Chapter 12
Victor Salvi arrived at 4:17 a.m.
No entourage.
No dramatic entrance.
One black coat.
One silver cane.
Seventy-two years old.
Still upright.
When Angelo saw him, something old moved through his face.
“You let us bury an empty coffin.”
Victor looked at him.
“Your father knew.”
Silence.
Helena frowned.
“What?”
Victor’s eyes moved toward her.
That was not the reaction of two equal conspirators.
Helena had not known.
Angelo saw it immediately.
“You told Helena my father believed you were dead.”
Victor sat without permission.
“I told her what kept her talking.”
Dominic laughed softly.
“Apparently that runs in the family.”
Helena ignored him.
“You said Carlo tried to have you killed.”
Victor looked toward her.
“No.”
Her face hardened.
“You said—”
“I said Carlo made it impossible for me to stay.”
“That isn't the same thing.”
“No.”
Victor’s voice stayed calm.
“It isn't.”
Helena’s confidence finally cracked.
Angelo watched.
Victor continued.
“Carlo knew I opposed leaving total control to one heir.”
“You.”
He looked at Angelo.
“He disagreed.”
“So I left.”
Helena stared.
“You used me.”
Victor’s expression barely changed.
“You wanted to be used.”
The insult hit harder because it was quiet.
“You came to me already angry.”
“Already convinced.”
“All I gave you was a structure for your anger.”
Helena stood.
“You told me Angelo would destroy the family.”
Victor’s eyes moved toward the wheelchair.
“I told you unchecked power eventually destroys itself.”
“I did not tell you to order an ambush.”
Silence.
Dominic’s eyebrows lifted.
Angelo’s face became still.
Helena stared.
“You planned it.”
“I planned pressure.”
“Council resistance.”
“Defections.”
“Routes closing.”
His gaze sharpened.
“You chose bullets.”
The room shifted again.
Helena looked around.
No ally where she expected one.
She lifted her chin.
“Because talking had failed.”
Victor sighed.
“And there it is.”
Angelo watched him.
“You're not innocent.”
“No.”
Victor met his eyes.
“I wanted you weakened politically.”
“I wanted senior men to restrain you.”
“I wanted Dominic’s ambition exposed.”
Dominic scoffed.
Victor ignored him.
“But I did not order men to shoot at your car.”
Helena’s hands tightened.
“You would've benefited.”
Victor looked at her.
“So would every undertaker in Boston.”
A few men almost smiled.
Helena did not.
She looked toward Angelo.
“You believe him?”
Angelo’s voice came low.
“I believe none of you automatically.”
Victor nodded once.
“Better.”
Then he looked toward Noah.
The child had fallen asleep against Emma’s shoulder.
Victor studied him.
“That's the boy?”
Emma immediately shifted away.
Dominic noticed.
His face changed.
Victor looked at Angelo.
“He saw too much.”
Emma’s eyes hardened.
Angelo’s voice became lethal.
“Finish that thought carefully.”
Victor’s expression did not move.
“He saw the weakness in your house before you did.”
A pause.
“That makes him useful.”
Emma looked disgusted.
“Useful?”
Victor turned toward her.
“Children notice who adults become when they think nobody important is watching.”
Silence.
Then Emma said:
“He noticed you all were monsters.”
Dominic almost laughed.
Helena glared.
Victor stared at Emma for several seconds.
Then smiled faintly.
“Keep her.”
Dominic scoffed.
“As what? Court philosopher?”
Victor looked at him.
“No.”
May you like
“As someone who still says things before asking whether they’ll cost her rank.”
The insult landed on every capo in the room.
