Chapter 15 - Three months later, Philadelphia looked different.Not cleaner.
Not safer.
Just quieter.
The Russo empire had collapsed.
Hundreds of accounts had been seized.
Judges resigned.
Police officers disappeared.
Politicians claimed they knew nothing.
The city pretended it was shocked.
Sadie knew better.
Cities didn't become corrupt overnight.
They simply stopped hiding it.
She stood outside Lombardi's.
The restaurant was being rebuilt.
New marble.
New windows.
New security system.
But Sadie refused to let anyone replace the host stand.
The urn was gone.
The crowbar was gone.
The bullet holes had been sealed.
Still, every time it rained, she remembered that night.
Gabriel had survived.
The bullet had missed his heart.
He was recovering in a private hospital.
Marcus had survived too.
His recovery was slower.
He had agreed to testify.
Elena was in protective custody.
Thomas was awaiting trial.
Ethan was awaiting trial.
And Dominic...
Sadie entered the private room upstairs.
Dominic was sitting beside the window.
His shoulder had healed.
Mostly.
“You're late.”
Sadie put a coffee on the table.
“You're alive.”
“You say that every day.”
“I'm checking.”
Dominic smiled.
“You worry too much.”
“That's your fault.”
He picked up the coffee.
“You still working here?”
“For now.”
“You could quit.”
“I know.”
“Then why don't you?”
Sadie looked around.
“Because somebody needs to make sure the next idiot doesn't burn the place down.”
Dominic laughed.
Then his expression became serious.
“How's Marcus?”
“Better.”
“Ethan?”
“Silent.”
“Elena?”
“Still refusing lawyers.”
Dominic nodded.
Then he looked at her.
“You never asked about the final file.”
Sadie stopped.
“What final file?”
Dominic reached under the table.
He placed a black envelope in front of her.
“No.”
She stared.
“You knew?”
“I found it two days ago.”
“What's inside?”
“I haven't opened it.”
“Why?”
“It's addressed to you.”
Sadie didn't touch it.
“Who sent it?”
Dominic looked toward the window.
“The fourth person.”
Sadie's blood ran cold.
“Thomas said there were only four.”
Dominic shook his head.
“Thomas lied.”
She opened the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Five babies.
Not four.
Five.
One photograph.
Five children.
Five bracelets.
Five names.
The first:
SADIE BENNETT.
The second:
MARCUS VOSS.
The third:
ETHAN BENNETT.
The fourth:
DOMINIC RUSSO.
The fifth was blacked out.
Sadie stared.
“Who is the fifth?”
Dominic slowly turned the photograph over.
There was writing on the back.
His face went pale.
Sadie looked at him.
“What?”
Dominic read the sentence.
Then he handed her the photograph.
She read it.
THE FIFTH CHILD HAS ALWAYS BEEN INSIDE THE RUSSO ORGANIZATION.
Sadie's heart stopped.
A second line appeared below it.
HE WAS THE ONE WHO SAVED YOU THAT NIGHT.
She stared at Dominic.
“Gabriel?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Dominic didn't answer.
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A distorted voice said:
“Dominic.”
He froze.
“Who is this?”
The voice laughed.
“You really thought the war ended?”
Dominic stood.
Sadie watched his face change.
The voice continued.
“You exposed the empire.”
A pause.
“But you didn't understand it.”
Dominic's hand tightened around the phone.
“What do you want?”
“Nothing.”
“What?”
“I want her.”
Sadie looked around.
“Who?”
The voice whispered:
“Your little waitress.”
Dominic looked at Sadie.
The line went dead.
At that exact moment, the lights in Lombardi's went out.
Every lock clicked.
The front doors slammed shut.
Sadie stood.
“Dominic?”
He pulled his revolver.
Someone moved behind the bar.
Then another.
A shape appeared in the darkness.
Tall.
Broad.
Familiar.
Sadie's breathing stopped.
The figure stepped into the emergency light.
He was holding Gabriel's crowbar.
But it wasn't Gabriel.
It was a man Sadie had seen hundreds of times.
A man she had trusted.
A man who had served Dominic for years.
A man nobody had ever suspected.
He smiled.
“Hello, Sadie.”
She stared at him.
Dominic whispered:
“No.”
The man lifted the crowbar.
“The first four children were never the weapon.”
He took another step.
“We were.”
Sadie backed away.
“Who are you?”
The man's smile widened.
“The man who made sure you slipped that night.”
Dominic raised his gun.
“Don't.”
The man laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
He pointed the crowbar at Sadie.
“The boiling water didn't save her.”
“You did.”
Then he looked at Dominic.
“You brought her into the war.”
Dominic tightened his grip.
The man smiled.
“And now…”
He clicked the deadbolt.
“…she gets to choose which brother dies first.”
Sadie stared at Dominic.
Then Marcus.
Then the darkness behind her.
A phone began ringing on the abandoned bar.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Nobody moved.
Sadie slowly reached for it.
The screen displayed one name.
DAD.
She answered.
A voice she had not heard in twenty-two years whispered:
“Sadie…”
Her knees nearly gave out.
“Who is this?”
The voice replied:
“Your father.”
The call ended.
And somewhere outside Lombardi's, a car door slammed.
Then another.
Then another.
May you like
The war had not ended.
It had only learned Sadie's name.
