Chapter 5 - The Brother Who Sold Her NameVincent Russo sat alone at a conference table thirty floors above Chicago.
No restraints.
No visible guards.
Dominic had learned years ago that fear was stronger when a man could not see the walls closing around him.
Khloe entered beside Dominic.
Vincent looked up.
He was thirty-nine, handsome in the polished way that made strangers trust him too quickly.
Khloe had expected a monster.
Instead, he looked like a man who might hold an elevator door.
That disturbed her more.
“You're Khloe.”
She stayed standing.
“You tried to kill me?”
Vincent looked at Dominic.
“That's not what I said.”
Dominic shut the door.
“Then explain.”
Vincent leaned back.
“The device under the Maybach wasn't designed to detonate.”
Khloe frowned.
“Danny told us that.”
“It was a decoy.”
“For the office explosion?”
Vincent nodded.
“Tony kept paper records Bellini didn't trust him to keep.”
“Why destroy them now?”
“Because Danny stole copies.”
Khloe stared.
“Then why kidnap me?”
Vincent's gaze dropped.
“That wasn't my order.”
Dominic laughed without humor.
“Your initials were on the phone.”
“Someone wanted you to find them.”
“Convenient.”
“Think, Dom.”
“I am.”
Vincent leaned forward.
“If I wanted Khloe dead, why would I have her brought to Pier 18, a property everybody in Chicago knows our family controls?”
Dominic said nothing.
“Why would kidnappers leave a phone unlocked?”
Leo, standing near the wall, muttered a curse.
Khloe understood.
“Someone planted evidence.”
Vincent nodded.
“Someone wants Dominic to believe I'm behind everything.”
“Are you?”
“No.”
Dominic placed the ledger on the table.
Vincent saw his initials.
His expression changed.
“Those aren't mine.”
“Then whose?”
“I don't know.”
“Route confirmed by V.R.”
“I didn't confirm your route.”
“You called me while we were driving.”
“So did three other people.”
“Only one had those initials.”
Vincent shook his head.
“You've known me thirty-five years.”
“And I've buried men I knew longer.”
Vincent looked hurt.
That almost made Khloe believe him.
Almost.
She stepped forward.
“You said the real bomb was meant for me.”
Vincent looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Because I heard Carlo Bellini arguing with someone yesterday.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“You met Bellini?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Vincent exhaled.
“Because I've been investigating him for six months.”
Dominic's hand hit the table.
“Without telling me?”
“Because every time I got close, somebody inside our organization warned him.”
Silence.
Vincent looked at Khloe.
“Your name came up three weeks ago.”
“Why?”
“Because of your father.”
“My father?”
“Patrick Hayes stole evidence that could destroy Bellini and at least three people in our family.”
Dominic's eyes sharpened.
“What evidence?”
“A recording.”
Danny had mentioned a meeting.
Patrick had witnessed it.
But a recording changed everything.
Vincent continued.
“Bellini believes Patrick gave it to one of his children.”
Khloe shook her head.
“I don't have anything.”
“He thinks you do.”
“Why me?”
“Because Danny is an addict.”
The cruelty of the statement was softened only by its truth.
“Bellini never believed Patrick would trust Danny with something important.”
Khloe looked away.
“Then why use Danny to plant the decoy?”
“Because desperation makes people useful.”
Vincent opened his hands.
“Bellini's people gave Danny the bomb, knowing he'd tell you enough to trigger an evacuation. The office blows, the records disappear, Danny becomes the obvious culprit.”
“And me?”
Vincent's expression darkened.
“You were supposed to die afterward.”
Dominic leaned forward.
“How?”
“I don't know.”
“You're getting repetitive.”
“I know Bellini ordered something prepared for her apartment.”
Khloe went still.
“My apartment?”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
Khloe reached for her phone.
Dominic stopped her.
“Don't call anyone.”
“My neighbor has my cat.”
Everyone stared at her.
Khloe's face drained of color.
“Mrs. Alvarez feeds him when I work nights.”
Dominic turned to Leo.
“Send bomb squad to the building. Nobody enters.”
Leo moved immediately.
Khloe began pacing.
“She goes into my apartment all the time.”
Dominic came closer.
“We'll get her out.”
“You don't know that.”
“No. I don't.”
She looked at him, almost surprised he had admitted uncertainty.
Dominic continued.
“But panicking won't help her.”
Vincent watched them.
Something passed through his expression.
Recognition.
Dominic noticed.
“What?”
Vincent shook his head.
“Nothing.”
“Say it.”
“You care about her.”
Khloe stared at Dominic.
Dominic's face became cold.
“She saved my life.”
Vincent gave a faint smile.
“Sure.”
Khloe crossed her arms.
“This isn't a romance novel.”
Leo almost coughed.
Vincent actually laughed.
Dominic gave him a look that ended it.
Thirty minutes later, Leo returned.
“Building evacuated.”
Khloe stood.
“Mrs. Alvarez?”
“Safe.”
Khloe exhaled.
“And?”
Leo's face hardened.
“They found something.”
“What?”
“A package wired beneath your kitchen sink.”
Khloe closed her eyes.
Dominic's anger became visible.
Vincent looked at him.
“Believe me now?”
“No.”
Vincent's jaw tightened.
“Dom—”
“But I believe someone wants Khloe dead.”
Dominic walked toward the window.
The city stretched below.
“What connects Patrick's recording, Bellini's ledger, Khloe's forged debt and my father's murder?”
Khloe answered quietly.
“Someone wanted control.”
Dominic turned.
She continued.
“Danny owed seventy-five thousand dollars.”
“Yes.”
“Tony forged my guarantee.”
“Yes.”
“Then he put me to work at a car wash Bellini secretly owned.”
Vincent's expression changed.
Khloe saw it.
“What?”
He stood.
“Say that again.”
“The car wash belonged to Bellini.”
“No. The other part.”
“I worked there.”
“How long?”
“Six months.”
Vincent looked at Dominic.
“Your Maybach had been there before.”
Dominic frowned.
“Twice.”
“Always serviced by Khloe's shift?”
Khloe thought.
“Yes.”
Vincent cursed.
Dominic understood.
“They weren't using Khloe to collect a debt.”
“No,” Vincent said. “They were positioning her near you.”
Khloe stared.
“For what?”
Nobody answered.
She looked between them.
“For what?”
Dominic picked up the ledger.
“They knew Patrick's daughter worked at a business I occasionally used.”
Vincent nodded slowly.
“They wanted you two connected.”
Khloe felt sick.
“Why?”
A phone rang.
Not Dominic's.
Not Vincent's.
Khloe's.
She took it from her pocket.
Unknown number.
Dominic shook his head.
“Speaker.”
She answered.
“Hello?”
A man's voice came through.
Older.
Trembling.
“Khloe?”
She went completely still.
She knew that voice.
Not because she'd heard it recently.
Because some voices survive fourteen years.
Her knees weakened.
“Dad?”
Vincent and Dominic exchanged a look.
Patrick Hayes began crying.
“Baby girl.”
Khloe pressed a hand against her mouth.
“Where are you?”
“I don't have much time.”
“You knew Mom was sick.”
Silence.
Her tears came instantly.
“You knew.”
“I did.”
“You let her die.”
“No.”
“You let her die without you.”
“Khloe, listen to me.”
“Why should I?”
“Because Danny is not the one who forged your signature.”
Khloe froze.
Patrick's breathing shook through the phone.
“Your debt was arranged before Danny ever borrowed the money.”
Dominic stepped closer.
Patrick continued.
“They needed you trapped at Oasis.”
“Who?”
“The man who killed Dominic Russo's father.”
Dominic's eyes darkened.
Khloe whispered, “Antonio Russo?”
“No.”
Everyone went still.
Patrick's next words changed the entire room.
“Dominic's father wasn't killed by Vincent's father.”
Vincent gripped the edge of the table.
Patrick whispered:
“That lie was planted fourteen years ago.”
Dominic's voice became dangerously quiet.
“Patrick. Who killed my father?”
A pause.
Then Patrick answered.
“Your uncle Salvatore.”
And from behind Vincent came a soft click.
A gun being cocked.
May you like
Leo stood in the doorway.
Holding it.
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