Chapter 4 - Two Payments
Anton chose an abandoned boxing gym in Brooklyn.
Marco wanted twenty men.
I brought four.
“You promised Emma no revenge,” Marco reminded me.
“I promised her truth.”
“That distinction makes me nervous.”
We entered at midnight.
Anton stood beneath a dead fluorescent light.
The snake tattoo was visible.
My hands tightened.
He saw it.
“I didn’t mean to hurt her that bad.”
“You fractured three ribs.”
“My partner lost control.”
“Where is he?”
“Gone.”
“Where?”
“Dead.”
Marco and I exchanged a glance.
Anton swallowed.
“Someone cleaned him up.”
“Who?”
“That’s why I called.”
I stepped closer.
“Talk.”
“Anthony Castellano paid us ten grand to scare the girl and say Kolov’s name.”
“I know.”
Anton looked surprised.
“Then you know half.”
“What’s the other half?”
“Somebody offered fifty thousand to make sure she ended up in the hospital.”
Marco cursed.
“Name.”
“I never met him.”
“Then how were you paid?”
“Cash. Instructions by phone.”
“Voice?”
“Distorted.”
“Anything else?”
Anton hesitated.
“A phrase.”
“What phrase?”
“He said, ‘Dominic protects his house before his empire.’”
My blood went cold.
Only a handful of people had heard me say that.
Marco understood too.
“Inner circle.”
Anton nodded.
“He wanted you focused on Emma while something happened somewhere else.”
My phone rang.
Lucia.
I answered immediately.
“Dominic.”
She sounded terrified.
“What?”
“The docks.”
I turned toward Marco.
“What about them?”
“Warehouse Nine is burning.”
Marco swore.
Warehouse Nine contained our financial records.
And something more valuable.
Evidence collected over three years against corrupt officials and rival crews.
Someone had used Emma to pull my attention away.
“Who knew what was stored there?” I asked.
“Six people.”
“Names.”
“You, me, Marco, Anthony…”
She stopped.
“And?”
“Uncle Salvatore.”
My stomach tightened.
“And?”
“Victor.”
Victor Moretti.
My father’s closest friend.
My mentor.
The man who had taught me how to run the organization after my father died.
Marco whispered, “No.”
Anton suddenly stepped backward.
A window shattered.
Everyone dropped.
Marco dragged me behind a concrete pillar.
No gunfire followed.
Outside, tires screamed away.
We found Anton on the floor.
Alive, but bleeding from a cut caused by shattered glass.
He looked terrified.
“They know I talked.”
Marco grabbed him.
“Who?”
Anton stared at me.
“The man who called me said something else.”
“What?”
“He said after the warehouse burned, you’d blame Kolov and start a war.”
I crouched.
“And while I fought Kolov?”
“He’d take your chair.”
I already knew.
I just didn’t want to believe it.
“Victor.”
Anton nodded.
Back at the mansion, I found Emma standing beside her bed.
“What are you doing?”
“Leaving.”
“No.”
She stared at me.
“Excuse me?”
“You can barely walk.”
“I can walk.”
She took two steps and nearly collapsed.
I caught her.
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Her hands were against my chest.
Mine were around her waist.
“You were saying?”
She glared.
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“You’re extremely confident.”
“I’ve been told.”
She noticed the cut on my cheek.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s blood.”
“Glass.”
“You went after them.”
“I found the truth.”
Her anger faded.
“And?”
I helped her sit.
“It was never Kolov.”
“Then who?”
I hesitated.
“Someone close.”
“How close?”
“The man who taught me everything.”
Emma studied my face.
“Victor?”
I stared at her.
“How do you know Victor?”
“He comes here.”
“So?”
“He hates me.”
“Why?”
“He hates every employee he thinks notices things.”
I slowly sat down.
“What things?”
Emma lowered her voice.
“Three weeks ago, I was cleaning your study.”
My pulse changed.
“Go on.”
“Victor came in.”
“Did he see you?”
“He thought I left.”
“What happened?”
“He opened your safe.”
I stood.
Emma grabbed my hand.
“There’s more.”
“What did he take?”
“Nothing.”
“Then what?”
May you like
“He put something inside.”
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