Chapter 14 - The Price of Blood
Julian pulled a compact, snub-nosed .38 revolver from his inner jacket pocket, his eyes wild with animal frenzy.
The ballroom erupted into screaming pandemonium as five hundred guests dove under banquet tables and scrambled for the exits.
Chairs clattered to the floor, crystal glasses shattered, and security guards drew their weapons in chaotic confusion.
Julian swung the barrel of the small handgun directly toward his brother's forehead.
"You took everything from me, Adrian!" Julian screamed, his finger tightening on the trigger.
"Father always loved you more because you were willing to get your hands dirty!"
"I built the respectable businesses!"
"I made the Russo name clean in high society!"
"You didn't make anything clean, Julian," Adrian said, stepping forward instead of backing away, ignoring the barrel inches from his face.
"You were just laundering our father's sins through charities to make yourself feel important."
Before Julian could pull the trigger, Eleanor’s cane whistled through the air with astonishing speed and violent precision.
The heavy silver handle struck Julian’s right wrist with a sickening crack, breaking his grip on the weapon.
The revolver clattered onto the stage floor, spinning harmlessly away toward the podium.
Julian screamed in agony, clutching his shattered wrist against his ribs.
Adrian surged forward with his uninjured right arm, grabbing Julian by his bespoke silk tie and driving him down onto the stage floor.
Adrian pinned his older brother against the polished wood, his knees pressed firmly against Julian’s chest.
Julian looked up into Adrian’s dark, unblinking eyes, panting with terror as he saw the raw power he could not buy.
"Kill me, then," Julian wheezed, spit flying from his lips.
"Do it, Adrian!"
"Prove to the world that you're nothing more than the butcher they always thought you were!"
"Pull the trigger and join me in a federal cage!"
Adrian looked down at his brother, his breathing heavy, his wounded left shoulder throbbing with sharp, hot agony.
The ballroom was silent now, save for the sound of distant sirens and the terrified whispers of people hiding beneath the tables.
Adrian reached down, his fingers closing around the cold steel of the fallen revolver.
He held the weapon in his palm, feeling its weight, the silence of the room hanging on his next breath.
Sophie watched him from the edge of the dais, her heart pounding against her ribs, but she did not shout or plead.
She simply looked at Adrian, holding his gaze with the steady, quiet faith that had carried them out of the basement tunnel.
Adrian looked from Sophie back to Julian.
With a slow, deliberate movement, Adrian flipped the revolver in his hand and emptied the cylinder onto the wooden stage.
Five brass cartridges clattered across the floorboards, rolling to a stop against the Mayor’s shoes.
Adrian tossed the empty gun aside with complete disgust.
"I'm not going to kill you, Julian."
"Because killing you would let you escape the shame."
"You are going to spend the next forty years in a federal penitentiary in Florence, Colorado."
"You will wear an orange jumpsuit, eat off a plastic tray, and watch the Russo shipping lines operate without a single cent of your blood money."
Two federal marshals rushed up the stage steps, pushing Adrian back gently as they forced Julian onto his stomach and secured heavy steel cuffs around his wrists.
Julian thrashed against the floor, screaming curses and obscenities as the marshals hauled him to his feet.
"Eleanor! Tell them to let me go!" Julian shrieked, his face red and tears of humiliation streaming down his cheeks.
"I'm your grandson!"
Eleanor turned her back on him, walking toward the edge of the stage with her head held high.
"My grandson died thirty years ago when he decided that money was more sacred than blood," Eleanor said without looking back.
The federal marshals dragged Julian down the center aisle, past the flashing cameras of the press corps, out through the brass doors into the waiting police vans.
Officer Reeves walked up to the podium, unpinning his tarnished silver badge from his uniform shirt.
He placed the badge onto the podium in front of Commissioner Briggs, who sat trembling in his chair.
"That badge belonged to an honest officer named Marcus Bennett," Reeves said, his voice cold and steady.
"The state attorney general is waiting outside with a grand jury indictment for your office, Commissioner."
"I suggest you call your lawyer before they tow your city cruiser."
Reeves turned on his heel and walked toward Sophie and Adrian, offering them a crisp, respectful nod.
Adrian stood beside Sophie on the edge of the stage, the adrenaline finally draining from his veins, leaving him swaying slightly from exhaustion.
Sophie stepped close, looping her arm gently around his uninjured side to steady him before he could fall.
Adrian looked down at her, a faint, genuine smile touching his lips for the first time since she had found him behind the laundry shelves.
"You're still holding me up, Sophie Miller," he murmured.
May you like
"Someone has to keep you from falling on your face, Mr. Russo," Sophie replied softly, her eyes shining with unshed tears of relief.
"It's in my contract."
