Chapter 7 - The Night Victor Chose Her Over His EmpireGabriel’s hotel had been abandoned for fifteen years.
Nora entered through the service corridor beside Victor.
Their goal was simple.
Find Adrian.
Leave.
No war.
No revenge.
Victor had agreed reluctantly.
They found Adrian in the ballroom.
Untied.
Standing beside Gabriel.
Victor raised his weapon.
“You have five seconds.”
Adrian lifted both hands.
“I’m not his prisoner.”
Victor’s expression changed.
Nora’s stomach dropped.
Gabriel smiled.
“Told you.”
Victor looked at Adrian.
“You chose him.”
“No.”
“Then explain.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“Gabriel has Salvatore’s prison communications.”
Victor lowered his weapon slightly.
“What?”
“Recorded calls. Messages. Names.”
Gabriel placed a folder on the table.
“Your uncle ordered the hit at Osteria Romano.”
Nora stared.
“Sullivan worked for Salvatore?”
“Temporarily.”
Gabriel nodded toward Victor.
“Salvatore wanted Victor dead before he discovered the trust.”
Victor’s face hardened.
“Why?”
“Because your death transfers operational authority to the next Falcone heir.”
Adrian.
Victor looked at his brother.
“You.”
Adrian shook his head.
“I didn’t know.”
Gabriel laughed.
“Everyone knows something.”
Nora stepped forward.
“What do you want?”
Gabriel looked at her.
“You.”
Victor immediately moved between them.
Gabriel smiled.
“Predictable.”
Nora stepped around Victor.
“What does that mean?”
“I want my daughter beside me.”
“I’m not your daughter.”
“Biology disagrees.”
“Biology doesn’t vote.”
Gabriel’s smile faded.
Nora continued.
“You abandoned me for twenty-two years.”
“I protected you.”
“Richie protected me.”
“I watched you.”
“That isn’t protection. That’s surveillance.”
Gabriel’s face hardened.
“You think Victor is different?”
Nora looked at Victor.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because when I tell him no, eventually he listens.”
Victor almost objected to eventually.
This was not the moment.
Gabriel looked disgusted.
“He will destroy you.”
“Maybe.”
Nora stepped closer.
“But that will be my mistake to make.”
Gabriel’s eyes became cold.
“Then perhaps you need to understand what loving a Falcone costs.”
The ballroom doors opened.
Armed men entered.
Too many.
Victor immediately pushed Nora behind him.
Gabriel said, “Transfer the trust to me.”
“No,” Nora replied.
“Then Victor dies.”
Several weapons aimed toward him.
Victor whispered, “Don’t.”
Nora looked at him.
Gabriel placed documents on the table.
“Sign.”
Victor said, “Nora, don’t you dare.”
She walked toward the table.
“Nora.”
She picked up the pen.
Victor’s expression became furious.
“That empire is yours.”
“I don’t care.”
“I do.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother died protecting it for you.”
Nora looked at him.
“No.”
She understood something suddenly.
“Elena didn’t die protecting money.”
She looked at Gabriel.
“She died protecting my right to choose.”
Gabriel’s jaw tightened.
Nora dropped the pen.
“No.”
Gabriel nodded.
One of his men struck Victor.
Nora flinched.
Victor remained standing.
Gabriel nodded again.
Another blow.
“Stop!”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Sign.”
Nora stared at Victor.
Blood ran from his mouth.
He shook his head.
Do not.
Nora understood.
This was not about money.
It was about whether fear could decide her life.
Exactly what Richie warned her about.
Power is not protection.
Fear is not protection.
Truth.
Nora looked at Adrian.
He was standing behind Gabriel.
Their eyes met.
Adrian moved.
Everything happened at once.
He struck Gabriel’s nearest guard.
Victor attacked the second.
Nora dropped behind the table.
The ballroom erupted into chaos.
Minutes later, Gabriel escaped through a service passage.
But Victor, Nora and Adrian were alive.
They found the prison recordings.
Enough evidence to destroy Salvatore permanently.
More importantly, Adrian had chosen.
Not Gabriel.
His brother.
Outside, dawn began coloring the lake.
Victor stood beside Nora.
“You almost signed.”
“Yes.”
“For me.”
“Yes.”
He looked angry.
“That was stupid.”
Nora laughed.
“You storm buildings with a wounded shoulder.”
“Different.”
“How?”
“I’m me.”
“Compelling argument.”
Victor looked at her.
Then the anger disappeared.
He touched her face.
“Nobody has ever chosen me over power.”
Nora’s smile faded.
“I didn’t.”
Victor frowned.
“I chose you over fear.”
She placed her hand over his.
“There’s a difference.”
May you like
Victor understood.
And for the first time in his life, the most feared man in Chicago lowered his forehead to someone else’s and allowed himself to be held.
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