Chapter 9 - THE DAUGHTER NOBODY KNEW ABOUT
Paulie had a daughter.
Victor hadn’t known.
That hurt him more than he expected.
“Her name is Emma,” Paulie said.
“Sixteen.”
Victor stared at him.
“You hid a child from me for sixteen years?”
“I hid her from this life.”
“Apparently not well enough.”
Paulie looked down.
“Her mother left Chicago when Emma was a baby. Only three people knew.”
“Russo?”
“No.”
“Then how?”
Paulie had no answer.
Tessa stood near the window.
Part of her hated Paulie.
Part of her wanted him to hurt.
But a sixteen-year-old girl had nothing to do with her mother’s death.
“When are we going?” she asked.
Victor turned.
“We?”
“Don’t start.”
“You’re staying here.”
“They’re using Paulie’s daughter because of the key connected to my mother.”
“Exactly why you’re staying.”
Tessa stepped closer.
“You keep trying to lock me in safe rooms while everyone else bleeds for something that belongs to my family.”
“It isn’t your fault.”
“I didn’t say it was.”
Victor stopped.
She held his gaze.
“But it is my fight.”
Three hours later they reached an abandoned church on the south side.
Paulie carried the brass key.
Victor had men positioned two blocks away.
The note said come alone.
Victor had never been good at following threats politely.
Inside the church, candles burned near a broken altar.
A girl sat tied to a chair.
Paulie’s breath caught.
“Emma.”
“Dad!”
He moved forward.
Victor grabbed him.
“Wait.”
A man stepped from behind the altar.
Carlo DeLuca.
Gray suit.
White hair.
Smile like a knife.
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“So it was you.”
Carlo laughed.
“Some of it.”
“Russo worked for you.”
“Russo worked for whoever paid him.”
Carlo looked at Tessa.
“And your housekeeper became surprisingly expensive.”
Tessa stared.
“You killed my mother?”
“No.”
“Victor’s father did.”
Carlo spread his hands.
“We all did terrible things back then.”
Paulie raised the key.
“Let Emma go.”
Carlo smiled.
“That key opens a private deposit box.”
“Where?”
“First Chicago Trust.”
Victor frowned.
“That bank closed twelve years ago.”
“The vault didn’t.”
Carlo nodded toward Emma.
“The key first.”
Paulie threw it.
Carlo caught it.
Then Victor heard a click.
Behind them.
A shotgun.
Nico’s voice sounded from the darkness.
“Sorry, boss.”
Victor slowly turned.
Tessa felt the room tilt.
Nico aimed directly at Victor.
Paulie whispered, “You?”
Nico smiled sadly.
“I got tired of dying for men who call loyalty a family.”
Victor’s expression never changed.
“How much?”
“Three million.”
“Cheap.”
Nico’s smile vanished.
Carlo laughed.
“Enough.”
Tessa looked at Victor.
He gave the smallest movement with his fingers.
Down.
She understood.
She dropped.
Victor fired.
Paulie dove toward Emma.
Gunshots shattered the church.
Tessa crawled behind a pew.
Nico fired at Victor.
Victor rolled behind a stone column.
Carlo ran for the side door with the key.
Tessa saw him.
Without thinking, she chased.
“Tessa!” Victor shouted.
Too late.
She hit the alley just as Carlo climbed into a waiting car.
She grabbed the rear door.
Carlo slammed it on her hand.
She cried out.
The car accelerated.
Tessa lost her grip and hit the pavement.
Victor reached her seconds later.
“Tessa!”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“Carlo has the key.”
Victor looked at the disappearing taillights.
Then Paulie came running outside.
His face was white.
“Emma’s gone.”
Victor turned.
“What?”
Paulie held a phone.
A message glowed on the screen.
A photo of Emma being pushed into another vehicle.
May you like
Underneath were six words.
THE KEY WAS NEVER THE REAL PRICE.
