Chapter 10 - THE PRICE OF TELLING THE TRUTH
Roman made a decision that night.
He called a federal prosecutor.
Not a politician.
Not a judge who owed him favors.
A prosecutor who had spent six years investigating organized financial crime in New York.
Her name was Rebecca Shaw.
She arrived at Roman's office at midnight.
“You understand what you're offering?” she asked.
Roman placed three encrypted drives on the table.
“Every legitimate and illegitimate financial record I can access.”
“And in exchange?”
“Protection for the witnesses.”
Rebecca studied him.
“That's all?”
“No immunity for me.”
Tessa looked at Roman.
He hadn't told her that part.
Rebecca leaned forward.
“You could go to prison.”
“I know.”
“For a long time.”
“I know.”
“Your businesses could collapse.”
“The ones built on criminal activity should.”
Rebecca glanced at Tessa.
“And you trust this man?”
Tessa thought about everything she'd learned.
Roman's secrets.
His failures.
His guilt.
His willingness to surrender the empire that had defined his life.
“I don't know,” she admitted.
Roman didn't look away.
Rebecca nodded.
“That's probably the most sensible answer I've heard tonight.”
She accepted the drives.
But before she left, Daniel received a message.
A video.
It showed Owen Arden sitting in a bare room.
Beside him was Tessa's father.
Alive.
Older.
Terrified.
A distorted voice spoke from behind the camera.
“Roman Bellamy has twenty-four hours to surrender the original Project Seventeen ledger.”
The camera moved closer to Tessa's father.
He looked directly into the lens.
“Tessa,” he whispered, “I'm sorry.”
Then someone struck him.
The screen went black.
Tessa screamed.
Roman caught her before she fell.
For a moment she clung to him.
Not because she trusted him completely.
Because he was there.
Because she was exhausted.
Because sometimes grief made strangers feel less distant than family.
Roman held her without speaking.
When she finally stepped away, his expression was gentle.
“I'll help bring him home.”
She looked into his eyes.
“And if you can't?”
“Then I'll tell you the truth.”
May you like
Tessa nodded.
That was the first promise from him she believed.
