Chapter 13 - THE BALLROOM
Police told Nathaniel not to go.
He went.
This time, I did too.
He argued.
I refused.
“This started when Lily stood in that ballroom.”
“Elena.”
“Victor thinks I’m leverage.”
“That is exactly why you shouldn’t be there.”
“And if I hide, he’ll use someone else.”
Nathaniel looked furious.
“Your life is not a bargaining chip.”
“Neither is yours.”
Adrian finally said:
“She’s going.”
Nathaniel glared at him.
Adrian shrugged.
“You haven’t learned yet that she doesn’t scare easily?”
“I scare constantly,” I said.
Nathaniel looked at me.
“Then why do you keep doing this?”
“Because courage isn’t the absence of fear.”
I thought about Lily.
“It’s deciding fear doesn’t get the final vote.”
Police established a perimeter.
Nathaniel entered first.
I remained near the west hall with tactical officers.
Victor stood in the ballroom.
Thomas sat tied near the champagne table.
The same place where Vanessa had grabbed Lily.
Victor almost seemed amused by the symmetry.
Nathaniel stopped.
“Let him go.”
Victor smiled.
“You sound like your father.”
“That isn’t a compliment coming from you.”
Victor’s smile vanished.
“You think Charles was some hero?”
“No.”
That surprised Victor.
Nathaniel continued.
“He was complicated.”
Victor frowned.
“He betrayed me.”
“Maybe.”
“He stole my future.”
“No.”
Nathaniel took another step.
“You built your entire life around blaming a dead man.”
Victor raised the detonator.
“Careful.”
Nathaniel stopped.
“You want the company?”
“I wanted justice.”
“You murdered Richard.”
Victor’s face changed.
“He was a thief.”
“So were you.”
“He betrayed me.”
“You mean he became you.”
Victor’s hand trembled.
Thomas watched him.
“Victor.”
“Quiet.”
Thomas continued.
“You’re not angry Charles betrayed you.”
Victor turned.
“I said quiet.”
“You’re angry he became the man everyone followed.”
Victor stepped toward him.
“That company was mine.”
Thomas shook his head.
“No. That was always your disease.”
Victor hit him.
Nathaniel moved.
Victor raised the detonator.
I could see tactical officers repositioning.
Then Victor noticed me.
“Elena.”
Nathaniel turned sharply.
I stepped into the doorway.
Victor laughed.
“Of course.”
Nathaniel whispered, “No.”
Victor pointed at me.
“You see?”
He looked almost delighted.
“Charles had Eleanor. You have her.”
Nathaniel said, “Leave Elena out of this.”
Victor smiled.
“That protective instinct. Exactly like your father.”
I walked forward.
“Victor.”
Nathaniel looked at me.
“Stop.”
I ignored him.
Victor watched me.
“You threatened my daughter.”
“And yet you came.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you think people without power are weak.”
His smile faded.
“You thought Richard’s workers wouldn’t matter.”
Another step.
“You thought Vanessa’s insecurity made her easy to control.”
Another.
“You thought Nathaniel’s grief made him predictable.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“And you thought a maid would be afraid to stand in front of you.”
I stopped.
“You were wrong every time.”
Victor’s hand tightened on the detonator.
“You think this is a movie?”
“No.”
I looked at the red blinking lights.
“I think you’re bluffing.”
Nathaniel stared at me.
Victor laughed.
“Why?”
“Because you’re standing ten feet from the explosives.”
Silence.
“You want to win.”
I continued.
“You don’t want to die.”
Victor’s face changed.
That was all tactical officers needed.
A shot cracked.
The detonator flew from Victor’s hand.
Nathaniel tackled him.
Police stormed the room.
I ran to Thomas.
Officers cut him free.
Bomb technicians rushed toward the champagne table.
Then one shouted:
“Everybody out!”
We ran.
Outside, Nathaniel grabbed my shoulders.
“What were you thinking?”
“I was right.”
“You didn’t know that!”
“No.”
His face twisted with anger and fear.
“You could have died.”
“So could you.”
“That isn’t the same.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
He stopped.
The answer stood between us.
Because he loved me.
He hadn’t said it.
Neither had I.
Then an explosion shattered windows behind us.
The ballroom erupted in flame.
Nathaniel pulled me down.
Glass rained across the lawn.
For several seconds, all I heard was ringing.
Then Lily screamed somewhere behind the police line.
“Mommy!”
I stood.
Alive.
Nathaniel was alive.
Thomas alive.
Victor was being dragged across the lawn in handcuffs.
The ballroom burned.
And as firefighters arrived, Nathaniel looked at the house his father had built.
Then whispered:
May you like
“Maybe it’s time to stop preserving everything just because it’s old.”
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