Chapter 6 - WHAT VICTORIA INHERITED
Nathan returned to the estate angry enough to frighten men who had known him twenty years.
He did not go to Victoria first.
He went to Lily.
She was sitting on the floor with Grace building a wooden house.
Nathan stopped at the doorway.
Lily looked up.
“Daddy.”
The word felt less impossible the second time.
More dangerous.
She held out a block.
“You do roof.”
Nathan looked at Grace.
Grace shrugged.
“You’ve been assigned.”
He sat.
A Mafia boss in a tailored three-piece suit building a crooked wooden roof while two bodyguards pretended not to watch from the hallway.
For fifteen minutes, Nathan let the world become smaller.
Then Lily knocked the house over and laughed.
Nathan understood suddenly why men became vulnerable.
Not because love made them weak.
Because love created something they could not replace.
He stood.
“Grace.”
She followed him into the hall.
“I need to ask something ugly.”
Grace’s expression changed.
“Victoria.”
“Yes.”
Nathan told her what Richard said.
Grace listened.
“Do you believe him?”
“I believe he believes some of it.”
“That’s not the same.”
“No.”
“What does Victoria say?”
“I haven’t asked.”
Grace looked toward the room.
“Then ask.”
Nathan almost smiled.
“You’ve become comfortable giving orders.”
“I’ve spent three years raising your daughter alone.”
“Fair.”
Victoria was moved to the library.
Nathan entered with Grace.
Victoria looked between them.
“Perfect.”
Nathan sat.
“Richard says you sit at the Black Table.”
Victoria froze.
Grace noticed.
Nathan did too.
“Answer.”
Victoria looked at Grace.
“Get her out.”
“No.”
“This is family.”
Grace laughed bitterly.
“I apparently had your fiancé’s child. I think I qualify as inconvenient family.”
Nathan almost smiled.
Victoria did not.
“I was invited once,” she said.
Nathan leaned back.
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
“By?”
“Edwin Cole.”
The name again.
Grace looked at Nathan.
Victoria continued.
“I thought it was a dinner.”
“Where?”
“Old Cole hunting lodge.”
“Who was there?”
“Edwin.”
“Richard?”
“No.”
“Marcus?”
“He was dead.”
“Others?”
Victoria looked away.
“Three men I didn’t know.”
“Names.”
“They never gave them.”
Nathan’s voice sharpened.
“What did they want?”
“You.”
Silence.
“What about me?”
“They wanted the marriage.”
Nathan stared.
“Our marriage.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To stabilize the family.”
Grace laughed.
Victoria glared.
Grace said:
“That means control him.”
Victoria’s eyes returned to Nathan.
“They believed you were becoming unpredictable.”
“Because?”
“You ended two old feuds.”
Nathan said nothing.
“You stopped using several routes your father built.”
Still nothing.
“You refused to retaliate after the Moretti insult last year.”
Nathan’s voice was quiet.
“The insult was designed to provoke retaliation.”
Victoria stared.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
That surprised her.
Nathan continued.
“I’m not my father.”
“That’s what frightened them.”
There it was.
The Black Table did not preserve power.
It preserved behavior.
Nathan’s refusal to act predictably endangered the system.
“So they wanted a Hayes wife.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because they believed I could influence you.”
Grace’s jaw tightened.
Nathan asked:
“Could you?”
Victoria’s face softened.
“I thought I could.”
For the first time, the answer was personal.
Not strategic.
Nathan felt no comfort from it.
“What did Edwin offer?”
“A place.”
“At the Table.”
“Yes.”
“In exchange?”
“Marriage.”
Nathan looked at her engagement ring.
“Did you agree?”
Victoria hesitated.
“I said yes to marrying you before I understood everything.”
“That’s not my question.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Grace whispered:
“You sold him before you married him.”
Victoria stood.
“At least I stayed.”
Grace’s face changed.
Nathan’s voice hardened.
“Sit.”
Victoria remained standing.
Nathan repeated:
“Sit.”
She did.
He continued.
“Why did you visit Henry Vale?”
“Edwin told me Henry was talking.”
“To Grace?”
“Yes.”
“What were you supposed to do?”
“Scare him.”
“Did you?”
“I tried.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
“Did someone follow you?”
Victoria looked away.
Nathan saw it.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“You keep using everyone’s favorite sentence.”
“I really don’t.”
“What happened?”
“When I left Henry’s house, a black sedan was parked across the street.”
“Plate?”
“No.”
“Man?”
“I saw someone in the mirror.”
“Description.”
Victoria looked at Nathan.
“Your brother.”
Grace inhaled.
“Julian?”
“Yes.”
Nathan stared.
“You saw Julian outside Henry’s house.”
“I think.”
“Then Henry dies.”
“Yes.”
“Why not tell me?”
Victoria laughed bitterly.
“Because I thought your dead brother was murdering anyone connected to the Table.”
Nathan’s face hardened.
“And Lily?”
Victoria’s eyes moved toward Grace.
“Edwin told me if Grace ever came back with a child, I was to keep them away from you.”
Nathan’s voice became lethal.
“Why?”
Victoria hesitated.
“He said Lily wasn’t your daughter.”
Grace stepped forward.
“She is.”
Victoria continued:
“He said she belonged to someone else.”
Nathan stared.
“Who?”
May you like
Victoria looked almost afraid to answer.
“Julian.”
