Chapter 10 - The Man Beneath the MaskThe wedding invitation had been printed six months earlier.
Lauren had chosen thick ivory paper, black lettering, and a small gold crest representing the Corvino family.
Now Vincent held one of those invitations in his hand while men loaded weapons into the vehicles outside.
The ceremony would take place at noon.
Every member of the Board would attend.
The politicians would arrive through the north gate. The businessmen through the west entrance. Silas would come through the front doors because he wanted the entire household to see him take control.
Vincent planned to let him.
“What if the Board refuses to enter?” Marco asked.
“They won’t.”
“Why?”
“Because they believe I’m weak.”
Marco looked at the wheelchair.
“That belief may help us.”
“It has already helped them too much.”
Tessa stood near the table with her arms crossed.
“You need to change your plan.”
Vincent looked at her.
“Which part?”
“The part where you use yourself as bait.”
“I am the bait.”
“You’re also a person.”
“I’m aware.”
“Are you?”
Her anger had become familiar during the night.
Vincent found himself relying on it.
People who were afraid of him usually softened their words. Tessa sharpened hers.
That made her impossible to ignore.
Lauren entered the room wearing a simple gray dress.
She had refused the wedding gown.
“I won’t wear white,” she said.
Vincent looked at her.
“Good.”
She sat beside him.
“The doctor says I can go.”
“The doctor says you should remain in bed.”
“She also said I need to choose.”
Vincent turned toward her.
Lauren took off her engagement ring and placed it on the table.
“I don’t want this.”
He stared at the ring.
“Are you ending the engagement?”
“I’m ending the lie.”
The words were quiet, but they did not shake.
“I loved you,” she continued. “I still do, but I don’t know if love is enough to make me worthy of standing beside you.”
“Worthy?”
“I hid your child. I accepted money from men who wanted you dead. I let fear turn me into someone I don’t recognize.”
“You were trying to survive.”
“So were you. You didn’t betray anyone.”
Vincent’s voice softened.
“You saved my life when you could have run.”
“I helped create the danger.”
“You also gave us the evidence.”
Lauren looked at Tessa.
“Maybe she should be beside you.”
Tessa stiffened.
“This is not my decision.”
“No,” Lauren said. “It’s his.”
Vincent looked between them.
He wanted to deny the feeling growing inside him.
It would have been easier.
Tessa was not part of his world. She had been pulled into it because of his family. Her sister was injured because of his empire. Her mother’s disappearance was connected to his father.
Anything between them would be unfair.
But fairness had disappeared the night he was shot.
“I’m not asking Tessa to stand beside me,” Vincent said.
Lauren looked at him.
“Why not?”
“Because she deserves a choice without pressure.”
Tessa’s eyes shifted toward him.
For one moment, something passed between them.
Then Maya rushed into the room.
“The flash drive is missing.”
Everyone turned.
“What?” Tessa asked.
“It was on the kitchen table.”
Marco checked the room.
“Who touched it?”
“No one.”
Vincent looked toward Evelyn.
She was standing by the window.
“Where is the drive?” he asked.
Evelyn turned.
“I don’t have it.”
“Search her.”
Marco moved immediately.
Evelyn allowed him to check her coat and pockets.
Nothing.
Maya frowned.
“The file was open when I left.”
Vincent looked toward the old house.
The only people inside were them.
Unless someone had entered through the basement.
A sound came from upstairs.
A floorboard creaked.
Marco drew his weapon.
They moved toward the staircase.
Vincent remained below with Lauren and Tessa.
Another creak.
Then a man appeared at the top step.
He was tall, thin, and dressed in a black suit.
Vincent recognized him.
Samuel Price.
His attorney.
Samuel held the flash drive between two fingers.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Marco aimed his gun.
“Drop it.”
Samuel smiled.
“Vincent, you were always too trusting of lawyers.”
“You gave Silas access to the harbor accounts.”
“I gave him what he paid for.”
“How much?”
“Enough to disappear.”
Vincent looked at the front door.
“You won’t make it past the guards.”
Samuel’s smile faded.
“The guards are already dead.”
A burst of gunfire sounded outside.
Lauren flinched.
Tessa moved in front of Vincent.
Samuel descended the stairs.
“Your father built an empire based on fear,” he said. “Silas understood that fear belongs to whoever controls the information.”
“You never answered the question.”
“What question?”
“Why did you steal the records?”
Samuel glanced at Tessa.
“Because the records prove the Morgan family can activate the trust.”
Tessa’s face tightened.
“You knew.”
“I knew everything.”
Vincent studied him.
“Where is Noah?”
Samuel smiled again.
“Still at the mansion.”
“Why would you tell me?”
“Because the boy is no longer useful to Silas.”
A cold silence followed.
“Who has him?” Vincent asked.
“The person who has always owned the Board.”
Samuel reached into his jacket.
Marco fired.
The bullet struck Samuel’s shoulder.
He staggered backward, but he did not fall.
A small black device slipped from his hand and landed on the floor.
The device exploded.
A flash of white light filled the room.
Vincent heard Tessa shout.
Then everything disappeared into ringing darkness.
When his vision returned, Samuel was gone.
The front windows were shattered.
Marco lay on the floor with blood running from his forehead.
Lauren was crying.
Tessa was kneeling beside Vincent.
“Can you hear me?”
“Yes.”
“Move your hands.”
Vincent flexed his fingers.
“I’m fine.”
“Your chair is broken.”
He looked down.
One wheel had been blown apart.
He was trapped beside the staircase.
Maya helped Marco sit up.
“What was that device?” she asked.
“Flash grenade,” Marco said.
Vincent heard footsteps outside.
Heavy.
Many.
The townhouse had been surrounded.
Evelyn moved toward the rear hallway.
“We need to leave.”
Vincent looked at her.
“You’re not surprised.”
“I knew Samuel was compromised.”
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“You should have told me.”
“You wouldn’t have believed me.”
“Try me.”
Evelyn’s eyes hardened.
“I recognized the voice on the recording because I heard it twenty years ago.”
“The Steward?”
“No.”
She looked toward the broken front door.
“The man above the Steward.”
Vincent felt a cold pressure in his chest.
“Who?”
Evelyn pulled the old photograph from her coat.
The picture of his father, Silas, and Dominic.
She turned it over.
A second photograph had been taped to the back.
It showed a young man standing behind them.
Vincent knew him.
His father’s driver.
His uncle’s assistant.
The man who had visited Vincent in the hospital every morning during the first month after the shooting.
The man who had held Vincent’s hand when doctors told him he might never walk again.
Vincent whispered his name.
“Rafael.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Rafael Corvino.”
Vincent’s cousin.
The quiet one.
The man everyone dismissed.
“The real Steward,” Evelyn said. “Silas took orders from him.”
Another explosion shook the townhouse.
The rear wall cracked.
Outside, a voice called through a loudspeaker.
“Vincent! You have ten minutes to surrender.”
Rafael.
Vincent looked at the ring on the table.
Then at Tessa.
Then at Lauren.
His broken wheelchair sat useless beneath him.
He could not reach the exit without help.
Tessa knelt.
“Put your arms around my neck.”
Vincent hesitated.
“Do it.”
She pulled him upright.
This time, he managed to hold more of his weight.
His legs dragged behind him, but his arms were stronger than they had been the night before.
Tessa noticed.
“You’re improving.”
“Don’t sound surprised.”
“I’m terrified.”
“Good.”
She stared at him.
“What?”
“Fear keeps people careful.”
The rear wall exploded inward.
Smoke filled the house.
Rafael’s men rushed through.
Vincent held Tessa’s shoulder.
“Take Lauren and Maya.”
“What about you?”
Vincent looked toward the smoke.
May you like
Rafael stood beyond it, wearing a black mask.
“I’m going to meet the man beneath the mask.”
