Chapter 2 - The Name Victor Was Never Supposed to Hear
Victor Costello had built his reputation on the belief that every room contained a hierarchy, and that he could always climb to its top. Watching three men kneel before his wife destroyed that belief in less than a minute.
“Volkov?” he repeated. “You told me your parents were teachers.”
“They were,” Catherine said. “My mother taught history. My father taught me that a name can be a responsibility rather than a weapon.”
Vargas stepped beside her. “The council meeting is scheduled for midnight. We should move.”
Victor blocked their path. “Nobody moves in my house until I understand what is happening.”
Catherine looked at the champagne spreading across the floor. “Your house, Victor? Have your attorney examine the deed.”
Chloe gave a brittle laugh. “This is ridiculous. She’s been playing housewife for three years.”
“Yes,” Catherine said. “And you’ve both been remarkably careless around the help.”
Tommy O’Rourke stepped forward, his face drained of color. “Mrs. Costello, there are men at the south gate.”
“My people,” Catherine replied. “They are there to prevent a misunderstanding, not to start one. Tell your guards to stand down.”
Victor turned to Tommy. “You take orders from me.”
Tommy hesitated. That single hesitation hurt Victor more than an open refusal.
“Tommy,” Catherine said gently, “the guards have families. No one needs to get hurt because Victor is embarrassed.”
Tommy nodded and left. Victor stared after him.
Arthur Kensington approached with a leather portfolio. He opened it on a nearby table and turned a page toward Victor. The document showed a holding company, an acquisition date, and the signatures of trustees Victor had never heard of.
“You purchased this estate through a financing vehicle,” Kensington explained. “The controlling note was assigned two years ago. Your missed covenants transferred ownership last month.”
Victor looked at Catherine. “You bought my house?”
“I bought the debt you used to pretend you owned it outright.”
“You tricked me.”
“You signed every document yourself. I did not make you ignore the details.”
Catherine felt no triumph. That surprised her. For years she had imagined the moment Victor learned he could not command her. Now she saw a frightened man wearing a tuxedo and wondered how she had once confused his confidence with strength.
Vargas motioned toward the ballroom doors. “The guests are waiting.”
“Let them wait,” Catherine said. “I have one more thing to say.”
She turned to the staff gathered near the service entrance. Daniel the waiter stood at the front, holding his empty tray against his chest.
“Your wages will be paid,” she told them. “Nobody loses a job because of what happened here tonight. The event company has already received the balance of its contract.”
A few shoulders relaxed. Victor watched with an expression she recognized: resentment that she had thought of something he had not.
“Why marry me?” he asked.
Catherine took a breath. “Because three years ago, someone was moving stolen medical supplies and counterfeit pharmaceuticals through the Atlantic terminals. The people responsible were hiding behind respectable names. Yours was one of them.”
Victor’s face changed. “That’s a lie.”
“Then the records will prove it.”
Sokolov looked toward the doorway. “We have a complication.”
A young woman in a dark coat entered with a sealed envelope. Catherine knew her immediately: Nadia Belov, the investigator who had followed the money trail through six countries. Nadia’s hands were shaking.
“The witness from Newark is missing,” she said. “And someone sent this to the gate.”
Catherine opened the envelope. Inside was a photograph of her younger brother, Mikhail, standing outside a Brooklyn hospital that afternoon.
On the back, in thick black ink, were five words: YOU CANNOT PROTECT THEM ALL.
May you like
For the first time that evening, Catherine’s steady hand trembled. Victor noticed. He smiled as though he had finally found a weakness.
He did not know that the threat had changed the nature of the night. Catherine no longer needed to win a ballroom. She needed to find her brother before the people who had used Victor’s empire to hide their crimes reached him.
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