Chapter 13 - THE VALE GRAND
At 10:36 p.m., Norah entered the hotel alone.
At least, that was what Thomas believed.
A transmitter smaller than a shirt button was sewn beneath her collar.
Gabriel hated the plan.
Which was partly why Norah trusted it.
“You stay in the lobby.”
he had ordered.
“I’ll stay wherever Thomas tells me.”
“No.”
“That’s generally how infiltration works.”
“You are not trained for this.”
“I’m trained to notice things.”
“Bullets don’t care about spreadsheets.”
“Neither do I.”
Gabriel had stared at her for ten full seconds.
Then he kissed her.
No warning.
No speech.
Just one brief, controlled kiss that somehow felt more dangerous than everything else that night.
When he pulled away, Norah forgot every intelligent sentence she had ever learned.
Gabriel whispered.
“Come back.”
Then she entered the hotel.
Now the lobby smelled of mold and salt water.
A man searched her.
No weapon.
No phone.
He missed the transmitter.
Thomas Vale waited upstairs.
He was seventy-four.
Tall.
Silver-haired.
Elegant.
Not remotely what Norah expected.
Margaret sat nearby.
Isabella beside her.
Both unharmed.
Thomas smiled.
“Samuel’s granddaughter.”
Norah looked directly at her mother.
Margaret did not react.
Good.
Thomas gestured toward a chair.
“Sit.”
“I prefer standing.”
“You sound like your grandfather.”
“You knew him well?”
“Well enough to hate him.”
Thomas placed the fake ring on the table.
“You insult me.”
“My mother made that.”
“Yes.”
He looked toward Margaret.
“Very convincing.”
Margaret smiled faintly.
“I had seventeen years to practice.”
Norah almost laughed.
Thomas did not.
“The real ring.”
“I don’t have it.”
“No.”
Thomas agreed.
“Gabriel does.”
Norah’s pulse changed.
He knew.
Thomas leaned closer.
“And Gabriel is currently entering the building through the service tunnel.”
Norah’s blood went cold.
The plan had failed.
Thomas tapped a tablet.
Security footage appeared.
Gabriel.
Declan.
Mateo.
Moving below them.
Thomas smiled.
“I designed this hotel.”
Then he pressed one button.
Steel doors dropped inside the tunnel.
Gabriel’s team became trapped.
Norah kept her expression neutral.
“You could kill him.”
“I could.”
“Then why haven’t you?”
“Because I need him angry.”
That answer disturbed her.
Thomas walked toward the window.
Below them, the port glowed with industrial lights.
“The Moretti organization will fracture when Gabriel dies.”
he said.
“Declan will be blamed.”
“Marcus will try to stabilize the captains.”
“And you’ll absorb the legitimate businesses.”
Thomas turned.
“Exactly.”
Norah understood.
This was not revenge.
It was a corporate takeover disguised as a mafia war.
Thomas had spent seventeen years laundering criminal power into legitimate ownership.
Gabriel’s death would complete it.
“Why the reserve?”
“Wars are expensive.”
Thomas looked at the clock.
11:02.
“And we have fifty-eight minutes.”
Norah glanced toward Isabella.
The older woman gave the smallest possible movement of her eyes.
Left.
Norah looked.
A wall panel.
Electrical controls.
Margaret noticed too.
Thomas continued speaking.
“You know what disappoints me about Gabriel?”
Norah kept him talking.
“His personality?”
“He inherited Antonio’s sentimental weakness.”
“For family?”
“For women he believes he must protect.”
Thomas looked at Norah.
“Like you.”
The elevator doors opened.
Marcus Bell stepped out.
Norah’s stomach dropped.
May you like
He walked directly toward Thomas.
Then handed him the real black ring.
