Chapter 15 - THE PUBLIC ENEMY
By evening, Vincent Corvino’s face was on every major news channel.
Old photographs.
Suits.
Galas.
Construction sites.
Union dinners.
Then newer images.
Wheelchair.
Hospital entrance.
Burning mansion.
The visual narrative almost wrote itself.
Powerful heir becomes disabled.
Secret empire awakens.
Family war erupts.
Vincent watched in silence.
Dominic turned the television off.
“That isn’t helping.”
Vincent looked at the black screen.
“He’s good.”
“Adrian?”
“Yes.”
“He made himself credible first.”
“Doctor.”
“Federal witness.”
“Dead father.”
“Corrupt family.”
“Then he placed me at the center.”
Lauren looked sick.
“He always hated you.”
“You neglected to mention that.”
“I didn’t know how far it went.”
Vincent laughed bitterly.
“That sentence should be engraved on our wedding invitations.”
Lauren absorbed the hit.
She deserved some of it.
Maybe not all.
Tessa entered with Vincent’s medication.
He took it without arguing.
That alone made her suspicious.
“What are you planning?”
He raised an eyebrow.
“You take medication voluntarily only when your brain is somewhere dangerous.”
Dominic looked impressed.
“You’ve trained him.”
“Nobody trains him.”
she said.
Vincent looked toward Lauren.
“Your brother says he worked for the government for six years.”
“He may have.”
“You didn’t know?”
“We were separated for long periods.”
“He told me he was investigating privately.”
Matteo leaned against the wall.
“Federal task forces don’t usually kidnap people.”
“No.”
Vincent said.
“Which means either Adrian went rogue or the operation did.”
Marco entered.
“I found Thomas.”
“Where?”
“Cook County federal building.”
Lauren stood.
“What?”
“He surrendered.”
Vincent laughed once.
Perfect.
Thomas confesses.
Adrian cooperates.
All roads point to Vincent.
“What is he saying?”
Marco answered.
“That you ordered the shooting.”
Lauren stared.
“No.”
Marco continued.
“He says the bullet was staged to create sympathy and activate Black Crown.”
Dominic cursed.
Vincent’s face went still.
Thomas had reversed everything.
“Why?”
Lauren whispered.
Vincent knew.
“To protect Adrian.”
She looked at him.
“He’d sacrifice you?”
Vincent almost smiled.
“Parents do strange things for children.”
Thomas had lost years with his son.
Adrian had built his identity around avenging him.
Now Thomas would burn Vincent to preserve whatever mission Adrian believed in.
“Can we prove Thomas shot me?”
Tessa asked.
Marco shook his head.
“Rifle disappeared after Matteo’s facility breach.”
Vincent looked at Matteo.
Matteo swore.
“Calder.”
“Maybe.”
Vincent said.
Again.
Too easy.
Dominic paced.
“So what now?”
Vincent wheeled toward the window.
“We stop defending ourselves.”
Lauren frowned.
“That sounds dangerous.”
“Defensive people respond to accusations.”
“Guilty people hide.”
“I’m doing neither.”
“What are you doing?”
Vincent looked back.
“Telling the truth.”
Dominic laughed.
“That’ll be new for the family.”
Vincent ignored him.
He contacted the same reporter who broke the archive story.
Her name was Rachel Sloan.
Investigative journalist.
Persistent.
Unimpressed by wealth.
Vincent liked her immediately for the same reason he liked Tessa.
She asked what he wanted.
“An interview.”
“When?”
“Now.”
“On camera?”
“Yes.”
Lauren looked horrified.
“Vincent.”
He held up a hand.
Rachel asked, “Any conditions?”
“No.”
That surprised everyone.
“None?”
“No questions in advance.”
“No edits.”
“Live.”
Rachel paused.
“You realize federal agents may use your statements.”
“Yes.”
“Your lawyers will hate this.”
“My lawyers already hate me.”
Rachel agreed.
“One hour.”
The interview took place in a plain hotel conference room.
No Corvino symbols.
No expensive backdrop.
Vincent sat in his wheelchair.
Tessa adjusted the back cushion before cameras began.
He glanced at her.
“Embarrassing.”
“You’ll survive.”
“I’m supposed to look intimidating.”
“You need lumbar support.”
Rachel sat opposite him.
The red light came on.
She began immediately.
“Did you order your own shooting?”
“No.”
“Did your father build Black Crown?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know about it?”
“Not until yesterday.”
“Do you expect viewers to believe the head of the Corvino family knew nothing about a financial surveillance network beneath his own properties?”
“No.”
Rachel paused.
That answer surprised her.
Vincent continued.
“They shouldn’t believe me because of my name.”
“They should examine evidence.”
“Your family benefited from corruption.”
“Yes.”
“Did you?”
Vincent thought.
“Yes.”
Lauren’s face tightened behind the camera.
Rachel leaned forward.
“Explain.”
“I inherited companies built partly through relationships my father created.”
“Some legal.”
“Some unethical.”
“Some apparently criminal.”
“I benefited from things I did not question because questioning them would have threatened a life I enjoyed.”
Rachel studied him.
“Are you confessing to crimes?”
“I’m confessing to comfort.”
The interview became quiet.
Vincent continued.
“Being shot changed what I could physically do.”
“But the worse thing was discovering how much of my identity depended on people fearing me.”
Rachel asked, “And now?”
“Now I want the truth about who tried to kill my family.”
“Even if that truth destroys the Corvino organization?”
Vincent looked directly into the camera.
“Yes.”
The clip spread immediately.
Not because it cleared him.
Because powerful men rarely admitted benefiting from systems they had not examined.
Public opinion did not turn.
But certainty fractured.
That was enough.
Then Rachel asked the question that changed everything.
“Why would Adrian Hayes accuse you?”
Vincent looked toward Lauren.
Then back.
“Because his father and mine built Black Crown together.”
Rachel froze.
“That has never been reported.”
“It will be.”
“Thomas Hayes is cooperating federally.”
“Yes.”
“And Adrian says Thomas was murdered by Salvatore Corvino.”
“Thomas Hayes is alive.”
The room erupted.
Rachel stared.
Vincent continued.
“He surrendered today.”
Rachel’s producer began shouting behind the camera.
Phones vibrated everywhere.
Adrian’s story had just collapsed publicly.
Not completely.
But enough.
After the interview, Vincent’s phone rang.
Adrian.
Vincent answered.
“You’re angry.”
he said.
Adrian’s voice was quiet.
“You used my father.”
“He used me first.”
“You have no idea what you’ve done.”
“That phrase is popular today.”
Adrian breathed.
Then said, “Ask Tessa about Boston.”
Vincent’s eyes moved to her.
She froze.
“What about Boston?”
Adrian laughed softly.
“She never told you?”
Vincent looked at Tessa.
Her face had lost color.
“Tessa.”
She said nothing.
Adrian continued.
“Four months before she became your caregiver, Tessa Morgan worked at Massachusetts General Hospital.”
Vincent’s chest tightened.
“That’s where you were the night of my shooting.”
“Yes.”
Adrian said.
“And guess who helped me access Vincent’s medical records?”
Vincent stared at Tessa.
She whispered, “I can explain.”
Vincent closed his eyes.
Of course she could.
May you like
Everyone always could.
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