Chapter 4 - The Dead Man in the Station
The man who stepped into the light was not Daniel Ellis.
Nora’s hope died almost before it formed.
It was Dr. Samuel Ward.
Her mother’s doctor.
The eighty-year-old man leaned heavily on a cane.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Nora could barely speak.
“You knew my father.”
“Yes.”
“You knew all of this.”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I promised your mother.”
Nora laughed bitterly.
“Apparently my mother collected promises from men who specialized in silence.”
Dr. Ward accepted the blow.
He explained that Daniel’s evidence had threatened an organization called Meridian, a criminal financial network that used legitimate companies and charities to move illegal money.
Salvatore Bellandi had served Meridian.
Vittorio had once opposed it.
Eventually power changed him.
But according to Ward, Vittorio had never betrayed his promise to Caroline.
“So who tried to kill me?” Nora asked.
“I don't know.”
Nico did.
Or suspected.
“Luca.”
Viviana recoiled.
“No.”
“The cuff link.”
“Anyone could have taken it.”
Nico nodded.
“Exactly.”
Someone wanted them blaming Luca.
Ward warned them that Daniel’s files could destroy dozens of powerful people.
Nora looked at Nico.
“Give them to the FBI.”
“We will.”
Viviana blinked.
“We?”
Nico looked at Nora.
“This ends legally.”
That was the moment Nora understood something fundamental.
Nico was not trying to protect the Bellandi empire.
He was preparing to destroy it.
They left Grand Central under heavy security.
Outside, police vehicles waited.
Nico had contacted a federal prosecutor he trusted.
Before they reached the convoy, a motorcycle screamed around the corner.
Nico saw it first.
He shoved Nora behind a concrete pillar.
Gunshots cracked.
Glass shattered.
Viviana screamed.
Security returned fire.
The motorcycle disappeared.
Nora realized Nico was bleeding.
“Nico.”
“I'm fine.”
“You’re shot.”
“Grazed.”
“You're still shot!”
He looked strangely amused.
“There she is.”
“Who?”
“The woman who used to yell at me when I forgot breakfast.”
Nora stared at him.
“You remember that?”
“I remember everything.”
For one dangerous second, the station, guns, secrets and eight months of anger disappeared.
Then Viviana said, “This is touching, but perhaps we could survive first?”
At the hospital, Nico received six stitches.
Nora refused to leave until the doctor finished.
Viviana noticed.
She said nothing.
Later, Nora found Viviana alone beside a vending machine.
“You hate me,” Nora said.
Viviana considered it.
“I hated what you represented.”
“What?”
“A choice.”
Viviana looked toward Nico’s room.
“He never looked at me the way he looks at you.”
Nora's defenses softened.
“You humiliated me tonight.”
“Yes.”
“And I made you look ridiculous.”
“Yes.”
A pause.
“I deserved some of it,” Viviana admitted.
“Some?”
“Don't become greedy.”
Nora smiled despite herself.
Viviana did too.
Barely.
Then her phone rang.
Luca.
She answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
Static.
Then her brother whispered, “Don't trust Vittorio.”
The call ended.
Minutes later Vittorio Bellandi himself entered the hospital.
Nico rose.
His father ignored him and looked directly at Nora.
“You have Caroline’s eyes.”
Nora stood.
“You knew my mother.”
“I loved your father like a brother.”
“Then help us.”
Vittorio’s expression changed.
“I cannot.”
Nico stepped forward.
“You can.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Vittorio looked toward Nora’s stomach.
“Because Meridian already knows about the child.”
“We know.”
“No,” Vittorio said. “You don't understand.”
He removed a folded document from his coat.
An old agreement.
Nico read it.
His face hardened.
“What is this?”
“A succession contract.”
Nora frowned.
Vittorio explained.
Daniel Ellis had secretly owned thirty percent of Bellandi Holdings.
Upon his death, the shares passed to Caroline.
Upon Caroline’s death, to Nora.
And if Nora died—
they passed to her child.
Nora felt sick.
“This isn't about evidence.”
“No.”
“It’s money.”
“Control,” Vittorio corrected.
Nico stared at the document.
“Who owns the other controlling shares?”
Vittorio looked toward the hospital room door.
It slowly opened.
A man walked inside.
Viviana gasped.
“Luca.”
Her brother looked exhausted, bruised, alive.
And he was holding a gun.
May you like
He raised it toward Vittorio.
Then he said, “Ask him who really ordered Daniel Ellis killed.”
