Chapter 13 - THE LAST NAME
Victor stared at Paulie.
Paulie stared at the page.
“No.”
Victor’s hand moved toward his gun.
Paulie backed away.
“I never saw that.”
“Your name is there.”
“I can read.”
Tessa stepped between them.
“Stop.”
Victor looked at her.
“Move.”
“No.”
“Tessa.”
“Paulie could’ve killed you a hundred times.”
Paulie nodded.
“Thank you.”
She turned on him.
“That wasn’t forgiveness.”
He shut up.
Victor looked again at the ledger.
His father’s handwriting was unmistakable.
Paulie Marchetti.
Final contingency.
Kill Victor if he abandons the family.
Victor’s voice became quiet.
“Did my father ever ask you to kill me?”
Paulie swallowed.
“Yes.”
Tessa’s stomach tightened.
Victor didn’t move.
“When?”
“The week before he died.”
“And?”
“I told him yes.”
Victor’s face emptied.
Paulie stepped closer.
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“Because saying no to your father was suicide.”
Victor laughed once.
Cold.
“So you agreed to murder me.”
“I agreed to outlive him.”
Silence.
Paulie’s eyes became wet.
“I held you when your mother died.”
Victor looked away.
“I taught you how to drive. I broke your nose when you were seventeen because you called me fat.”
“You were fat.”
Paulie almost smiled.
“You were family before your father ever ordered me to be anything.”
Victor’s hand slowly moved away from his weapon.
Then the estate alarm sounded.
Again.
Paulie swore.
A guard ran into the chapel.
“Carlo’s at the front gate.”
Victor frowned.
“With how many?”
“One car.”
“That’s it?”
“He says he wants to trade.”
“For what?”
The guard looked at Tessa.
“For the ledger.”
Victor walked outside.
Carlo stood beyond the gate alone.
One arm was strapped from the gunshot.
He smiled.
“You found it.”
Victor held up the book.
Carlo’s eyes lit.
“What are you offering?”
Carlo opened the trunk of his car.
A woman lay inside.
Mrs. Bell.
Bound.
Tessa gasped.
Carlo pointed a pistol at her.
“Book.”
Mrs. Bell shouted through the gag.
Victor’s voice became deadly.
“You’re running out of people to hide behind.”
Carlo smiled.
“Still works.”
Tessa whispered, “Give him the book.”
Victor looked at her.
“It can destroy half the city.”
“And Mrs. Bell didn’t ask to die for it.”
Victor stared at the ledger.
Then handed it to Paulie.
“Bring it.”
At the gate, Paulie walked forward.
Carlo pushed Mrs. Bell toward him.
“Book first.”
Paulie threw it.
Carlo caught the ledger.
Mrs. Bell ran toward the estate.
Victor raised his gun.
Carlo ducked into the car.
The engine screamed.
He escaped.
Tessa watched the taillights vanish.
“He has everything.”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
Paulie smiled.
Tessa looked between them.
“What?”
Victor reached inside his jacket.
He pulled out the real ledger.
Tessa stared.
“You switched it?”
“With the estate wine inventory.”
Paulie laughed.
“Carlo now knows exactly how many bottles of Bordeaux you own.”
Tessa stared at Victor.
“You’re insane.”
“Useful, though.”
Then Victor’s phone rang.
Carlo.
Victor answered.
Carlo was screaming.
“You think this is funny?”
“A little.”
“I don’t need the book anymore.”
Victor’s smile disappeared.
Carlo continued.
“Russo made photographs before you caught him.”
Victor’s face hardened.
“And by sunrise, every photograph goes to the FBI, the newspapers, and every enemy your family ever made.”
Tessa looked at the ledger.
If the records became public, Victor’s organization would collapse.
But so would dozens of corrupt officials.
Victor asked, “What do you want?”
Carlo laughed.
“Nothing.”
The line went dead.
May you like
For the first time, Carlo wasn’t bargaining.
He wanted to burn everything down.
