Chapter 4 - Tyler's Price
Tyler didn't flinch, though his twitching eye betrayed his nerves. He swung his legs off the conference table, letting his boots hit the polished floor with a loud thump.
""Sal Moretti doesn't buy your fairy tale, Voss,"" Tyler spat, pointing his good hand at Nolan. ""You think you can just march onto television, drop a press release, and wipe out six months of street chatter? Sal knows David Miller. He knows David was my cousin. And he knows Nora never left Clement Street long enough to sleep with a high-and-mighty bastard like you seven years ago.""
I felt the blood drain from my face. I stepped up beside Nolan, refusing to hide behind him. ""Tyler, you took money from drug dealers. You dragged Eli into your filth because you couldn't pay your debts! Get out of here before Nolan kills you.""
Tyler laughed—a high, shrill, desperate sound. ""He can't kill me! Not today. Because Sal told me to deliver a message personally. The Moretti family wants ten million in bearer bonds, and they want the exclusive docking rights at Pier 9. If you don't hand them over by midnight Friday, a little package goes to the district attorney. DNA samples from David Miller’s exhumed grave, compared to the kid’s medical records at the clinic. The whole city will know the great Nolan Voss is a fraud harboring another man's kid to dodge federal antitrust laws.""
Nolan didn't react. He stood as motionless as a marble statue. ""David Miller was cremated, Tyler. You can't exhume ash.""
Tyler’s smirk widened, disgusting and triumphant. ""His mother kept his hairbrush, Voss. Sealed in a box with his high school track medals. Hair roots have plenty of DNA. Sal’s boys already raided the old lady’s attic.""
Nausea twisted in my stomach. The depravity of these men had no bottom. They had broken into an elderly, grieving woman’s home to steal her deceased son’s belongings just to construct a blackmail trap.
""Is that all?"" Nolan asked calmly.
Tyler blinked, thrown off by Nolan’s absolute lack of rage. ""Yeah. That’s all. Ten million and Pier 9. Or your fairy tale turns into a federal indictment.""
""Marco,"" Nolan said toward the doorway.
Marco appeared from the shadows like a ghost, his massive frame blocking the only exit. The two thugs behind Tyler immediately tensed, reaching into their jackets, but Marco already had a suppressed automatic pistol leveled at the center of the first man’s forehead.
""Nobody shoots,"" Nolan said, not even looking back. ""Tyler is a messenger. And messengers are permitted to walk out of my house.""
Nolan walked over to Tyler. He was taller, broader, and the sheer aura of lethal violence rolling off him forced Tyler to take an involuntary step backward until his spine hit the glass wall. Nolan reached out with one gloved hand, gently patting Tyler’s cheek, almost affectionately.
""Tell Sal Moretti that I accept the invitation to discuss terms,"" Nolan whispered. ""He will be attending the annual Waterfront Charity Gala tomorrow night at the St. Regis. Tell him I will deliver my answer there. In person. With my fiancée at my side.""
Tyler swallowed hard, the sweat shining on his forehead. ""You're bluffing.""
""Run along, little dog,"" Nolan said softly. ""Before I decide your other arm is symmetrical.""
Tyler didn't need to be told twice. He scrambled toward the elevator, his two bodyguards backing away with their hands raised in front of Marco’s steady barrel. When the elevator doors finally closed, the silence returned, thick and suffocating.
""He's going to destroy us,"" I whispered, burying my face in my trembling hands. ""Eli... they're going to put Eli on trial. They'll take him away from me.""
Warm, firm hands caught my wrists. Nolan pulled my hands away from my face. His grip wasn't painful, but it was unyielding. He looked down into my eyes with an intensity that burned through my panic.
""Listen to me, Nora,"" he said, each word deliberate and hard as steel. ""Nobody touches that boy. Nobody takes him from you. I gave you my word. In my world, a contract signed in blood cannot be broken.""
""Why are you doing this?"" I demanded, tears spilling over my lashes. ""You could have paid them off! Ten million is pocket change to you! Why risk your empire for a waitress and a little boy you met forty-eight hours ago?""
Nolan’s thumb brushed against my cheekbone, catching a tear before it dropped. His touch sent a jolt of heat racing down my spine.
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""Because Tyler thought he could beat you in an alley and take what was yours,"" Nolan murmured, his eyes darkening. ""And because twelve years ago, before I took over this city, a man took everything from my mother in an alley just like that. I watched it happen from a fire escape. I swore that if I ever held power, no woman would ever scream for help within my territory and go unanswered.""
My breath caught in my throat. The monster of Clement Street, the brutal mafia boss the whole city feared, had a ghost of his own. And in that terrifying, electric moment, I realized I was falling for him.
