Chapter 15
Victor asked William what would happen to him.
William almost found the question boring.
Victor had spent years helping Thomas hunt Elena’s family. He had threatened Emma. Reached for the photograph. Tried to throw both children into the rain.
Now he wanted attention.
“What do you think happens?”
Victor swallowed.
“I did what Thomas ordered.”
William nodded.
“That’s true.”
Victor looked hopeful.
Then William continued.
“And you enjoyed it.”
The hope disappeared.
William remembered Victor knocking food from Emma’s hands.
The smugness.
The contempt.
That had not been obedience.
That had been character.
Damian tried a different defense.
“I didn’t touch the girl.”
William looked at him.
“You laughed.”
Damian went quiet.
“You watched your brother grab her.”
Silence.
“You attacked me when I stopped him.”
Damian lowered his eyes.
William did not need blood.
He needed separation.
Victor and Damian lost all Parker access.
No crews.
No properties.
No dinners.
No information.
Thomas lost more.
Every captain who still reported through him was reassigned. Every private influence channel built under Vincent was cut. Men who had served the old patriarch were told plainly that Thomas’s orders carried no Parker authority.
He laughed when William told him.
“You think power disappears because you say it does?”
William shook his head.
“No.”
Then he looked toward the room where Emma was drawing with Rachel.
“It disappears when people stop being afraid to ignore you.”
Thomas’s face changed.
That was the wound.
Vincent ruled through fear.
Thomas inherited fear.
William removed its usefulness.
Before leaving, Thomas looked at Emma through the glass.
“She’ll cost you.”
William stepped between them.
“Maybe.”
Thomas smiled.
“You admit it.”
William nodded.
“Family costs things.”
His eyes hardened.
“That doesn’t make children debts.”
May you like
Thomas had no answer.
Because in his world, everything had always been a debt.
