Chapter 5
Victor Hale arrived before anyone invited him.
That answered one question.
The seventy-four-year-old former capo walked into Brian’s house carrying a cane and wearing an expression of disappointment.
Not surprise.
Disappointment.
He expected something different.
Valentina stood in the foyer.
“Victor.”
He nodded.
“Boss.”
The word sounded almost insulting.
Walter appeared behind her.
Victor looked at his old friend.
Then at the kibble still scattered beneath the dining table.
His eyes changed.
Not sympathy.
Calculation.
“What happened?”
Walter laughed bitterly.
“You know.”
Victor looked toward Brian.
Brian wouldn’t meet his eyes.
Valentina saw everything.
“Sit.”
Victor raised an eyebrow.
“I’m not one of your soldiers.”
“No.”
Valentina stepped aside.
“You’re seventy-four.”
His expression hardened.
She continued.
“You should appreciate a chair.”
Dominic almost smiled.
Victor sat.
Valentina placed Walter’s phone on the table.
“Who sent the ten-o’clock message?”
Victor glanced at it.
“No idea.”
“Who planned the Founders’ Supper?”
Silence.
Walter spoke.
“Victor.”
The old man sighed.
“Walter.”
“You visited Brian.”
“Yes.”
“You told him sons should inherit.”
“Yes.”
Brian looked up.
Valentina watched.
Victor wasn’t hiding that part.
Interesting.
“Why?”
Victor leaned on his cane.
“Because the Hartwell organization has spent six years pretending tradition no longer matters.”
Valentina’s expression remained calm.
“You mean me.”
“Yes.”
Clear.
Better than cowardice.
Victor continued.
“Your father built something.”
Walter said:
“And gave it to her.”
Victor looked at him.
“You were grieving.”
Walter’s face hardened.
Victor shrugged.
“You lost your wife.”
“Your health slipped.”
“Valentina stepped in.”
Valentina said:
“And?”
“And never stepped out.”
Brian’s posture changed.
Confidence returning.
Victor was saying the things he wanted to hear.
Melissa smiled.
There it was.
The real source.
Victor continued.
“Brian should have been prepared.”
Walter laughed.
“For what?”
“To lead.”
“He can’t lead dinner.”
Brian stood.
“Dad.”
Walter ignored him.
Victor’s expression hardened.
“You humiliate your own son.”
Walter pointed toward the dog bowl.
“He fed me kibble.”
Victor looked at Brian.
For the first time, genuine disapproval.
“That was unnecessary.”
Brian blinked.
Only unnecessary.
Not monstrous.
Valentina noticed.
Victor looked toward Melissa’s phone.
“Was it recorded?”
Melissa hesitated.
Then:
“Yes.”
Victor closed his eyes.
“Idiot.”
She stiffened.
“What?”
“You were supposed to provoke Valentina.”
Silence.
Victor realized.
Too late.
Valentina smiled.
“Supposed to?”
Brian looked at him.
Melissa went pale.
Victor tightened his grip on the cane.
Valentina continued.
“You expected me here.”
Victor said nothing.
“Not by accident.”
Silence.
“Melissa was filming because you wanted my reaction.”
Dominic swore.
Walter looked toward his daughter.
Valentina finally understood why Melissa held the phone through the entire humiliation.
Not merely cruelty.
Evidence.
Edited correctly, the video would show Valentina attacking her brother and sister-in-law at her father’s birthday.
No dog food.
No thrown bowl.
No first punch.
Just violence.
Victor looked at Melissa.
“Give me the phone.”
She held it tighter.
“No.”
His voice sharpened.
“Melissa.”
May you like
For the first time, she looked frightened of someone other than Valentina.
And Brian finally realized that his wife had been taking orders from Victor long before tonight.
