Chapter 3 - DECLAN’S CONFESSION
Declan’s hands shook so badly that the gun trembled with them.
He stood at the top of the stairs, pale and soaked from rain, his eyes darting between Norah and Leo.
“You weren’t supposed to find that,” he said.
Leo’s men moved carefully, but Leo lifted one hand.
“No shooting,” he ordered.
Declan laughed bitterly. “You think I’m scared of you?”
“No,” Leo said. “You’re scared of the people who sent you.”
Norah stepped forward.
“Where is Dad?”
Declan looked at her.
For a moment, he appeared almost human. Almost like the older brother who had once pushed her on a swing before Arthur taught him that cruelty was strength.
Then the moment passed.
“He ran,” Declan said. “He always runs.”
“Who is Matteo Varga?” Norah asked.
Declan’s face crumpled.
“A monster,” he whispered.
He told them the truth in fragments.
Arthur had worked for Varga before he stole from Leo Russo. The two organizations had been rivals, but Arthur had played both sides, moving shipments and falsifying records. Years ago, Varga had trafficked women through the docks.
Lena Russo had been one of them.
But Lena had escaped.
Arthur found her near a warehouse, terrified and injured. Instead of helping her, he called Varga’s men for payment.
Leo stared at Declan in silence.
“She survived?” Leo asked.
Declan nodded.
“Where?”
“I don’t know. Dad said she was moved overseas.”
Norah felt sick.
“And the scar?” she asked.
Declan’s eyes turned toward her shoulder.
Arthur had burned Norah because she had seen Lena hiding in the garage one night. Norah had been thirteen, too young to understand why the frightened woman begged her not to tell anyone.
Arthur and Declan had punished Norah to make sure she forgot.
But she never had.
Before Declan could say more, a gunshot shattered the front window.
Varga’s men had found them.
The house erupted into chaos.
Leo pushed Norah behind the kitchen island as glass sprayed across the floor. His men returned fire only to protect the room, shouting for everyone to get down.
Declan dropped his weapon and crawled toward Norah.
“Please,” he gasped. “Don’t leave me.”
Norah looked at him.
For years, he had watched Arthur hurt her.
For years, he had added his own hands to the violence.
Still, she did not want him dead.
“Tell the police everything,” she said. “That is the only way you save anyone now.”
Declan began to cry.
May you like
Outside, sirens approached.
And somewhere in the darkness, Arthur Vale was still running—with the one secret Varga would kill to keep buried.
