Chapter 13 - The Fall of Helena Romano
The rain on the rooftop of the Romano Tower was deafening, driven by gale-force ocean winds sweeping across the skyline.
The massive blades of an executive helicopter beat the wet air into a furious vortex of mist and spray.
Helena Romano was struggling toward the open cabin door of the aircraft, clutching a heavy leather briefcase containing bearer bonds and offshore passkeys.
Her soaked silk dress clung to her shivering frame, and her silver hair was whipped into tangled strands across her face.
Before she could reach the landing skid, the heavy steel fire door flew open with a resounding bang.
Nico stepped onto the wet asphalt of the helipad, rain instantly plastering his dark hair to his forehead.
Ethan flanked him on the left, shotgun lowered, while Ava stepped out onto the landing apron behind them.
"Helena!" Nico’s voice cut through the thundering roar of the twin turbine engines.
Helena spun around, stumbling back against the fuselage of the aircraft, terror and fury warring in her eyes.
The pilot of the helicopter looked out from the cockpit window, saw the federal badges and weapons drawn behind Nico, and immediately cut the engine throttles.
The roaring rotors began to decelerate, their deafening drone winding down into a slow, rhythmic chop.
"Start the engines, you coward!" Helena screamed at the cockpit glass, pounding her fists against the cabin door.
"I am paying you five million dollars to fly this bird!"
The pilot simply shook his head, raised both hands in the air, and turned off the interior avionics.
Helena dropped her briefcase onto the wet tarmac, her legs trembling as she realized her final escape route was severed.
Nico walked slowly across the rain-swept roof until he stood ten feet away from his stepmother.
Ava stood at his shoulder, the cold rain washing away the soot from her cheeks, her chin held high.
"It’s over, Helena," Nico said, his voice completely calm amid the raging elements.
Helena looked at Nico, then at Ethan, and then at Ava, a bitter, hysterical laugh bubbling up from her throat.
"Over?" Helena cried, raising her arms to the stormy sky like a cornered theatrical villainess.
"I built this family into something the entire world feared!"
"Your father was a sentimental fool who spent his life worrying about dock workers and pension funds!"
"I brought the Russian syndicates to their knees!"
"I made the Romano name worth billions!"
"You made our name synonymous with cowardice and murder," Ethan said, stepping forward through the rain.
"You tried to slaughter your own stepsons for pieces of paper."
"You were never my sons!" Helena shrieked, her voice cracking with pure, unadulterated venom.
"You were the whelps of that weak, soft-hearted woman your father loved before me!"
"I lived in her shadow for twenty years in that cold stone manor!"
"Every time your father looked at you, Ethan, he saw her face!"
"I deserved that empire!"
"I deserved every single penny, every ship, every warehouse!"
"And you ruined your father just like you ruined me," Ava spoke, her voice cutting through Helena’s bitter tirade.
Helena turned her furious gaze onto Ava, her lips trembling with uncontrollable rage.
"Your father was an insolent clerk who refused to take his envelope!" Helena spat.
"He could have walked away with five hundred thousand dollars and lived a quiet life with you!"
"Instead, he wanted to be righteous!"
"He wanted to play the martyr for a family that didn't even know his name!"
"We know his name now, Helena," Nico said, taking a deliberate step closer to Ava, his arm brushing hers in solid solidarity.
"The entire world knows his name."
"Arthur Collins took down the Vance syndicate from beyond the grave."
"While you will die alone in a federal cell, stripped of every dollar, every share, and every shred of power you ever stole."
Helena looked around wildly as the rooftop access doors swung open once again.
A dozen federal agents, flanked by state troopers with assault rifles, poured out onto the wet asphalt, encircling the helipad.
Above them, news helicopters from four different television networks hovered in the stormy sky, their high-definition cameras beaming the entire confrontation live to millions of homes across the nation.
Helena looked up into the blinding glare of the television spotlights, realizing that her ruin was being broadcast to every living room in the state.
A federal marshal walked up behind her, taking her arms and twisting them behind her back.
The click of the steel handcuffs locking around her wrists sounded like the closing of a tomb door.
As they led Helena Romano toward the rooftop stairwell, she looked back at Ava Collins one final time.
Ava did not look away.
She stood tall, resolute, and unwavering, her eyes reflecting the bright city lights below.
The ghost of Arthur Collins had finally been avenged.
Nico turned to Ava in the pouring rain, reaching up with his hand to gently wipe a mixture of rain and tears from her cheek.
"It’s finished, Ava," Nico murmured, his voice softer than the ocean wind.
Ava let out a long, shuddering breath, feeling seven years of terror, shame, and grief melt away into the storm.
"We're free," Ava whispered, looking up into his dark, steadfast eyes.
May you like
"Yes," Nico said, his hand lingering against her skin.
"We're free."
