Chapter 8 - The Shadow of the PastThe calm before the storm in the Chicago underworld never lasted long.
It was a freezing Friday evening when the phone on my desk buzzed with an encrypted alert. I was sitting in Victor’s private office, reviewing shipping logs, when I tapped the screen.
A single red flashing icon: BREACH.
Before I could stand up, the heavy oak doors blew open. Victor strode into the room, his face carved from granite, his overcoat swirling behind him. He wasn't alone. Two of his enforcers were dragging a man between them—a man whose face was bruised, bloody, and terrifyingly familiar.
My breath caught in my throat.
It was Julian.
Julian was the loan shark who had originally trapped me and Tommy with the exorbitant interest rates—the monster who had forced me into such desperate poverty that I had been driven to clean Victor’s estate in the first place.
"Elena, my sweet girl!" Julian choked out, blood dripping from his split lip as the enforcers shoved him to the floor at my feet. "Tell this lunatic to let me go! I’m just a businessman—!"
"Shut your mouth," Victor snapped, his voice like the crack of a whip. He drew his Sig Sauer, cocked it with a lethal motion, and pressed the barrel directly against Julian’s temple.
I stood up slowly from behind the desk, my hands trembling slightly as I looked down at the man who had nearly destroyed my family.
"How did he get past perimeter security?" I asked, my voice dangerously cold.
"He didn't," Victor replied, never taking his eyes off Julian. "He was waiting outside the medical clinic, trying to get a message to your brother. He thought he could use Tommy as leverage to extort the House of Russo."
Julian’s eyes widened in sheer, unadulterated terror as he realized who Victor Russo really was. "I—I didn't know! I swear to God, I didn't know she was working for you! Please, Mr. Russo, have mercy!"
Victor looked down at Julian with absolute disgust. "Mercy is a luxury I reserve for people who respect my boundaries. You threatened what belongs to me."
He slowly raised the gun, his finger tightening on the trigger.
"Wait," I said softly.
Victor paused, lowering the barrel an inch and looking over his shoulder at me. "You want to speak your own judgment, Elena?"
I walked slowly around the desk, my heels clicking sharply against the floor. I stopped right in front of Julian, looking down at the man who had terrified me for years. Now, cowering in the dust, he looked pathetic—nothing more than a miserable insect.
"You told me once, Julian, that some debts can never be paid," I said quietly.
"Elena, please... I’ll forgive the interest! I’ll give you money! Just let me walk away!" Julian sobbed, pawing at the hem of my pantsuit.
I stepped back, looking up at Victor.
"Don't waste a bullet on him," I said, my voice completely devoid of mercy. "Send him to the North Side docks. Let him work off his debt the hard way—loading cement until his back breaks. If he survives, he leaves Chicago forever. If he stops, feed him to the fishes."
A slow, devilish grin spread across Victor’s face. He lowered the gun completely and slipped it back into his holster.
"You see that?" Victor told the enforcers, gesturing to me with a wave of his hand. "That is how a Russo handles business. Drag him out of my sight."
As the enforcers hauled a screaming, begging Julian out of the room, Victor turned to me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me flush against his chest.
"You're becoming more ruthless than I am, Elena," he murmured, his lips brushing against my forehead.
May you like
"I learned from the master," I whispered, sliding my arms around his neck.
The past was buried. The enemies were gone. And the devil of Chicago had finally found his match.
