Chapter 7 - THE BROTHER HE COULD NOT SAVE
Nicholas did not move.
The warehouse disappeared.
Victor.
Hannah.
Lena.
The armed men.
Everything narrowed to Daniel.
Their father had put the bomb in Elena Vale’s car.
Not ordered it.
Not paid someone.
Done it himself.
Daniel had watched.
Nicholas spoke slowly.
“You were there?”
Daniel nodded.
“I followed Mom.”
“Why?”
“I wanted her to take me with her.”
His voice became smaller.
For a moment he was nine again.
“She went to the garage. Dad was already there.”
Nicholas’s jaw tightened.
“What did you see?”
“He was under the car.”
“Did you know what he was doing?”
“No.”
Daniel wiped his face angrily.
“I thought he was fixing something.”
Victor stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Nicholas ignored him.
“What happened next?”
“Dad saw me.”
Nicholas closed his eyes.
Daniel continued.
“He grabbed me. Told me Mom was sick. Said she was going to destroy the family.”
Hannah watched Nicholas’s hands.
They were shaking.
Barely.
But shaking.
“He told me if I ever told you what I saw, you’d die too.”
Nicholas opened his eyes.
“You should have told me when he died.”
“I wanted to.”
“When you were sixteen.”
“I wanted to.”
“When you were twenty.”
“I wanted to.”
“When you were thirty?”
Daniel’s face broke.
“I couldn’t.”
“Couldn’t?”
“Every year it became worse.”
Daniel lowered the gun slightly.
“You built your whole life around avenging her. You killed partnerships. Destroyed Rourke routes. Took over Dad’s business. Became him.”
Nicholas flinched.
“Don’t.”
“You did.”
Nicholas took another step.
Daniel raised the weapon again.
Hannah moved.
Victor’s guard blocked her.
Nicholas said, “You could have stopped me.”
Daniel laughed through tears.
“You never listened.”
“I would have listened to you.”
“No. You would have killed Dad while he was alive. Then Rourke. Then everyone connected. And maybe you would have been killed too.”
“So you lied.”
“I survived.”
“And then?”
Daniel looked toward Victor.
That was the answer.
Nicholas understood.
Victor Rourke had found Daniel’s secret years later.
Used it.
First for money.
Then information.
Then control.
Victor said, “Family secrets are wonderfully profitable.”
Daniel snapped, “Shut up.”
Victor smiled.
Nicholas looked at his brother.
“He blackmailed you.”
“At first.”
“And later?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Nicholas’s face hardened.
“Later you got paid.”
Daniel looked away.
Eight million dollars.
Seven years.
Not fear anymore.
Choice.
Nicholas whispered, “You had chances.”
Daniel’s silence confirmed it.
Victor clapped once.
“Beautiful. Can we move forward?”
He gestured toward the laptop.
“The drive is fake.”
Hannah’s stomach dropped.
Victor’s guard had discovered it.
Victor looked at her.
“I’m offended.”
Hannah replied, “You’ll recover.”
“Where is the original?”
She smiled despite the fear.
“Somewhere you’re not.”
Victor’s expression changed.
He nodded toward Lena.
A guard pressed a gun against Lena’s head.
Hannah stepped forward.
“No.”
Nicholas said, “Victor.”
“I want the drive.”
“You already have the files you need.”
“Not all.”
Victor looked at Nicholas.
“Elena kept account numbers that can bury families still operating today.”
“Your family.”
“Among others.”
Nicholas understood.
The twenty-five-year-old evidence could destroy Victor’s remaining legitimate empire.
Hannah pulled out her phone.
“I can get it.”
Victor looked at her.
Nicholas said, “No.”
Hannah turned.
“Lena is not dying because of a piece of plastic.”
Victor smiled.
“Smart woman.”
Hannah began typing.
Nicholas watched her.
Something in her face told him she was not doing what she claimed.
He said nothing.
She sent one message.
“Twenty minutes.”
“To whom?”
“A courier locker.”
Victor nodded.
“Good.”
Hannah put away the phone.
What she had actually sent to Elias was four words:
LIGHTS OUT IN TWENTY.
Elias knew the plan.
At least Hannah hoped he did.
Victor ordered everyone to wait.
Those twenty minutes became the longest of Hannah’s life.
Nicholas stood near Daniel.
Neither brother spoke.
Finally, Daniel whispered, “I didn’t know they were going to keep you alive for three days.”
Nicholas looked at him.
“Does that make you feel better?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“I thought they would drug you.”
“And then?”
Daniel swallowed.
“You wouldn’t wake up.”
Nicholas stared.
“You planned my murder politely.”
Daniel’s eyes filled.
“I hated you.”
“That part is clear.”
“I loved you too.”
Nicholas looked away.
“That’s the part I’m having trouble finding.”
At nineteen minutes, Hannah counted silently.
Fifty-seven.
Fifty-eight.
Fifty-nine.
The warehouse lights went out.
Darkness.
Lena screamed.
Gunfire erupted.
Nicholas moved instantly.
He struck Daniel’s weapon hand.
The gun discharged into the ceiling.
Hannah dropped.
A man grabbed her coat.
She drove her elbow backward.
His grip loosened.
She ran toward Lena’s chair.
“Lena!”
“I’m here!”
Emergency lights flickered red.
Hannah found her.
Cut the restraints with a small pair of trauma shears hidden in her sleeve.
“You brought scissors?”
“I’m a cleaner. We’re terrifying.”
A bullet struck metal nearby.
Nicholas tackled Daniel behind a shipping pallet.
Victor’s men fired toward the entrance.
Elias’s team entered from two sides.
Hannah pulled Lena behind a forklift.
“Are you hit?”
“No.”
“Blood?”
“Lip.”
“Can you run?”
“Yes.”
“Then run.”
They moved toward the rear exit.
A figure stepped from behind the forklift.
Victor.
He grabbed Hannah by the hair.
A gun pressed beneath her jaw.
Lena froze.
Victor shouted, “Vale!”
The gunfire slowed.
Nicholas appeared twenty feet away.
He had Daniel’s discarded weapon.
Victor dragged Hannah against his chest.
“Drop it.”
Nicholas did not.
Victor pressed the barrel harder.
Hannah winced.
“Nicholas.”
Victor smiled.
“Interesting.”
Nicholas’s face went cold.
“Let her go.”
“Why?”
“This is between us.”
“No.”
Victor looked at Hannah.
“It stopped being between us when she walked into that basement.”
Nicholas slowly lowered the gun.
Hannah’s eyes widened.
“Don’t.”
He looked at her.
For once, Hannah saw no mafia boss.
Only the man who had cried over his mother’s medallion.
Victor said, “Drop it.”
The weapon hit the floor.
Victor smiled.
“Kick it.”
Nicholas did.
“Good.”
Then Daniel stood behind Victor.
Blood ran from his forehead.
He held another gun.
Victor smiled wider.
“Excellent timing.”
Daniel raised it.
Nicholas looked at his brother.
“Danny.”
Daniel’s hand trembled.
Victor said, “Shoot him.”
Daniel stared at Nicholas.
Twenty-five years lived between them.
A funeral.
A childhood bedroom.
Promises.
Lies.
Money.
Jealousy.
Fear.
Nicholas said quietly, “You still have a choice.”
Victor snapped, “Shoot him!”
Daniel pulled the trigger.
The gunshot exploded through the warehouse.
Hannah screamed.
Nicholas staggered.
Then everyone realized—
Nicholas had not been hit.
Victor Rourke slowly released Hannah.
A red stain spread across his shirt.
Daniel stood behind him.
Gun still raised.
Victor turned.
“You…”
Daniel whispered, “I’m done being afraid of you.”
Victor fired as he fell.
The bullet struck Daniel in the chest.
Nicholas caught his brother before he hit the floor.
May you like
“Daniel!”
For the first time that morning, Nicholas Vale screamed.
