Chapter 16 - THE PRICE OF FORGIVENESSDeclan met Victor in a secure interview room under federal supervision.
The older man looked smaller without his tailored suit and expensive watch. Yet his eyes remained sharp.
“You came,” Victor said.
“Speak.”
Victor folded his hands.
“Arthur told you he arrived after your father was shot.”
“Yes.”
“He lied.”
Declan felt his stomach tighten.
“What are you saying?”
“Arthur was there before the shooting. He knew your father intended to confront me. He helped arrange the meeting.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed your father was preparing to surrender control of the organization. Arthur thought he could negotiate a better arrangement for himself.”
Declan stared at him.
“Did Arthur shoot my father?”
“No.”
“Then what did he do?”
Victor leaned back.
“He brought me to the warehouse. He left us alone. When he returned, your father was dying.”
Declan's hands curled into fists.
“You expect me to believe you?”
“No. I expect you to examine the evidence.”
Victor slid a document across the table.
It was a report from the night of the murder. Arthur's vehicle had been recorded entering the warehouse thirty minutes before the shooting and leaving four minutes afterward.
The timing matched the recording.
Declan studied the report.
“Why tell me this now?”
“Because Arthur has spent twenty years pretending to be your savior. I want you to understand that loyalty was never his strongest quality.”
Declan rose.
“You don't get to lecture me about loyalty.”
Victor's expression hardened.
“Perhaps not. But I can tell you something else.”
Declan paused.
“Your father was planning to dismantle the criminal side of the empire. He wanted you to inherit the legitimate businesses and live a different life.”
“Why didn't he tell me?”
“Because he believed you were too young. He planned to explain everything after his meeting with me.”
Victor smiled without humor.
“Arthur knew. He feared losing his position. That's why he hesitated when your father asked him to stand beside him.”
Declan left without responding.
Arthur was recovering at a private medical facility under guard.
When Declan confronted him, Arthur did not deny the evidence.
“I was afraid,” Arthur said.
“You brought Victor to my father.”
“I believed they would negotiate.”
“You left him alone with a man you knew was dangerous.”
Arthur looked down.
“Yes.”
Declan felt years of grief and anger rise inside him.
“You told me you saved my life.”
“I did.”
“And you let me believe you had done nothing wrong.”
“I know.”
“Why should I believe anything you say now?”
Arthur's voice cracked.
“Because I have no excuse left.”
For a long moment, Declan said nothing.
Then he asked, “Did you ever love my father?”
Arthur looked at him with tears in his eyes.
“Yes.”
“Then why?”
“Because I loved the empire more than I loved the man who built it.”
The answer was devastating in its simplicity.
Declan walked to the window.
He could order Arthur imprisoned. He could cut him off from every resource. He could spend the rest of his life hating him.
But none of those choices would bring his father back.
“You will testify,” Declan said. “You will tell the truth about everything. No more protection. No more lies.”
Arthur nodded.
“And after that?”
“After that, you will live with what you did.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
“I deserve that.”
Declan left the facility and returned to the mansion.
Clary was waiting in the garden.
“How did it go?”
“He admitted what he did.”
“Can you forgive him?”
Declan looked at the trees.
“I don't know.”
“You don't have to decide today.”
He turned toward her.
“I used to think forgiveness meant pretending the damage didn't matter.”
“And now?”
“Now I think it means refusing to let the damage decide who I become.”
Clary smiled gently.
He took her hand.
“I love you,” he said.
The words came without strategy or hesitation.
Clary's eyes filled with tears.
“I love you too.”
He kissed her softly, and for the first time, neither of them was afraid of what the other might demand.
Then Declan's phone rang.
The federal investigator had discovered that the criminal operation connected to Victor extended beyond the Knox family.
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Several powerful families had financed it.
And one of them was preparing to destroy the evidence before the trial began.
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