Chapter 14 - VICTOR’S CHOICE
Victor had six hours before sunrise.
His men offered solutions.
Kill Carlo.
Destroy the copies.
Bribe someone.
Threaten someone else.
Victor listened.
Then Tessa asked one question.
“What if you let him release it?”
Every man in the room looked at her.
Victor didn’t.
Paulie laughed in disbelief.
“That ledger puts half of us in prison.”
Tessa nodded.
“Yes.”
Paulie stopped laughing.
Victor finally looked at her.
“You want me to surrender?”
“I want you to stop protecting dead men.”
Silence.
Tessa stepped closer.
“Your father built this.”
She touched the ledger.
“He killed my mother to protect it.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“He ordered Paulie to kill you to protect it.”
Paulie looked down.
“Russo betrayed you for it. Carlo kidnapped a kid for it. Liam got shot because of it.”
She held Victor’s gaze.
“How many more people have to bleed before somebody decides the Romano empire isn’t worth saving?”
Nobody spoke.
Victor walked to the window.
Dawn was still hours away.
He had spent his entire adult life protecting what his father created.
Territory.
Money.
Reputation.
Fear.
A kingdom inherited from a man he had spent years trying not to become.
Victor looked at Tessa.
“If I give this to federal investigators, people I’ve known my whole life go down.”
“Yes.”
“Paulie.”
“I know.”
“Myself.”
She hesitated.
“Yes.”
Victor smiled faintly.
“At least you’re consistent.”
Tessa’s eyes filled.
“I’m not asking you because I want to lose you.”
That sentence changed something.
Victor walked toward her.
“Then why?”
“Because I don’t want whatever this is between us to exist only because everyone around you is too scared to tell you the truth.”
Victor stared at her.
Paulie cleared his throat.
“I hate emotional conversations.”
Neither looked at him.
He sighed.
“For what it’s worth, she’s right.”
Victor turned.
Paulie shrugged.
“I’ve done things I deserve to answer for.”
“You could go to prison.”
“Yeah.”
“You’re surprisingly calm.”
“I’m sixty-one. My knees hurt. Maybe federal prison has decent chairs.”
Tessa laughed through tears.
Victor looked at the ledger again.
Then made his decision.
At 4:12 a.m., Victor Romano called a federal prosecutor whose name appeared nowhere in his father’s records.
At 4:31, he arranged a meeting.
At 5:03, he recorded a statement.
At 5:40, Paulie did the same.
By sunrise, Carlo’s threat no longer mattered.
Victor had released everything himself.
The news exploded across Chicago.
Police commanders were suspended.
Two judges resigned.
Three businessmen disappeared before warrants arrived.
Carlo DeLuca was arrested attempting to cross into Canada.
Anthony Russo accepted a deal.
Paulie was charged.
Victor was charged too.
Tessa stood beside him outside the federal courthouse three weeks later.
Reporters screamed questions.
“Mr. Romano!”
“Victor!”
“Are you cooperating?”
“Did your father order murders?”
“Tessa, are you involved with Victor Romano?”
She looked at Victor.
“That one’s your fault.”
“Apparently.”
Federal agents approached.
Victor had agreed to surrender pending the court’s decision.
Tessa’s throat tightened.
“How long?”
“I don’t know.”
“You hate not knowing.”
“Yes.”
She stepped closer.
“So do I.”
Victor touched her cheek.
For once, he didn’t care about cameras.
“You could leave.”
Tessa’s eyes hardened.
“Don’t tell me what I could do.”
He smiled.
“Fair.”
She kissed him.
Reporters erupted.
When she pulled away, Victor whispered, “The first time you slept on me, I almost shot you.”
“You’re never going to make that story romantic.”
“I’m trying.”
“You’re failing.”
An agent touched Victor’s arm.
“Time.”
Victor turned.
Tessa grabbed his hand.
He looked back.
“I’ll be here.”
Victor stared at her.
Those three words were more terrifying than any threat he had ever heard.
Because this time, unlike that night on the couch…
May you like
he wanted desperately to believe them.
Then the courthouse doors closed behind him.
