Chapter 10
Victor wanted me angry.
Angry men move fast.
Angry men miss things.
So I sat down.
That confused him.
“Tell me.”
He laughed.
“No punch?”
“Not yet.”
Mother stared at me.
Victor looked disappointed.
Good.
“Where was Noah going?”
He shrugged.
“Somewhere safe.”
Mother whispered:
“With me?”
Victor smiled.
“No.”
Her face collapsed.
Again.
Good.
I leaned back.
“Where?”
“North house.”
The same place they packed Clara's bag for.
Interesting.
“Why?”
“To keep him away from the fallout.”
“What fallout?”
Victor's smile returned.
“The moment you refused temporary command.”
I looked around the table.
“You expected me to refuse.”
“Of course.”
“Then why pretend otherwise?”
“Because Aunt Evelyn needed to believe she was saving your family.”
Mother stared.
Victor laughed.
“She does her best work when she thinks cruelty is duty.”
Silence.
Mother looked like he'd struck her.
I almost admired the accuracy.
Victor continued.
“She starves Clara?”
He shrugged.
“Family discipline.”
“Locks Marissa away?”
“Protecting order.”
“Takes Noah?”
“Teaching motherhood.”
His smile widened.
“Give her a noble word and she'll do anything.”
Mother whispered:
“You used me.”
Victor looked at her.
“You wanted to be used.”
That shut her up.
I stared at him.
“And Noah?”
“He was leverage.”
My hands tightened.
“Against me?”
“Against everyone.”
Victor gestured toward the capos.
“Half these men wouldn't move against you while your son was under your roof.”
He looked pleased with himself.
“Remove him, create confusion, let everyone think Clara left with him…”
Clara's packed bag.
The photograph.
The second nursery.
It fit.
“You were staging a departure.”
“Not staging.”
Victor smiled.
“Clara was going to leave.”
I stood.
He kept smiling.
“She just didn't know it yet.”
My bodyguards tightened around him.
“What did you plan to do?”
“Drive her north.”
“Against her will.”
“If necessary.”
Mother whispered:
“No.”
Victor looked at her.
“You packed the bag.”
Her mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
“You prepared the story.”
He pointed.
“She collapses. Everyone says she's overwhelmed. She needs rest.”
Mother went pale.
“You told staff Daniel approved.”
Silence.
“You took away her food so she'd look weaker.”
Mother finally shouted:
“I was teaching her!”
Victor laughed.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“She was making your wife look exactly how we needed her to look.”
Mother stopped breathing.
The truth finally reached her.
Her cruelty had been useful because it created the evidence Victor wanted.
Clara exhausted.
Clara weak.
Clara collapsing.
Clara apparently unable to care for Noah.
Then gone.
I stared at Mother.
She looked at the floor.
Victor continued.
“Once Clara and Noah were north, you had two choices.”
“Leave command and go after them.”
“Or stay.”
“And if I stayed?”
He smiled.
“Then we knew what kind of man you were.”
I almost laughed.
The same choice Evelyn had been trying to force.
Husband or Carter.
Father or boss.
They had built everything around the assumption those things could not coexist.
I looked at him.
“You still don't understand me.”
Victor shrugged.
“You're predictable.”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
Then I continued.
“If my wife needs me, I go.”
His smile widened.
“If my son is taken, I follow.”
Victor nodded.
“Exactly.”
“And while I'm gone?”
“We stabilize the house.”
There.
I looked at the black pins.
Permanent command.
Not temporary.
He wanted me to leave by choice.
Then call leaving proof that I no longer deserved to return.
I stood.
Victor watched.
“You think you won because you found the pins?”
“No.”
I looked toward Marissa.
“You made one mistake.”
“What?”
“You assumed the people you abuse stay silent forever.”
Marissa looked at him.
Victor's smile disappeared.
Because she had not finished.
“Boss…”
She swallowed.
“Victor isn't the only one who packed something.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“Evelyn did too.”
Mother froze.
Marissa continued.
“A suitcase.”
“For who?”
She looked at Mother.
Then Clara's room.
“Clara.”
I thought we already knew that.
Then Marissa added:
“But it wasn't going to North House.”
Mother went white.
“Where?”
Marissa stared at her.
“The old river residence.”
Every capo in the room went silent.
That house belonged to another branch of the Carter family.
Men my father had cut off years ago.
Men associated with the original crescent faction.
I looked at Mother.
May you like
She had not merely been helping Victor.
She had her own plan too.
