Chapter 7 - THE FADED TICKET
The office erupted into absolute chaos.
Dr. Rossi's men flooded the room, securing the perimeter. Carlo retreated behind his massive desk, his calm demeanor finally shattering as he realized his fortress had been breached.
Victoria stared at the elderly doctor. "Elias? What are you doing here?"
Dr. Rossi lowered his shotgun, offering Victoria a sad, respectful nod. "Protecting my patient, Victoria. I swore to keep your secret twenty-six years ago. Not just the medical one."
He looked at Michael. "I was the doctor in the delivery room the night you were born, Michael. I was the one who forged the death certificate so Daniel Hayes could smuggle you out."
Carlo snarled from behind his desk, pulling a hidden weapon. "You traitorous old fool! You brought the Morettis into my house?"
"I brought the only people who hate you as much as I do," Dr. Rossi replied coldly.
Caroline didn't waste the distraction. She dove for Frank's dropped submachine gun, rolling across the floor and bringing it up to cover Carlo.
"It's over, Father," Caroline yelled. "Drop the gun!"
Carlo looked at his daughter, then at the heavily armed men surrounding his office. He was trapped. The master manipulator had finally run out of pieces to move.
Slowly, Carlo placed his weapon on the desk. He raised his hands, feigning surrender.
But Victoria knew him too well. She saw his eyes dart toward a small red button hidden under the lip of the desk. The self-destruct for the armory below.
"Michael, stop him!" Victoria screamed.
Michael lunged across the desk, tackling his biological father. The two men crashed into the bookshelves, shattering glass and sending heavy volumes tumbling to the floor. Carlo was seventy-three, but he fought with the desperate, terrifying strength of a cornered predator.
He wrapped his hands around Michael's throat, squeezing hard.
"You are nothing!" Carlo spat, his face inches from Michael's. "You are a waiter! A peasant!"
Michael’s vision swam. He reached out blindly, his hand brushing against something on the floor.
The wooden rosary.
Michael grabbed the heavy wooden crucifix and drove it straight into Carlo’s eye.
Carlo howled in agony, releasing his grip. Michael scrambled backward, gasping for air, as Dr. Rossi’s men surged forward, pinning Carlo to the floor and zip-tying his hands behind his back.
The monster was finally contained.
Victoria rushed to Michael, pulling him into her arms. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," Michael coughed, holding onto her. For the first time, the embrace felt natural. It felt like family.
Sophia cut Anthony loose from the chair. The arrogant grandson collapsed to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.
"What do we do with him?" Caroline asked, looking at Carlo writhing on the floor. "I can hand him over to the Bureau. He'll spend the rest of his life in a supermax."
"No," Dr. Rossi said softly. He reached into his medical bag and pulled out a faded, yellowed piece of paper. It was an old ferry ticket.
He handed it to Victoria.
"Twenty-six years ago, Victoria, you gave me this ticket to escape the city when Carlo started hunting down anyone who knew about the babies," Dr. Rossi said. "I didn't use it. I stayed in the shadows, waiting for the day he returned."
Dr. Rossi looked down at Carlo. "The law won't hold him. He'll bribe a judge, threaten a jury, and be back on the streets in a year. The only way this ends is if the Romano family ceases to exist tonight."
Victoria looked at the faded ticket in her hand. She looked at Sophia, the daughter who had been forced to live as a ghost. She looked at Caroline, the daughter raised as a weapon. And she looked at Michael, the son who had grown up in poverty to save his life.
She turned to Dr. Rossi. "What are you suggesting, Elias?"
"I have a private plane waiting at Teterboro," Dr. Rossi said. "I can take you, Sophia, Caroline, and Michael to Europe. Complete anonymity. But Carlo stays here. With me."
Carlo laughed, a wet, ugly sound. "You don't have the guts to kill me, Elias."
"I don't," Dr. Rossi agreed quietly. "But the five tons of C4 in the armory beneath us does."
Victoria felt a chill run down her spine. The doctor had rigged the pier to blow.
"We have ten minutes," Dr. Rossi said, checking his watch. "Leave the ledger on the desk. Let it burn with him. The Romano empire ends tonight."
Victoria looked around the opulent office. The symbol of decades of blood and power.
She walked over to the desk and placed the heavy leather ledger directly in front of Carlo's face.
"Goodbye, Carlo," Victoria whispered.
May you like
"You can't do this!" Carlo screamed, thrashing against his restraints as the realization of his impending death finally set in. "I am a King!"
"You're a ghost," Victoria corrected coldly. "And it's time you went back to the grave."
