Chapter 6 - The Boyfriend She Never Needed
Nora stared at Christopher’s face on the screen.
“You said you were afraid of Salvatore.”
Christopher smiled.
“I was.”
“Was?”
“Fear becomes useful once you understand what it can buy.”
Matteo stepped into view.
“Where is Salvatore?”
Christopher laughed.
“You still think he’s in charge.”
Lucia appeared behind Matteo.
Her face changed.
Christopher saw her.
“Look at that. The dead really do come home.”
Lucia stepped closer.
“You tried to kill me?”
“No.”
Christopher shook his head.
“My father did.”
Silence.
Lucia stopped.
Christopher continued.
“Salvatore ordered it. My father planted the explosive. Everybody played a part.”
Nora’s mother struggled against her restraints in the background.
Emily shouted something muffled.
Christopher ignored them.
“What do you want?” Nora asked.
“The keys.”
“You already stole Matteo’s.”
“Yes.”
“Then you need mine.”
“Correct.”
“And after that?”
Christopher smiled.
“I disappear.”
“With the evidence?”
“With enough evidence to make Salvatore pay me for silence and Matteo pay me to destroy it.”
Nora stared.
“You’re blackmailing both sides.”
“I finally learned how powerful men stay powerful.”
Nora felt something almost like pity.
Christopher had spent his life wanting to become the men he feared.
Now he believed cruelty meant he had succeeded.
“You still don’t understand power,” Nora said.
His smile faded.
“You think because Matteo stands beside you, you suddenly do?”
“No.”
Nora looked at Matteo.
Then back at Christopher.
“I understand because I stopped caring whether you approve of me.”
Christopher’s jaw tightened.
“You always needed approval.”
“I needed kindness. You convinced me they were the same thing.”
“Nora.”
“You made me think being chosen by you proved my value.”
She shook her head.
“It didn’t.”
His face hardened.
“This isn’t therapy.”
“No.”
Nora lifted the brass key.
“This is negotiation.”
Christopher stared at it.
“Midnight.”
“I want proof they’re alive when we arrive.”
“You’ll get it.”
The video ended.
Matteo turned toward Gabriel.
“We’re not giving him the keys.”
Nora answered:
“Yes, we are.”
“No.”
“My mother and sister are there.”
“And walking directly into a wired locker facility won’t help them.”
“Then we make Christopher believe he won.”
Matteo stared at her.
“You have a plan?”
Nora looked at Lucia.
“Your father said everybody overlooks the safest person.”
Lucia nodded slowly.
Nora looked at Gabriel.
“Does Christopher know you?”
“Yes.”
“Does he know Mrs. Alvarez?”
Gabriel almost smiled.
“No.”
At eleven forty-five, a Bellandi sedan entered the storage facility.
Matteo drove.
Nora sat beside him.
The two keys were visible inside a clear plastic envelope.
Christopher called.
“Only you two.”
“That was the agreement,” Nora said.
“Drive to building C.”
They obeyed.
No sign of Gabriel.
No sign of Lucia.
No sign of anyone else.
That was intentional.
Matteo parked.
He looked at Nora.
“Last chance.”
“No.”
“You can remain in the car.”
“No.”
His jaw tightened.
“You make protecting you extremely difficult.”
She looked at him.
“Maybe stop deciding I need protecting without asking me.”
“This is not the time.”
“It is exactly the time.”
He stared.
Nora softened.
“I know what you’re trying to do.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“You matter to me.”
The words landed between them.
Nora’s heartbeat stumbled.
Matteo continued:
“More than you should after two days. More than is convenient. More than I intended.”
She swallowed.
“Matteo.”
“I know tonight began as a lie.”
“Yesterday.”
“What?”
“It’s technically been more than one night.”
He laughed softly.
Even now.
Nora reached for his hand.
“This fake relationship has terrible scheduling.”
“Agreed.”
“If we survive tonight—”
“When.”
“When we survive tonight, we talk.”
“About?”
She squeezed his fingers.
“Whether you’re actually as good at being a boyfriend as you claim.”
His eyes softened.
“I look forward to the evaluation.”
They exited.
Building C was dark.
Locker seventeen sat halfway down the corridor.
Christopher stood beside it.
Emily and Margaret were behind him.
Vanessa sat against the wall, hands bound.
Salvatore was nowhere.
Christopher held a pistol.
“Keys.”
Nora held up the envelope.
“Release my family first.”
“No.”
“Then no keys.”
“You’re not in control.”
Nora looked at him.
“That sentence used to work better on me.”
Christopher’s face tightened.
Matteo remained silent.
That was part of the plan.
Christopher hated being ignored.
“Put the envelope down,” he said.
Nora placed it on the concrete.
“Kick it.”
She did.
It stopped halfway.
Christopher glanced at Matteo.
“Back up.”
They moved backward.
Christopher approached the envelope.
Then Vanessa spoke.
“Chris.”
He turned.
“You should tell them.”
“Shut up.”
“Tell them Salvatore is already dead.”
Everyone froze.
Christopher aimed the gun at her.
“Quiet.”
Nora stared.
“What?”
Vanessa smiled through a split lip.
“Salvatore died this morning.”
Matteo’s eyes narrowed.
“How?”
“Christopher killed him.”
Christopher fired.
The bullet struck the wall beside Vanessa.
Emily screamed.
Matteo stepped forward.
Christopher pointed the weapon at Nora.
“Don’t.”
Matteo stopped.
Christopher grabbed the envelope.
“What happened to Salvatore?” Nora asked.
Christopher laughed.
“He became unnecessary.”
“You kidnapped my family yourself.”
“Yes.”
“You searched my apartment.”
“Yes.”
“The photographs?”
“Vanessa.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“Before I realized he planned to kill everyone involved.”
Christopher turned toward locker seventeen.
“I’m done being somebody else’s employee.”
He inserted Matteo’s key.
Then Nora’s.
Two locks clicked.
Vanessa shouted:
“Don’t open the inner panel!”
Christopher smiled.
“I know about the trigger.”
He opened the first door.
Files sat inside.
Behind them, a metal panel.
Christopher removed a small device from his pocket and attached it near the hinge.
Vanessa went pale.
“What is that?”
“The detonator bypass.”
“No.”
She struggled against the restraints.
“That’s not the bypass.”
Christopher looked at her.
Vanessa laughed suddenly.
“I gave you the wrong circuit.”
Christopher’s face changed.
“You’re lying.”
“Try it.”
He looked toward the panel.
Then at her.
Vanessa smiled.
“You thought I was stupid because I dated you.”
Nora nearly laughed at the symmetry.
Christopher’s hand shook.
That was when a cleaning cart appeared at the far end of the corridor.
Mrs. Alvarez pushed it slowly toward them.
Christopher stared.
“What the hell?”
She wore her usual dark uniform.
Gloves.
Calm expression.
“Building maintenance.”
Christopher lifted the gun.
“Stop.”
She stopped.
Then pressed something under the cart.
The hallway lights exploded into darkness.
Gabriel moved instantly.
A shot.
A struggle.
Nora dropped.
Matteo covered her.
Someone shouted.
Metal crashed.
Emergency lights flickered on.
Christopher was on the floor.
Gabriel had pinned his arm behind his back.
The gun lay several feet away.
Lucia rushed from the opposite corridor and freed Emily.
Mrs. Alvarez calmly removed a small electronic jammer from her cart.
Nora stared.
“You are never allowed to complain about my job again.”
Mrs. Alvarez smiled.
“Deal.”
Matteo freed Margaret.
Nora ran to her mother.
They embraced.
Margaret cried against her shoulder.
“I’m sorry.”
“We’ll talk later.”
“That sounds terrifying.”
“It should.”
Vanessa was freed next.
Gabriel handcuffed Christopher.
Police sirens approached in the distance.
Christopher looked at Nora.
“You think this changes anything?”
She turned.
His face twisted.
“You still needed Bellandi to save you.”
Nora looked at Matteo.
Then at Gabriel.
Mrs. Alvarez.
Vanessa.
Lucia.
Her mother.
Her sister.
Then back at Christopher.
“No.”
She smiled.
“I needed people willing to stand beside me.”
Christopher looked away.
Gabriel hauled him upright.
But then Vanessa suddenly shouted.
“The locker!”
Everyone turned.
Christopher’s bypass device blinked red.
Vanessa’s face drained.
“He activated the circuit anyway.”
Matteo grabbed Nora.
“How long?”
Vanessa looked at the device.
“Thirty seconds.”
Everyone ran.
Gabriel pulled Christopher.
Lucia helped Margaret.
Emily ran beside Nora.
They reached the exterior doors.
Behind them an alarm screamed.
Twenty seconds.
Matteo pushed Nora outside.
Ten.
They crossed the parking lot.
Five.
Matteo covered Nora with his body.
Nothing happened.
Five seconds became ten.
Then twenty.
Vanessa stared back at the building.
“It didn’t detonate.”
Gabriel looked at Christopher.
Christopher started laughing.
“You idiots.”
Matteo turned.
Christopher smiled.
“That wasn’t the bomb.”
Nora’s stomach dropped.
“What?”
Christopher looked directly at Matteo.
“The real trigger was never inside locker seventeen.”
Then every light at Bellandi House appeared on Gabriel’s security tablet at once.
An alarm began screaming through the speaker.
Mrs. Alvarez’s face went white.
May you like
Christopher whispered:
“Your house is burning.”
