Chapter 7 - The Counterstrike
By four o'clock in the morning, the storm outside had begun to abate, leaving behind a cold, misty twilight over Blackmere House.
In the grand library, Nora sat on a green velvet sofa wrapped in a thick wool blanket, a warm cup of sweet tea sitting untouched on the small table beside her.
Roman stood near the fireplace, listening quietly as Samuel Vance finished his report.
"All four intruders have been neutralized, Boss," Vance said. "They entered through the old drainage culvert near the eastern border fence during the height of the storm. They had internal blueprints of the basement level."
"Who gave them the blueprints?" Roman asked coldly.
"A disgruntled former maintenance worker we fired six months ago," Vance replied. "My men picked him up in Queens twenty minutes ago. He’s currently being questioned in the basement."
Roman nodded once. He turned his gaze toward Nora, who was staring blankly at the flames in the hearth. Her small hands were tightly wrapped around the wool blanket.
He walked over, pulling a mahogany chair closer to the sofa, and sat down beside her.
"You were very brave tonight, Nora," Roman said softly.
Nora looked up, her dark eyes hollow with fatigue. "They came because of me. You had to kill a man in your own hallway because I was hiding here."
"They came because Julian Valenti is a fool who lacks respect for boundaries," Roman corrected her firmly. "You are not responsible for the actions of men who hunt you."
"He won't stop, Mr. Blackmere," Nora whispered, a tear slipping down her pale cheek. "Julian will just send more men. He thinks I have my father’s forty million dollars. He’ll keep coming until I’m dead or until he gets that money."
Roman leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his face inches from hers.
"Do you have the money, Nora?" he asked quietly.
Nora looked him directly in the eyes. "No. My father was a gambler, Mr. Blackmere. He lost that money in offshore accounts six months before he died. There is no hard drive. There is no hidden fortune. He lied to Valenti to keep himself alive, and when Valenti realized he was broke... he killed him."
Roman stared at her for a long, quiet moment. He didn't need a polygraph to know she was telling the truth. The absolute, painful exhaustion in her voice was genuine. Arthur Moreau had left his daughter nothing but debt, trauma, and a target on her back.
"Then the lie ends tonight," Roman said calmly.
He stood up, looking at Vance. "Prepare the cars, Samuel. I am taking forty men to Philadelphia. It is time Julian Valenti understood what happens when you cross into Hudson territory."
Nora sat up, her blanket slipping from her shoulders. "You’re going to Philadelphia? For me?"
May you like
Roman turned back to her, his pale eyes burning with a dark, protective fire that took her breath away.
"Not just for you, Nora," Roman said softly. "For the peace of my house. Stay here with the guards. When I return, you will never have to run again."
