Chapter 6 - BLOOD IN THE KITCHEN
Victor shoved Tessa behind him.
“Stay here.”
She grabbed his sleeve.
“You said that last time.”
“And you ignored me last time.”
“It worked.”
“A bomb exploded.”
“Still alive.”
Victor gave her a look.
“Stay.”
He ran toward the gunfire.
Tessa lasted eight seconds.
Then she followed.
The shots had come from the kitchen.
One guard lay near the doorway clutching his leg.
Nico was firing through a pantry entrance.
“Russo went downstairs!”
Victor moved toward the stairs.
Tessa caught Nico’s arm.
“The wine cellar?”
“Yes.”
“No. There’s another exit.”
Victor stopped.
“What?”
“Old dumbwaiter shaft behind the dry-storage wall. Mrs. Bell showed it to maintenance last month.”
Victor changed direction immediately.
They reached the service corridor just as a panel burst open.
Anthony Russo stumbled through.
He wore a bloodstained suit and carried a handgun.
Victor raised his pistol.
“Drop it.”
Russo laughed.
“You were always too slow to see what was under your nose.”
“Drop the gun.”
“You think this is about money?”
Victor’s eyes hardened.
“It usually is.”
Russo shook his head.
“Not this time.”
His gaze moved toward Tessa.
And he smiled.
Victor stepped in front of her.
“Look at me.”
Russo ignored him.
“You have no idea who your little maid is, do you?”
Tessa frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Russo reached inside his jacket.
Victor fired.
The bullet struck Russo’s forearm.
His gun fell.
Paulie tackled him.
A photograph slipped from Russo’s jacket and landed near Tessa’s shoes.
She picked it up.
It showed a younger woman standing outside a diner.
Brown hair.
Gray eyes.
Tessa’s mother.
She had been dead for twelve years.
Tessa’s hands went numb.
“Where did you get this?”
Russo laughed through his pain.
“Ask Romano.”
She turned toward Victor.
He looked genuinely confused.
“Tessa, I’ve never seen that photograph.”
Russo grinned.
“Wrong Romano.”
Victor’s face changed.
“My father?”
Russo nodded.
“Now we’re getting somewhere.”
Victor grabbed him by the collar.
“What did my father have to do with her mother?”
Russo coughed.
“Your old man didn’t build this empire alone.”
Paulie tightened his grip.
“Talk.”
“Tessa’s mother kept books for a restaurant the Romanos used to wash cash twenty years ago.”
Tessa stared.
“My mother was a waitress.”
“That’s what she told you.”
Russo looked directly at her.
“She found numbers she wasn’t supposed to find. Names. Judges. cops. businessmen. Everybody your precious Victor’s father owned.”
Victor’s voice dropped.
“What happened to her?”
Russo smiled.
“She made a copy.”
Tessa’s throat tightened.
“My mother died in a car accident.”
Russo’s smile disappeared.
“No.”
Victor already knew the answer.
Russo said it anyway.
“She was killed.”
Tessa’s knees nearly gave out.
Victor caught her.
She jerked away.
“No.”
“Tessa—”
“No!”
Russo continued.
“The ledger disappeared. Romano searched for it for years.”
Victor stared at him.
“My father died six years ago.”
“And other people kept searching.”
“Why target Tessa now?”
Russo looked at Liam, who had been brought into the hallway under guard.
“Because her idiot brother found something.”
Liam went pale.
Tessa turned.
“What did you find?”
He didn’t answer.
“Liam.”
His voice shook.
“A key.”
“To what?”
“I don’t know.”
Russo laughed.
“Yes, you do.”
Liam looked at his sister.
“It was hidden inside Mom’s old music box.”
Tessa’s heart stopped.
She knew that music box.
It was still inside a storage unit in Cicero.
May you like
Russo smiled.
“And now every crew in the city knows exactly where it is.”
