Chapter 10 - THE ORDER THAT SILENCED THE RESTAURANT
Lombardi’s was dark.
The tables remained set for dinner, wine glasses untouched beneath the dim chandelier.
Arthur knelt near the center of the dining room, his hands bound behind his back.
Two employees sat beside him.
Gabriel stood near the bar with a gun pressed against Arthur’s head.
When Roman entered, Gabriel smiled.
“Look who came back.”
Roman stopped beside Norah.
Gabriel’s gaze moved between them.
“You always did have terrible taste in women.”
Norah’s eyes narrowed.
“Funny. I was thinking the same about you.”
Arthur flinched.
Roman looked at her.
Despite everything, a faint trace of amusement crossed his face.
Gabriel’s smile disappeared.
“You think this is a joke?”
“No,” Norah said. “I think you’re insecure.”
Gabriel raised his gun.
Roman stepped forward.
“Leave her out of this.”
“Everything is about her now, isn’t it?”
Gabriel waved the weapon toward the ledger in Roman’s hand.
“Give me the book.”
Roman held it up.
“You want this?”
“Yes.”
“Then let them go.”
Gabriel laughed.
“You think you’re negotiating?”
Roman’s eyes turned cold.
“No.”
He looked toward Tommy, who stood concealed near the kitchen entrance.
Then Roman gave one quiet order.
“Now.”
The lights exploded on.
Tommy and the security team moved from every direction.
Gunfire erupted.
Norah dropped behind a table as Roman’s men disarmed Gabriel’s guards.
Gabriel grabbed Arthur and pulled him backward.
Norah saw the knife at Arthur’s throat.
She also saw the emergency fire alarm beside her.
She crawled toward it.
Gabriel noticed.
“Don’t move!”
Norah froze.
Roman turned.
“Norah, stay down.”
Gabriel pressed the knife harder against Arthur.
“You’ve always been his weakness.”
Norah slowly rose.
“No,” she said.
Gabriel looked at her.
“I’m the reason he finally learned what weakness means.”
She grabbed the fire alarm and pulled it.
The siren erupted.
Sprinklers burst from the ceiling.
The sudden noise disoriented Gabriel.
Arthur dropped to the floor.
Roman lunged forward as Tommy tackled Gabriel from behind.
Within seconds, Gabriel was restrained.
The restaurant fell silent except for the alarms and rushing water.
Roman turned toward Norah.
She stood beneath the sprinklers, soaked and breathing hard.
He approached her.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Norah.”
She looked at him.
“Yes,” she whispered. “But not from tonight.”
Roman stopped.
He wanted to touch her.
He didn’t.
Instead, he said, “I’m sorry.”
She stared at him.
“I know.”
“Will you ever forgive me?”
“I don’t know.”
He nodded.
“That’s fair.”
Norah looked around the ruined restaurant.
Then back at him.
“But I don’t want to run anymore.”
Roman’s eyes softened.
“You don’t have to.”
“Not because you’re protecting me.”
“Not because I’m protecting you.”
“Because I choose where I go.”
“Yes.”
She studied him for a long moment.
Then she reached for his hand.
Roman looked down at their joined fingers as if he couldn’t believe they were real.
Norah’s voice was quiet.
“Don’t mistake this for forgiveness.”
“I won’t.”
“And don’t mistake it for permission to control me.”
“I won’t.”
She squeezed his hand once.
“Good.”
Outside, sirens approached.
Inside, the man who had once ruled the city through fear stood beside the woman he had nearly destroyed.
And for the first time in his life, Roman understood that keeping someone did not mean holding them.
May you like
Sometimes, it meant giving them the freedom to leave—
and becoming someone they could choose to stay with.
