Chapter 6: The Father’s Final Bargain
The meeting was arranged inside Preston’s abandoned hedge fund headquarters.
Forty floors above Chicago.
No police.
No visible weapons.
No more than two people on either side.
Enzo agreed to every rule and trusted none of them.
Before leaving the mansion, he found Harper standing beside the bedroom window in a dark blue dress. The high neckline covered her scars, but she no longer looked like someone trying to disappear.
“You’re staying here,” he said.
“No.”
“Preston asked for you because he plans to use you.”
“He has used me my entire life. That’s why I know how he thinks.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
Harper stepped closer.
“You married me without asking permission. Don’t start pretending you control me now.”
Enzo almost smiled.
Almost.
“You’ve changed.”
“No. You’re finally seeing me.”
He handed her a small earpiece.
“If anything goes wrong, stay behind me.”
“I’m not hiding behind you.”
“Harper.”
“I’ll stand beside you.”
They entered Whitcomb Tower at midnight.
The offices had been stripped of art, computers, and furniture. Federal seizure notices covered the glass doors.
Preston waited in the boardroom beside a long black table.
He looked twenty years older than he had at the wedding. His expensive suit hung loosely from his shoulders. His eyes moved to Harper.
“You look well.”
She did not answer.
Preston smiled.
“Did he enjoy his wedding gift?”
Enzo lunged forward, but Harper caught his arm.
“Don’t,” she whispered.
Preston’s smile widened.
“You always did know how to calm angry men.”
Harper’s expression remained still.
“You said you knew who really killed Nathan.”
“I do.”
“Vittorio confessed,” Enzo said.
Preston’s face flickered.
“So he’s alive.”
Enzo realized the trap one second too late.
The boardroom doors slammed shut.
Metal shutters dropped over the windows.
Armed men stepped from hidden offices.
Preston drew a pistol and aimed it at Harper.
“I knew Vittorio would betray me eventually. I only needed confirmation.”
Enzo moved in front of her.
Preston laughed.
“How noble. Did she show you the scars?”
Harper’s breath caught.
“You should have seen her as a child,” Preston continued. “Always crying. Always questioning. Her mother filled her head with ideas about freedom.”
“You beat a child because she wanted freedom,” Enzo said.
“I corrected disobedience.”
Harper stepped around Enzo.
“No. You enjoyed it.”
Preston aimed directly at her heart.
“You were born weak.”
“My mother wasn’t.”
The confidence left Preston’s face.
Harper reached beneath her sleeve and pressed a button.
Speakers throughout the boardroom came alive.
Vittorio’s recorded confession filled the room.
Preston’s voice followed—captured years earlier on the memory card—discussing payments, judges, and Nathan’s murder.
Red lights blinked above the ceiling cameras.
A live transmission.
Preston stared upward.
“What did you do?”
Harper’s voice was steady.
“I sent everything to the FBI, three newspapers, and every member of your board.”
Sirens rose from the street below.
Preston’s men shifted nervously.
Some lowered their weapons.
“You stupid girl,” Preston whispered. “You destroyed your own name.”
Harper looked at him.
“No. I destroyed yours.”
Preston’s face twisted.
He fired.
May you like
Enzo shoved Harper aside.
The bullet struck him in the chest.
