Chapter 6 - Victor Costa Walks Away
For the first time in his adult life, Victor Costa had no idea how to win.
Money wouldn't work.
Power wouldn't work.
Fear definitely wouldn't work.
Norah wanted something much harder.
Change.
Three weeks after Salvatore's financial network collapsed under investigation, Victor found Norah in the kitchen drinking coffee before sunrise.
She was still wearing the maid uniform.
He hated that.
“You're still working here.”
Norah glanced at him.
“Very observant.”
“I thought you would quit.”
“I need money.”
“I can give you—”
She raised one eyebrow.
Victor stopped himself.
“Right. No charity.”
“Learning quickly.”
He sat across from her.
“I've been thinking.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
“I want to reopen St. Jude’s.”
Norah stopped drinking.
“It closed years ago.”
“I know.”
“The building is condemned.”
“I bought it.”
Her eyes widened.
“You what?”
“Yesterday.”
“Victor.”
“With legal money.”
“That sentence shouldn't need a qualifier.”
“I'm improving.”
Despite herself, she laughed.
“What are you going to do with it?”
“Turn it into transitional housing and a scholarship center.”
Norah studied him.
“For kids aging out of foster care?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because nobody should leave with a garbage bag and nowhere to go.”
Norah knew exactly what he meant.
She had left that way.
So had he.
Victor slid a folder across the table.
She opened it.
Plans.
Funding.
Independent oversight.
A legitimate nonprofit board.
Norah looked up.
“You did this?”
“I had help.”
“What's the catch?”
“I want you to run it.”
She closed the folder.
“No.”
Victor blinked.
“No?”
“I clean floors.”
“You survived the system we're trying to help people escape.”
“That doesn't qualify me to run a nonprofit.”
“So get qualified.”
She stared.
Victor shrugged.
“Take classes. Hire experienced people. Learn.”
“And who's paying?”
“The foundation.”
“Your foundation?”
“No.”
He pushed another document toward her.
Norah read it.
The recovered money stolen from St. Jude’s was being placed into an independently controlled fund.
Victor would not own it.
He would not control it.
Norah looked at him differently.
“You gave up control?”
“It was never my money.”
She was silent.
Victor stood.
“I have somewhere to be.”
“Where?”
“Federal building.”
Norah frowned.
“Why?”
Victor adjusted his cuff.
“I'm meeting my attorneys.”
“For?”
He looked at her.
“I'm getting out.”
“Out of what?”
“The business.”
Norah stared.
“You can't just quit being Victor Costa.”
“No.”
His expression became serious.
“But I can stop becoming worse.”
“What happens to the empire?”
“Legitimate companies stay. Anything else gets dismantled.”
“That could cost you everything.”
“Not everything.”
His gaze lingered on her.
Norah understood.
“Don't do this for me.”
Victor shook his head.
“I'm not.”
“Then why?”
He thought for a moment.
“Because you gave the ring back.”
She frowned.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does to me.”
He touched his chest.
“I realized I'd spent twenty years believing the promise meant I had to become powerful enough to rescue you.”
“And?”
“You never needed rescuing.”
Norah's eyes softened.
“I needed to become somebody you could trust.”
He walked toward the door.
Norah called after him.
“Vic.”
He stopped.
“You still have the ring?”
He reached beneath his shirt.
A cotton cord appeared.
The copper ring hung from it.
Norah stared.
“You're wearing it?”
“Until I earn it back.”
“You're ridiculous.”
“You mentioned that.”
“Victor.”
“Yes?”
“Come back for dinner.”
He looked at her.
“Here?”
“No.”
She smiled.
“My apartment.”
His eyebrows rose.
“You're inviting me?”
“Don't make me regret it.”
“What should I bring?”
“Nothing expensive.”
“Wine?”
“No.”
“Flowers?”
“No.”
“Dessert?”
She considered.
“Apple pie.”
Victor smiled.
“Why apple?”
Norah remembered the frozen courtyard.
The half-eaten apple.
The angry boy who had protected her and insulted her in the same breath.
“You should remember.”
Victor did.
May you like
And for the first time in years, the most feared man in the city left his mansion smiling.
---
