Chapter 7 - The Man Who Wanted To Own Everyone
Roman chose an abandoned riverside hotel.
The same Ravel Hotel where Alio had been seen alive.
The building had been closed for years.
Rain struck the windows.
Broken signs swung in the wind.
Tiberio, Brena, and Grant entered through the lobby.
Maya was seated in a chair on the other side of the room.
She was alive.
Bruised.
Furious.
Roman stood behind her.
The silver cane rested beneath his palm.
“You came.”
Tiberio stared at him.
“You wanted us.”
“I wanted the family.”
Grant stepped forward.
“This ends tonight.”
Roman smiled.
“Grant Walsh.”
“You're older.”
“So are you.”
Roman looked at Brena.
“You look exactly like your mother.”
Brena's expression hardened.
“Don't.”
Roman laughed.
“Still brave.”
“No.”
She looked him directly in the eyes.
“Just finished being afraid.”
Roman's smile disappeared.
Tiberio moved closer.
“Let them go.”
“After the trust.”
“You have the evidence.”
“I have pieces.”
Roman looked at Brena.
“She is the key.”
“You won't touch her.”
“Already did.”
He lifted a remote.
Screens around the room turned on.
Photographs appeared.
Brena as a child.
Brena at school.
Brena at the studio.
Brena meeting Tiberio.
Roman had tracked her for years.
She felt sick.
“You watched me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your father hid everything behind you.”
Grant stepped forward.
“You killed Alio.”
Roman's eyes hardened.
“He was going to destroy us.”
“He was your friend.”
“He was weak.”
Tiberio moved.
Security guards raised weapons.
Brena grabbed his arm.
“Not yet.”
Roman smiled.
“You're learning.”
Tiberio looked at her.
She whispered, “Let him talk.”
Roman began explaining.
His empire had survived because everyone believed he was powerful.
But he had always been terrified of one thing.
Records.
Numbers.
Evidence.
One document could destroy a lifetime of influence.
Grant had almost done it.
Alio had nearly done it.
Then Brena had become the final vulnerability.
“You never loved her,” Roman told Tiberio.
Tiberio's jaw tightened.
“You married her for revenge.”
“Yes.”
“And now?”
Tiberio looked at Brena.
“Now I'd die for her.”
Roman laughed.
“That is exactly why people lose.”
Brena stepped forward.
“No.”
Roman frowned.
“People lose when they believe love makes them weak.”
She reached into her coat.
“Sometimes it makes people impossible to control.”
She held up a small device.
Roman stared.
“What is that?”
“Your confession.”
His face changed.
“Everything you've said has been recorded.”
Roman lunged.
Security moved.
But Maya kicked the chair into the nearest guard.
Grant slammed a table over.
Tiberio tackled another man.
The room exploded into chaos.
Brena ran.
She grabbed Maya.
They escaped through a side door.
Tiberio followed.
Gunfire echoed behind them.
Then Roman's voice.
“You'll never leave this building!”
Brena stopped.
She looked back.
Tiberio grabbed her.
“Keep moving.”
“I have an idea.”
They reached the old ballroom.
Brena remembered something.
The Ravel Hotel had once belonged to Roman.
It contained a hidden communications room.
If they could reach it, they could transmit the recording.
They found it.
Maya connected the device.
The recording uploaded.
Federal servers received it.
Roman's confession.
His admission regarding Alio.
The murder.
The financial network.
Everything.
Then the doors burst open.
Roman stood there.
He pointed a gun at Tiberio.
Brena froze.
Roman smiled.
“Choose.”
Tiberio looked at Brena.
“Run.”
“No.”
“Brena.”
“No.”
Roman cocked the weapon.
“Move away from him.”
Brena stepped between them.
Tiberio shouted her name.
Roman's finger tightened.
Then a gunshot rang out.
But Roman wasn't the one who fired.
Grant stood behind him.
Roman dropped the gun.
Federal agents stormed the room.
Roman was arrested.
For the first time in decades, the empire collapsed in a single night.
Tiberio ran to Brena.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He pulled her into his arms.
She held him tightly.
Grant watched.
He smiled.
May you like
Then he whispered:
“Now maybe they can finally have a real marriage.”
