Chapter 13 - SOFIA’S LAST PROMISE
I waited until we were alone.
Then I closed the conference-room door.
“What promise?”
Evelyn didn’t answer.
Grace sat nearby.
“Tell him.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“You already know?”
“No.”
Grace folded her arms.
“But I know that face.”
Evelyn sat down.
“Three weeks before Sofia died, she made me promise something.”
“What?”
“If Vittorio was exposed and you remained in the organization, I was supposed to take Grace away.”
My anger returned instantly.
“You were going to kidnap my daughter?”
“No.”
“That sounds exactly like kidnapping.”
“Sofia created legal documents.”
I laughed without humor.
“Of course she did.”
“Dominic.”
“You entered my house pretending to clean it.”
“I entered because Grace was being watched.”
“You trained her behind my back.”
“She asked me.”
“And now I find out you planned to take her?”
Evelyn stood.
“If you chose power over Grace.”
“I would never—”
“You already did.”
That stopped me.
She pointed toward the window.
“The guards. The armored cars. The locked gates. The meetings at midnight. The men who look at Grace and see leverage.”
Her voice broke for the first time.
“You love her. I have never doubted that.”
Then she lowered her voice.
“But love doesn’t automatically make your choices good.”
I hated her.
Mostly because she was right.
Grace stood.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Both of us looked at her.
She sighed.
“This is exhausting.”
“Grace,” I said.
“No.”
She faced my voice.
“Dad, Evelyn doesn’t get to take me.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Fair.”
Grace turned toward her.
“And Dad doesn’t get to put me back in a cage.”
I swallowed.
“Also fair.”
Grace took a breath.
“I want a normal school.”
I nearly objected.
She raised a finger.
“Don’t.”
I shut my mouth.
“I want to learn self-defense.”
“Yes,” Evelyn said.
Grace smiled.
“I want to take the train someday.”
My chest tightened.
Grace continued.
“And I want to know the truth when something affects me.”
I nodded slowly.
“Okay.”
“No fake okay.”
“I mean it.”
She studied my breathing.
Then smiled.
“You do.”
Agent Monroe entered.
“The indictments are public.”
“How bad?”
“For Vittorio? Very.”
“For me?”
She gave me a look.
“Also very.”
Grace held tighter to my hand.
“What happens to Dad?”
Monroe was careful.
“He’s cooperating.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“Dominic will likely face consequences.”
I nodded.
I had known this.
That didn’t make it easier.
“What about the trust?” I asked.
“Vittorio is removed.”
“And Grace?”
“She remains beneficiary.”
“Who becomes protector?”
Monroe looked down at the paperwork.
“There’s a final clause.”
I groaned.
“Of course there is.”
“Antonio named an alternate.”
“Who?”
Monroe looked at Evelyn.
“Evelyn Shaw.”
Evelyn blinked.
“I didn’t know.”
Grace started laughing.
“What?”
She laughed harder.
“My housekeeper owns my dad now.”
“I do not own your father.”
I looked at Evelyn.
“She certainly thinks she does.”
For the first time in days, all three of us laughed.
Then Monroe’s phone vibrated.
She looked at the message.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
She turned the screen toward me.
Vittorio’s prison transport had been attacked.
Two marshals injured.
May you like
Vehicle abandoned.
Vittorio was gone.
