Chapter 12
Victor was the man in the gray jacket near the oak tree.
I remembered him because he did not react when Javier shoved Mia.
Everyone else did.
He simply watched.
At the time, I assumed coldness.
Now I understood.
Observation.
I pulled security footage.
There he was.
Fifty-two.
My father’s eyes.
My jaw.
Enough resemblance that once I knew, I could not unsee it.
He watched Javier pin Leo.
Watched me intervene.
Watched the fight.
Then left before the family scattered.
Not helping Dominic.
Not stopping him.
Watching.
I hated him for that before I met him.
Maybe unfair.
Still true.
Thomas found him at a small Romano-owned inn outside town.
I went alone except for two guards.
Victor opened the door before I knocked.
“You look like him.”
Not hello.
I looked at him.
“So do you.”
He almost smiled.
Then stepped aside.
His room contained one bag.
One coat.
No signs of a man moving toward power.
“Dominic brought you.”
“Yes.”
“To judge me.”
“He tried.”
“And?”
Victor poured water.
“I think Dominic is an old man terrified the family will stop needing people like him.”
I almost smiled.
Good start.
“Why didn’t you stop Javier?”
His face changed.
There.
Guilt.
“I should have.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t know how much was staged.”
“You saw a man kneeling on a child.”
“Yes.”
“That part didn’t need context.”
He nodded.
No defense.
Good.
“I spent my life avoiding Romano,” he said. “Then Dominic found me and told me my younger brother was destroying the family.”
“Did you believe him?”
“Enough to come.”
That hurt.
Fair.
“And now?”
Victor looked at me.
“I watched you choose your children.”
I waited.
He continued.
“Dominic thought that would disgust me.”
“Did it?”
“No.”
He leaned back.
“It made me wonder why our father never chose any of us.”
That landed deeper than I expected.
Two sons.
Different mothers.
Different lives.
Same father.
Same absence dressed differently.
Victor told me Dominic offered him leadership if the council turned against me.
He refused.
Dominic changed tactics.
“He said if I wouldn’t lead, I could at least help save Leo from you.”
My jaw tightened.
“What did you say?”
Victor looked ashamed.
“I said no.”
Good.
Then:
“But I didn’t warn you.”
Not good.
He understood.
I stood.
“Dominic is moving tonight.”
Victor’s face changed.
“How do you know?”
“Because his story is collapsing.”
Victor looked toward the window.
“Then he won’t go after you.”
I stopped.
“Who?”
He looked at me.
“The children.”
May you like
Of course.
A man who believes children prove his philosophy will reach for them when adults stop listening.
