its strength.
Speech became fluent except when she was tired.
Nora returned to school part-time while working at the hospital.
Julian completed the corporate restructuring.
Dozens of questionable contracts were turned over to investigators.
Some longtime Mercer associates disappeared from his life.
Others stayed.
Marco stayed.
Naturally.
One afternoon, Claire found Nora studying pharmacology at the estate.
“You're failing at studying.”
Nora looked up.
“I've read the same paragraph six times.”
“Because my brother keeps walking past the doorway.”
“He does not.”
Julian walked past the doorway.
Claire smiled.
Nora threw a pillow at her.
That evening, the three of them ate in the kitchen.
No guards at the table.
No chandelier.
No politicians.
No crystal champagne glasses.
Claire looked around.
“This is weird.”
“What?” Julian asked.
“Us.”
“Specific.”
Claire pointed at Nora.
“She saved my life.”
Then Julian.
“You were terrifying.”
“I was concerned.”
“You threatened three paramedics.”
“They were slow.”
“They saved me.”
“They were still slow.”
Nora laughed.
Claire's expression softened.
“Mom would've liked this.”
Julian looked down.
Nora reached beneath the table and squeezed his hand.
He squeezed back.
For the first time, grief didn't fill the whole room.
It simply sat among them.
Part of the family.
Not the ruler of it.
Then the doorbell rang.
Marco entered carrying an envelope.
“For Nora.”
She frowned.
No return address.
Julian immediately became alert.
“Scanner?”
“Clean.”
Nora opened it.
Inside was a letter from the Illinois nursing board.
Her hands began trembling.
Claire leaned over.
“Well?”
Nora read twice.
Then a third time.
She started crying.
Julian stood.
“What?”
“I got reinstated.”
Claire screamed.
Actually screamed.
Julian picked Nora up.
She laughed through tears.
“Put me down!”
“No.”
“Julian!”
“You're going back.”
“I am.”
He lowered her.
His eyes were bright.
“You did it.”
Nora shook her head.
“Not yet.”
“You will.”
She looked at him.
There was no doubt in his face.
None.
That night, after Claire went upstairs, Nora found Julian standing beside the dining room window.
“What's wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“You're brooding.”
“I don't brood.”
“You brood professionally.”
He reached into his pocket.
Nora immediately backed away.
“No.”
Julian froze.
“What?”
“If that's a ring, put it back.”
He stared.
Then slowly removed his hand.
Empty.
“I was getting my phone.”
Nora covered her face.
“Oh God.”
Julian started laughing.
“That's humiliating.”
“Extremely.”
“You were not proposing?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“Would you have said no?”
“Yes.”
He stopped laughing.
Nora walked closer.
“Today.”
Understanding softened his face.
“Today.”
She touched his chest.
“Ask me after I graduate.”
His heartbeat jumped beneath her palm.
Julian smiled.
“That's a dangerous amount of information to give me.”
“Why?”
May you like
“Because now I have a deadline.”
And for once, Nora looked forward to whatever came next.
