Chapter 14 - The Woman Who Destroyed His Enemies
Marco walked into the dining room holding a gun.
Mrs. Caruso stood beside him.
Norah’s heart stopped.
Marco smiled.
“Surprised?”
Vincent raised his hands slowly.
“Let her go.”
Marco laughed.
“I’m not holding her.”
Angela Caruso stepped away from him.
Vincent stared.
“Angela?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
For decades, she had lived between loyalty and resentment.
Vincent’s father had destroyed her family.
She had remained in the mansion because Teresa needed someone inside.
But Marco had discovered her secret years earlier.
He used it.
Threatened Teresa.
Threatened Adrian.
Forced Angela to provide security codes.
“You let him inside,” Vincent said.
“Yes.”
“Did you poison me?”
“No.”
“Did you help Vale?”
Angela shook her head.
“Never.”
Marco became impatient.
“Enough.”
He aimed at Norah.
Vincent moved.
Marco cocked the weapon.
“Another step and the cook dies.”
Norah looked at the security camera.
Marco noticed.
“Still obsessed with cameras?”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“I disabled them.”
“I know.”
His smile faltered.
Norah had learned something from months of watching footage.
Never rely on one camera.
Earlier that day, she had installed a second independent camera after noticing unexplained network traffic.
Marco’s entire entrance had been transmitted externally.
So had his weapon.
So had Angela’s confession.
Norah looked at him.
“You keep thinking cameras are there to watch Vincent.”
Marco’s face changed.
“They’re there to watch you.”
Sirens sounded outside.
Marco spun toward the windows.
Vincent moved.
The gun fired.
Glass shattered.
Vincent tackled him.
Marco fought desperately.
Norah grabbed the gun when it skidded across the floor.
Marco threw Vincent aside.
He turned toward Norah.
She aimed.
Her hands were steady.
“Stop.”
Marco laughed.
“You won’t shoot.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“I know.”
Norah lowered the gun.
Marco smiled.
Then police flooded the room.
Norah had never needed to shoot him.
That was the difference between her and the men who had spent decades destroying one another.
Marco was arrested.
Angela surrendered.
Teresa and Adrian entered protective custody and agreed to testify.
Russo’s network collapsed.
Vale lost his medical license and faced criminal charges.
Caleb cooperated fully and accepted responsibility for his role.
Vincent did something harder.
He dismantled the criminal operations he had inherited.
Not overnight.
Not magically.
But deliberately.
Illegal businesses closed.
Legitimate companies were separated.
Attorneys negotiated his cooperation.
The evidence he surrendered implicated him in financial crimes as well.
Norah asked him one night if he regretted it.
Vincent looked around the kitchen.
“No.”
“You might lose money.”
“I have money.”
“Power.”
“I had power.”
“What do you have now?”
Vincent looked at her.
“An appetite.”
Norah laughed.
He kissed her forehead.
Then the doorbell rang.
Mrs. Caruso no longer answered it.
Norah did.
A courier stood outside.
He handed her a package.
No return address.
Inside was the original chipped white bowl.
The one marked N.B.
Norah stared at the initials.
Vincent came behind her.
“What is it?”
She turned the bowl over.
This time there was something else beneath it.
A folded note had been taped to the bottom.
May you like
In handwriting Norah recognized immediately.
Her mother’s.
