Chapter 8 - The Last Name on the List
Vale had my mother.
Again.
And this time, there was no ambiguity.
The photograph showed her inside an unfamiliar building.
She was frightened but alive.
The message beneath the image contained an address.
Aster Crown Hotel.
My stomach dropped.
“That can't be coincidence.”
Dominic nodded.
“It isn't.”
The hotel where everything started.
The hotel where I had taken seven bullets.
The hotel where Dominic's mother was nearly assassinated.
The hotel where someone had planned to use me.
We returned there that night.
The ballroom had been closed.
The chandeliers were dark.
Tables were gone.
The floor had been repaired.
But I remembered every second.
Dominic walked beside me.
“You don't have to do this.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
“Because this started here.”
We reached the service corridor.
There was an old freight elevator.
Clara found hidden wiring.
“There's a basement level not on the public plans.”
Dominic looked at her.
“How far?”
“Two floors.”
We descended.
The door opened.
My mother was tied to a chair.
But she wasn't alone.
Jonathan Vale stood behind her.
And beside him was a man I recognized from my childhood.
My mother's older brother.
Uncle Thomas.
I had not seen him in seventeen years.
My chest tightened.
“You?”
He looked ashamed.
“Evelyn…”
My mother screamed.
“Don't listen to him!”
Vale laughed.
“Family is always the easiest weapon.”
Dominic raised his gun.
“Let her go.”
Vale smiled.
“You still think this is about money.”
“No.”
“It is about ownership.”
He looked at me.
“Your father thought he could expose us.”
“But you couldn't stop him,” I said.
“No.”
“So you killed him.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“He joined us.”
My father stepped forward.
“That is a lie.”
Vale looked at him.
“Is it?”
Then he played a recording.
My father's voice.
“I will do whatever you want.”
I shook my head.
“That wasn't real.”
“It was.”
My father closed his eyes.
“Taken out of context.”
Vale laughed.
“I knew you would say that.”
He pulled out a file.
“Your father didn't disappear because he was hiding.”
“He disappeared because he infiltrated my network.”
“To destroy you from inside.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you let him live?”
Vale smiled.
“Because I thought I could turn him.”
“And you failed.”
“Yes.”
Suddenly, my uncle stepped forward.
“I told you this would happen.”
Vale looked at him.
“You were always sentimental.”
My uncle looked at me.
“I helped your father escape.”
I stared.
“What?”
“The night of his supposed death.”
He explained.
He had been working for Vale.
Then he changed sides.
He helped my father disappear.
He protected my mother from the men who came searching.
He vanished because Vale threatened his family.
I didn't know whether to forgive him.
But before I could speak, the basement lights shut off.
Dominic's men attacked.
Chaos erupted.
I pulled my mother free.
My uncle was shot.
Vale escaped.
Dominic chased him.
I followed.
We reached the old hotel roof.
Rain poured over the city.
Vale stood at the edge.
Dominic raised his gun.
“It's over.”
Vale laughed.
“Nothing is ever over.”
He looked at me.
“Ask your father who really ordered the shooting.”
I froze.
Dominic did too.
Vale jumped.
He disappeared into the darkness.
No body was found.
The authorities eventually declared him missing.
But we knew he was alive.
The question remained.
Who ordered the shooting?
My father looked at the evidence.
Then his expression changed.
He looked at Dominic.
“I know.”
“Who?”
He placed a photograph on the table.
The shooter.
Not Costa.
Not Vale.
Someone wearing a catering uniform.
I stared.
I recognized him.
He had been in the ballroom.
But he wasn't the man I saw.
He was the man standing beside Isabella.
The entire time.
“That's impossible.”
Dominic stared.
“Who is he?”
My father gave us a name.
Edward Rossi.
Dominic's cousin.
A man we thought had died twelve years ago.
My stomach dropped.
Another ghost.
Another secret.
Another Rossi.
Edward was alive.
And he had been working inside the organization for years.
The next morning, Dominic made a decision.
He called every senior member of the Rossi family.
Then he walked into the conference room.
“I am ending the old system.”
Some protested.
Others threatened.
Dominic placed the ledger on the table.
“Anyone who wants to continue under the old rules can leave.”
No one moved.
He continued.
“From this moment forward, legitimate businesses are separated from criminal operations. The criminal network is dismantled. Every account connected to trafficking, extortion, and corruption will be turned over to federal investigators.”
Enzo looked shocked.
“You're serious.”
“Yes.”
I watched him.
The man everyone feared was willingly giving away his power.
Not because he had lost.
Because he had chosen another life.
Later, we stood on the balcony.
“I was afraid you'd hate the man I used to be,” he said.
“I don't love the man you used to be.”
He nodded.
“But I love the man you're trying to become.”
He looked at me.
“Trying?”
“You have work to do.”
He laughed.
“Fair.”
He reached for my hand.
The wedding ring caught the sunlight.
Then my phone rang.
A hospital number.
I answered.
“Hello?”
A doctor spoke.
“Evelyn Parker?”
“Yes.”
“This is St. Catherine Medical Center.”
My heart sank.
“Your mother was transferred back to New York.”
“Why?”
The doctor hesitated.
“She asked to see you.”
I looked at Dominic.
May you like
Then the doctor continued.
“She says she knows where Edward Rossi is.”
