Chapter 14 - THE FALL OF VICTOR BIANCHI
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Victor Bianchi’s arrest became national news by sunrise.
The headlines were enormous.
MOB POWER STRUGGLE EXPOSED.
FEDERAL CORRUPTION NETWORK UNCOVERED.
KEANE ORGANIZATION COOPERATES.
Marco’s name appeared everywhere.
So did Claire’s.
That part had not been planned.
A reporter discovered the waitress who warned Marco about the original car bomb.
By noon, Claire had become “The Palazzo Nero Waitress.”
She hated it.
“They make me sound like I serve soup in a superhero cape.”
Marco looked at the television.
“I would watch that movie.”
She threw a pillow at him.
He caught it.
Lily laughed.
For the first time in weeks, the sound did not feel fragile.
Victor was denied bail.
Andrew Hale resigned pending investigation.
Three judges were arrested.
Two NYPD officers were suspended.
Rosario accepted a cooperation agreement.
Vincent did not.
Federal prosecutors began dismantling the network Mara Bennett had documented decades earlier.
And Marco Keane prepared to testify.
That surprised everyone.
Especially his own people.
Daniel entered Marco’s study one evening.
“Three captains want to leave.”
“Let them.”
“They’ll take crews.”
“Let them.”
“Some will go independent.”
Marco signed a document.
“Then they become somebody else’s problem.”
Daniel stared.
“You’re really doing this.”
“Yes.”
“Closing everything?”
“Everything illegal.”
Daniel sat.
“My father is going to haunt you.”
Marco looked up.
“Your father hated mine.”
“Good point.”
Claire stood in the doorway listening.
Marco noticed.
“You could knock.”
“I could.”
“You generally don’t.”
“I like keeping you humble.”
Daniel stood.
“I’ll leave before this gets unpleasantly romantic.”
Claire smiled.
Marco did not.
After Daniel left, she walked in.
“What happens to him?”
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“He becomes head of security for Keane Holdings.”
“Legitimate security?”
“Painfully legitimate.”
“And you?”
Marco leaned back.
“I become very boring.”
“I doubt that.”
“Board meetings. Shipping contracts. Hotels.”
“No bombs?”
“That’s the goal.”
Claire sat opposite him.
“What do you lose?”
He understood the real question.
“Influence.”
“Money?”
“Some.”
“People?”
“Probably.”
“Identity?”
Marco was quiet.
“Yes.”
Claire nodded.
That mattered more than the other answers.
“You don’t have to do this for me.”
“I’m not.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“I’m doing it because the first person who ever taught me violence could be refused died before I understood the lesson.”
“Your mother.”
“Yes.”
“And because Lily asked me last night if bad men were going to come to the house again.”
Claire’s chest tightened.
Marco looked toward the hallway.
“I told her no.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“I know.”
“Yet you did.”
“Yes.”
Claire understood.
Sometimes adults promised children impossible things because children deserved a world where the promise should have been true.
She crossed the room.
Marco stood.
Claire placed both hands against his chest.
“What are we doing?”
He looked down.
“I have no idea.”
“That’s unacceptable.”
“I’m usually better with negotiations.”
“This isn’t a merger.”
“I noticed.”
She smiled.
Then her expression became serious.
“I’m not moving into one of your houses.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“You were going to.”
“I was considering it.”
“No.”
“Understood.”
“I’m keeping my job.”
Marco grimaced.
“Palazzo Nero?”
“Maybe.”
“Rosario tried to have you abducted there.”
“Valid criticism.”
“And the building exploded near you.”
“The car exploded.”
“Not helping.”
Claire laughed.
Marco touched her cheek.
This time he completed the gesture he had stopped before.
“You terrify me.”
“That seems dramatic.”
“I’ve survived shootings with a lower heart rate.”
“Romantic.”
“It was intended to be.”
She kissed him.
Slowly this time.
When they separated, Lily stood in the doorway.
Both adults froze.
Lily frowned.
“Are you kissing?”
Claire closed her eyes.
Marco answered carefully.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Claire looked at him.
“Excellent question.”
Marco appeared more nervous than he had facing Victor.
“Because I like your mother.”
Lily considered this.
“Do you like her more than Peanut?”
Marco looked offended.
“Obviously.”
Lily nodded.
“Okay.”
She walked away.
Claire stared.
“That was easier than expected.”
Marco exhaled.
“Your daughter has interrogated me more effectively than federal agents.”
Two days later, Marco entered the federal courthouse.
Claire watched from across the street.
Reporters shouted questions.
Cameras flashed.
Marco stopped before the steps.
He looked back.
Found her in the crowd.
For years, people had stepped out of Marco Keane’s way because they feared him.
That morning, he walked willingly into a building where fear meant nothing.
Claire raised her hand.
May you like
Marco nodded once.
Then he went inside.
