Chapter 6 - The Man My Father Became
Grace looked at Michael.
“No.”
Michael said nothing.
Victor smiled.
“That silence is practically a confession.”
Dominic stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Victor looked older than Grace expected.
Elegant.
Silver-haired.
Calm.
Nothing about him suggested the monster who had controlled their lives.
That made him worse.
“Your father didn’t murder Catherine,” Victor said. “Not intentionally.”
Grace’s knees weakened.
Michael finally spoke.
“I was supposed to stop her car.”
“Stop?”
“She had evidence.”
“You worked for him.”
“I infiltrated his organization.”
Victor laughed.
Michael ignored him.
“I needed Victor to trust me. Catherine was leaving Boston with you and Noah. Victor ordered me to intercept her.”
Grace remembered.
Her mother died when Grace was eighteen.
A highway collision.
Supposedly an accident.
“I chased her,” Michael said. “She panicked. Her car went off the road.”
Grace slapped him.
Michael accepted it.
She hit him again.
No one stopped her.
“You killed her.”
“I caused the crash.”
“You killed her.”
“Yes.”
Michael’s voice broke.
Grace turned away.
Dominic caught her before her legs failed.
Victor watched with satisfaction.
That was when Grace understood.
He wanted this.
Not simply evidence.
Destruction.
Families turning against one another.
Love becoming poison.
She wiped her tears.
Then faced Victor.
“You’re done.”
Victor smiled.
“You’re a nurse.”
“Yes.”
“And you think that makes you dangerous?”
“No.”
Grace held up her phone.
“This does.”
Victor’s smile disappeared.
Grace had activated a recording when he entered.
More importantly, Marcus had transmitted everything to a federal contact Michael had secretly arranged months earlier.
Sirens sounded above them.
Victor’s men shifted.
Dominic smiled.
“You talk too much, Uncle.”
Chaos followed.
Victor ran.
Dominic pursued him despite Grace shouting his name.
They reached the hospital roof.
Rain hammered the concrete.
Victor stood near the edge.
Dominic raised his weapon.
“You killed Michael’s life. Catherine’s life. You tried to kill Grace.”
Victor smiled.
“And you’ll kill me.”
Dominic’s finger tightened.
Grace stepped beside him.
“No.”
Victor laughed.
“He won’t stop.”
Grace looked at Dominic.
“Yes, he will.”
Dominic’s eyes remained on Victor.
“If you shoot him, he wins.”
Victor sneered.
“He’s a Vale.”
Grace touched Dominic’s hand.
“No. He’s Dominic.”
The gun lowered.
Police flooded the roof.
Victor was arrested.
For the first time in decades, he looked afraid.
But the victory did not heal Grace.
Michael surrendered voluntarily.
Charges relating to Catherine’s death remained possible.
Grace could barely look at him.
Noah was angrier.
Dominic stayed.
He did not demand forgiveness.
He did not promise everything would improve.
He simply stayed.
Three weeks passed.
Dominic recovered.
The evidence triggered investigations across Boston.
Officials resigned.
Businesses were seized.
Men who had believed themselves untouchable discovered handcuffs fit everyone.
Dominic began dismantling the illegal parts of his organization.
Marcus asked why.
Dominic answered simply.
“Because Grace was right.”
When Grace learned, she confronted him.
“You’re changing your whole life because of me?”
“No.”
She folded her arms.
Dominic smiled.
“I’m changing it because you made it impossible to pretend I didn’t have a choice.”
That answer she accepted.
Michael remained in custody while prosecutors evaluated his cooperation.
Grace visited once.
She sat across from him behind glass.
“I don’t forgive you.”
“I know.”
“I may never.”
“I know.”
“But I wanted you to know I remember the peppermint candy.”
Michael cried.
Grace did too.
It was not forgiveness.
It was a beginning.
When she left, Dominic waited outside.
“You didn’t have to come.”
“I know.”
She looked at him.
“Why are you always here?”
“Because you keep looking relieved when you see me.”
Grace hated that he was right.
She kissed him.
This time there was nothing clinical about it.
Dominic froze.
Grace pulled back.
“That one counts.”
His stunned expression made her laugh.
Then he kissed her.
Slowly.
Carefully.
As though a man feared by half of Boston was terrified of frightening one woman.
When they separated, Dominic rested his forehead against hers.
“Grace.”
“What?”
“I’ve wanted to do that since the hospital.”
“You were unconscious.”
“I’m persistent.”
“You’re impossible.”
“That too.”
For several weeks, something resembling peace followed.
Then Marcus arrived at Grace’s apartment one evening.
His face was pale.
Dominic stood immediately.
“What happened?”
“Victor was transported this morning for a federal hearing.”
“And?”
“The convoy was attacked.”
Grace’s stomach dropped.
“Victor escaped?”
Marcus shook his head.
“Victor is dead.”
Dominic stared.
“Who attacked it?”
“We don’t know.”
Marcus handed him a photograph recovered from the scene.
A symbol had been painted on the wrecked transport van.
Dominic recognized it.
His face changed.
Grace touched his arm.
“What is it?”
“My brother’s mark.”
“Elias?”
Dominic nodded.
The phone rang.
Dominic answered.
Elias spoke.
“I did what you were too weak to do.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“Where are you?”
“Finishing this family’s business.”
“You killed Victor.”
“He deserved worse.”
“Elias—”
“And now there’s only one loose end.”
Dominic looked at Grace.
“What loose end?”
Elias laughed softly.
“Michael Walker.”
The line disconnected.
Grace called the federal detention center.
No answer.
Marcus called his contacts.
Then his face drained of color.
“Michael was moved twenty minutes ago.”
“Where?” Grace demanded.
“Nobody knows.”
Her phone vibrated.
A live video appeared.
Michael sat tied to a chair.
Elias stood behind him.
He leaned toward the camera.
“Grace, your father has one last confession.”
Michael looked terrified.
Elias placed a gun against his head.
Then he whispered, “Tell her who ordered Dominic’s shooting.”
Michael stared into the camera.
May you like
His lips parted.
And the name he began to say was...
