Chapter 15 - Victor Romano’s Ledger
That night Victor took Lena somewhere unexpected.
A church.
St. Anthony’s in Brooklyn stood between a bakery and an auto shop.
The sanctuary was empty.
Victor sat in the last pew.
Lena remained standing.
“You pray?”
“Sometimes.”
“You don’t seem like someone who asks permission from God.”
Victor gave her a dry look.
“That may be the problem.”
He had asked her there because reporters surrounded the hotel.
But Lena suspected another reason.
The Grandeur belonged to Thomas’s past.
The church belonged to Victor’s.
“My mother brought us here,” he said.
“Us?”
“My brother and me.”
“You have a brother?”
“Had.”
Lena waited.
Victor did not elaborate.
Instead he pulled a thin notebook from his coat.
“What’s that?”
“My ledger.”
She frowned.
“Financial?”
“No.”
He opened it.
Names filled the pages.
Some Lena recognized from newspapers.
Others meant nothing.
“People who owe you money?”
“People I owe.”
She looked at him.
Victor touched one entry.
Thomas Hart.
Lena’s breath caught.
“When did you write his name?”
“Last night.”
“That’s convenient.”
“Yes.”
He appreciated her refusal to sentimentalize him.
Victor continued.
“My father kept a ledger of favors. Who owed him. What they owed. When to collect.”
“And yours?”
“I began the opposite after he died.”
“Why?”
“Because I discovered everyone remembered what my father did to them even when he considered the matter finished.”
Lena sat beside him.
“What do you owe my father?”
Victor stared toward the altar.
“A hearing.”
“You can’t give him one.”
“No.”
“A job?”
“No.”
“A reputation?”
“Maybe.”
She looked at him.
“What are you planning?”
“To release the original investigation.”
“Publicly?”
“Yes.”
“Your company will look incompetent.”
“It was.”
“Your name will be on the termination.”
“I signed it.”
“Shareholders could sue.”
“Yes.”
Lena studied him.
“Why?”
Victor closed the notebook.
“Because I spent my life believing admitting weakness invites attack.”
“And now?”
“Leon knows every weakness anyway.”
Lena laughed softly.
“Fair.”
Victor’s face grew serious.
“I also intend to give federal investigators Thomas’s ledger.”
Lena stared.
“That could expose your company.”
“Yes.”
“Your criminal operations too.”
“Some.”
“What happens to you?”
Victor was silent.
That frightened her more than if he lied.
“Your lawyer told you not to.”
“My lawyer used more colorful language.”
Lena stood.
“You don’t get to destroy yourself to apologize to my father.”
Victor looked up.
“That isn’t what I’m doing.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“Choosing what survives me.”
The sentence hung between them.
Victor explained.
Leon’s theft had been possible because Romano Holdings mixed legitimate companies with illegal cash flows.
Money crossed between businesses without clear oversight.
No independent board.
No meaningful internal audit.
No one challenged Victor because everyone feared him.
That structure had created Leon.
Victor intended to dismantle it.
Sell certain holdings.
Close others.
Bring outside compliance officers into the legitimate businesses.
“And the illegal ones?” Lena asked.
Victor smiled slightly.
“You ask dangerous questions.”
“I punched a mafia boss yesterday. My sense of danger may be broken.”
He looked almost amused.
Then his expression softened.
“I’m ending what I can.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No.”
“At least you know.”
He stood.
As they walked toward the exit, Lena noticed one more name in his notebook.
Clara Whitmore.
Next to it Victor had written:
TRUST GIVEN WITHOUT TRUTH.
Below that:
MY FAILURE TOO.
Lena stopped.
“You blame yourself for her betrayal?”
“No.”
“Looks like it.”
“I blame myself for building relationships where people believe truth is more dangerous than deception.”
Lena considered that.
Outside, headlights swept across the church steps.
A black sedan pulled up.
Dmitri stepped out quickly.
“Victor.”
Something in his voice erased the calm.
“What happened?”
“The board called an emergency vote.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“Without me?”
Dmitri nodded.
“Four directors voted to suspend you as chief executive pending investigation into the poisoning and financial misconduct.”
Lena felt cold.
Leon’s plan had survived his disappearance.
Victor asked, “Who becomes interim CEO?”
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Dmitri looked furious.
“Leon Mercer.”
