I follow him through hallways while I think about how Hannah promised to keep me updated after I delivered those phones to her three days ago. She swore she'd tell me the moment she heard anything about Sabine's condition or the investigation into that sleazeball Bryan. But my phone's stayed silent except for one brief text confirming Sabine survived surgery and was in stable condition.
Knowing she survived doesn't make anything better at all. Bryan could've gone and killed her by now and I'm here ready to face my demons without knowing that is happening with her. If I die today, I'll never know.
The security guard stops at the double doors that lead to Barone's office and opens them without knocking. I step inside and the doors close behind me, sealing me into what very well could be my final moments.
Vittorio Barone sits behind his desk with papers spread in front of him, and he looks up when I enter. His eyes darken to an inky color as he narrows them on me. He has the power to command hundreds of men. He just doesn't control me anymore, and I think he fears me now.
"Jace…" He sits back and taps a finger on his desk. "I heard you might be stopping by. Please, sit down." He gestures toward the leather chairs positioned in front of his desk. "Would you care for a drink? A cigar?"
The offer is a test, a way to see if I’ll accept the role of guest in his home or if I’ll reject the social niceties and acknowledge the truth of why I came here. I stay standing and keep my hands visible at my sides. Drinking with a man is akin to fellowship, of which we have no reason. This man is as much my enemy as Captain Jason Bryan is. We have no reason to pretend otherwise.
"No, I’m not here for drinks or cigars or to pretend this is a social visit." I hold my chin erect and square my shoulders. I can't believe this man actually expects me to sit in his presence and act casual after he put out a kill order on me.
Barone's finger keeps drumming, but now his forehead is stormy, furrowed and drawn together as if he's trying to figure me out. "Well, I see you're just as pigheaded in person as I've heard." He scoffs and shakes his head. "It's been a while since we spoke face to face, but I didn't really expect you to be so stupid. Breaking orders? Not finishing your contracts?"
"When following orders means killing innocent people, I'm not sure whose side I want to be on anymore."
"Innocent?" He repeats the word as though tasting it. "As if you get to decide who is or is not innocent. Morelli… Are you saying you're God now?"
My body feels like it might snap at any second. Here is a man I used to fear so much so that I'd do anything he wanted. Now allI see is a coward and a fool, and I want to break all ties with him and go my own way.
"I'm not here to discuss previous contracts. I'm here to tell you I'm done working for you, and you can call off your dogs." I pull the flash drive from my pocket and hold it up where he can see it. It's one copy of many. The primary one, of course, is safely in Lucas's hands. I've stored several around town, gave one to Hannah too, for good measure.
"This contains documentation of every contract you've ever given me. Names, dates, payment records, encrypted communications with brokers. Everything necessary to prove you ordered the deaths of hundreds of people for profit and power." He doesn't even attempt to reach for it or rise from his chair. I get the feeling this isn't the first time he's been threatened by someone attempting to turn him in, but I'm not just threatening.
"You're bluffing, Morelli. No professional in my organization would keep documentation that could incriminate both themselves and their employer. It violates every principle of survival we instill in our people." He scoffs and opens his desk drawer cautiously. I'm ready to reach for my weapon but he doesn't pull out a gun. He takes out a bottle of Irish whiskey and a shot glass.
"I kept it as insurance." I toss the drive onto his desk and meet his eyes without flinching. "Because I understood years ago that loyalty in this organization only extends as far as convenience. And before you think about having your men kill me right now, you should know I’ve a failsafe in place."
Barone's expression shifts slightly, the first crack in his controlled demeanor. He uncorks the whiskey and pours a fewfingers into his glass, then sets the bottle to the side, rudely downing the drink without offering me a sip.
"If anything happens to me, if I disappear or turn up dead, someone I trust will deliver copies of everything to federal investigators." The fact that he's drinking instead of drawing a weapon could be encouraging or terrifying, depending on how you look at it. "That protection extends indefinitely. You could kill me now or six years from now, and the result will be the same."
He stands and stalks around his desk. "You planned your betrayal carefully. I’ll give you credit for that. But you underestimate what I control and who answers to me."
"I know exactly what you control." My hand stays loose at my side, ready to move if he signals his men. "But evidence verified by multiple independent sources is difficult to discredit, even for someone with your resources."
"I have government officials at every level who can make evidence disappear before it reaches a courtroom." Barone stops a few feet away and crosses his arms. "I have lawyers who can destroy witness credibility and create reasonable doubt where none should exist. Your insurance policy means nothing if nobody believes the source."
"The source isn’t a man, Vittorio… The source is cold, hard facts. Facts you can't erase with fancy lawyers, and the people who will get this drive and these files if you come after me aren't on your payroll at all… You'll go down for hundreds of murders over the past fifteen years, and you'll be on death row until they put a needle in your arm."
Barone processes what I just said, face contorting, eyes twitching. I can see the anger swirling under the surface which he controls well, but we both know I have him cornered and shooting his way out of this won't solve his problem this time. I'm willing to stake my life on it, and I make my posture and facial expression reveal that to him.
"No one will work with you again if they think you can’t keep your contractors silent when they get caught." I press the advantage while I have it. "Bryan's going to Leavenworth for years, possibly decades. The case Ms. Hart has against him is solid, and there are too many witnesses for him to silence. When he falls, anyone connected to him becomes suspect."
Barone walks back to his desk and braces his hands on the surface, his shoulders rigid with barely controlled anger. When he turns to face me again, his expression has become feral and violent—eyes that bore through me until there's no focus left, only imagination of what he wishes he could do to me but can't.
"You've bested me," he growls, but it's hardly an admission of defeat. He's still spinning some story in his head of how he can get rid of me. "I underestimated your capacity for strategic thinking and your willingness to destroy your entire life for a woman you barely know."
I'm not sure how to respond to him, though I know I have the upper hand here. Lucas and Hannah will both turn in their files if I don't walk away from this. Barone will go down and we both lose. I just have to keep my head so this doesn't turn into a shootout.
As he straightens he says, "You need to leave this city, Morelli. If you ever show your face in Chicago again, I’ll kill you myselfand deal with whatever consequences follow. Do you understand me?"
"Perfectly." I have so much adrenaline coursing through my body right now, I could fuel a pro football team.
"Then get out of my house," he barks. "Get out of my city and take that woman with you. And pray that I never have reason to find you again, because if I do, your little failsafe won't stop me, and your friends who turn me in will die too."
I turn and walk toward the doors without responding. The security man opens them and escorts me back through the hallways and out the front entrance. Every step feels surreal, and I half expect to hear gunshots or feel hands grabbing me from behind. But nothing happens, and when I reach my truck and start the engine, the reality of what just occurred begins to sink in.
