Chapter 6 - The Night Manhattan Almost Burned
Alessio's answer was immediate.
“No.”
Nari stood in his office the following afternoon.
“That's not a decision you make.”
“When a Corsican syndicate leader asks one of my employees to meet alone? Yes, it is.”
“Employee.”
“Yes.”
“Not prisoner.”
“Correct.”
“Then I’m going.”
“No.”
She stared at him.
He stared back.
Marco watched from the doorway.
“This feels private,” Marco said.
“Leave,” they both answered.
Marco left.
Nari placed Navarro's message on the desk.
“He helped stop the bomb.”
“He also ordered my warehouse burned two weeks ago.”
“Before I corrected the misunderstanding.”
“He still ordered it.”
“People make mistakes.”
Alessio looked incredulous.
“You have a very generous definition of mistake.”
“So do you.”
That landed.
He leaned back.
“Why do you want to go?”
“Because he asked.”
“Terrible reason.”
“Because Victor's arrest created a vacuum.”
Alessio's expression changed.
Nari continued.
“Navarro knows the Bellandis were working with Victor. He needs to know what happens next.”
“That conversation is with me.”
“He asked for me.”
“Which is exactly why I don't like it.”
Nari studied him.
“This isn't about safety.”
“Yes, it is.”
“No.”
She understood suddenly.
“You're afraid he'll recruit me.”
Alessio said nothing.
She almost laughed.
“You think I'm going to join a French crime syndicate?”
“You joined mine.”
“I work for a corporation.”
“That's adorable.”
“Alessio.”
He stood.
“You walk into rooms and make people listen. You don't understand what that's worth.”
“Fourteen dollars an hour originally.”
“Exactly.”
He came around the desk.
“People will try to own that.”
“You did.”
His expression tightened.
“No.”
“You offered money.”
“For work.”
“You paid my rent.”
“For security failure.”
“You assigned guards.”
“Because someone threatened you.”
“Every good thing can become control if you don't know when to stop.”
That silenced him.
Nari softened.
“I'll meet Navarro.”
He looked away.
“Marco waits outside.”
“No.”
“Nari.”
“Across the street.”
“Half a block.”
She smiled.
“Progress.”
The meeting took place in a small French restaurant before opening hours.
Navarro sat alone.
No weapons visible.
No lieutenants.
Nari entered.
He rose.
“You came.”
“In daylight.”
“You are cautious.”
“I work with Alessio.”
Navarro smiled.
They spoke French.
“You saved my men from a foolish war.”
“You almost started the foolish war.”
He accepted the correction.
“I underestimated you.”
“Everybody does.”
“That will stop.”
“I hope not.”
Navarro looked curious.
“Underestimation is useful.”
He laughed.
Then became serious.
“Victor's removal creates problems.”
“For you?”
“For everyone.”
He explained.
The Bellandis had expected control of several routes.
Now they had lost Victor and angered both Franks and Navarro.
“They will retaliate.”
“How?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why call me?”
Navarro slid an envelope across the table.
Nari did not touch it.
“What is that?”
“An offer.”
She sighed.
“Alessio was right.”
Navarro smiled.
“You told him?”
“He guessed.”
“The man is possessive.”
“He's paranoid.”
“Same coat. Different weather.”
Nari almost laughed.
“I don't want your offer.”
“You haven't opened it.”
“I don't need to.”
“Two hundred thousand a year.”
“No.”
“Three.”
“No.”
“Choose your salary.”
Nari leaned forward.
“You're still misunderstanding me.”
Navarro's smile faded.
“I did not speak because Alessio paid me.”
“You speak because you enjoy power.”
“No.”
She remembered the fourteen warehouse workers.
The injured woman.
The terrified interpreter dragged from the room.
“I speak because sometimes the person who understands has a responsibility to say something.”
Navarro considered her.
“That belief will get you killed.”
“Maybe.”
“Or powerful.”
“I’m not interested.”
“Everyone is interested.”
Nari stood.
“Then you haven't met enough people.”
She turned toward the door.
Navarro stopped her.
“The Bellandis are targeting Franks tonight.”
Nari froze.
“What?”
“I received word thirty minutes ago.”
“Why didn't you start with that?”
“I wanted to know who you were.”
“Where?”
“Franks Tower.”
Her blood turned cold.
“When?”
“Before midnight.”
Nari checked the time.
10:41 p.m.
She ran.
Marco was already starting the car when she reached the curb.
“Tower. Now.”
“What happened?”
“Bellandis.”
He called Alessio.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
At Franks Tower, the seventy-second floor was hosting a board meeting.
More than forty people.
Executives.
Attorneys.
Assistants.
Security.
If someone wanted revenge, it was a perfect target.
Nari's phone rang.
Alessio.
“Where are you?”
“Coming back. Get everyone out.”
“Why?”
“Bellandis.”
Silence.
“How do you know?”
“Navarro.”
“Nari—”
“Argue later. Evacuate now.”
The fire alarm sounded through her phone.
Then the line died.
Marco accelerated.
Smoke was visible before they reached the building.
Not much.
Thin gray smoke rising from a lower service level.
Firefighters had not arrived yet.
People streamed into the street.
Nari searched faces.
No Alessio.
“No,” she whispered.
She pushed through the crowd.
Marco grabbed her.
“You're not going in.”
“He's inside.”
“So are security teams.”
Nari looked at the building.
Then at Marco.
“What floor?”
“Seventy-two.”
She ran.
“Nari!”
The lobby was chaos.
Emergency lights.
Smoke.
Sprinklers.
Elevators disabled.
She took the stairs.
By floor fifteen, her lungs burned.
Floor twenty-eight, her legs shook.
Floor forty-one, she wanted to stop.
She kept moving.
At floor sixty, Marco caught her.
“You are insane.”
“You followed.”
“My job is keeping you alive.”
“You're doing badly.”
At seventy-two, smoke filled the corridor.
The conference-room doors stood open.
People had escaped.
“Alessio!”
No answer.
Then a crash.
His office.
They found him pinned behind a fallen structural panel.
A security officer lay unconscious nearby.
Nari dropped beside Alessio.
“You're alive.”
He coughed.
“Disappointed?”
“Extremely.”
Marco lifted the panel.
Nari helped pull Alessio free.
“Bomb?”
“Incendiary device in maintenance.”
“Can you walk?”
“Yes.”
He stood.
Nearly fell.
Nari caught him.
“Convincing.”
They moved toward the stairwell.
Then Alessio stopped.
“What?”
“Conference room.”
“Empty.”
“No.”
He pointed.
A faint pounding came from a storage area.
Three employees trapped behind a jammed door.
Smoke thickened.
Nari ran toward them.
Alessio cursed and followed.
The lock mechanism was electronic.
Dead.
Marco tried kicking it.
Nothing.
Nari remembered the building plans she had translated for a German contractor two weeks earlier.
“Mechanical release is behind the wall panel.”
“Which one?”
She pointed.
Marco ripped it open.
The door released.
Three employees stumbled out.
They descended.
Seventy floors.
Slowly.
Painfully.
By the time they reached the street, firefighters had surrounded the building.
Nari collapsed onto the curb.
Alessio sat beside her.
His white shirt was gray with smoke.
His expensive suit torn.
For several minutes they said nothing.
Then he looked at her.
“You went back into a burning building.”
“So did you.”
“I was already inside.”
“Details.”
“You could have died.”
“So could you.”
His jaw tightened.
“Nari.”
She turned.
For once, he had no clever reply.
No order.
No threat.
Only fear.
“You matter to me,” he said.
The words were quiet.
Not romantic.
Not possessive.
Something deeper than either.
Nari looked at him.
“You matter to me too.”
The city flashed red and blue around them.
He nodded once.
That was enough.
By morning, federal investigators linked the fire to Bellandi associates.
Arrests followed.
Navarro provided information anonymously.
Alessio provided more openly.
That surprised everyone.
Especially Nari.
“What are you doing?” she asked days later.
He sat behind his desk in a temporary office.
“Changing.”
“You hate paperwork that much?”
“I've spent my life building things that require violence to protect.”
“And?”
“And I'm tired.”
Nari stared.
Alessio continued.
“Legitimate shipping already makes more money than the other operations.”
“So close the other operations.”
“It's not that easy.”
“No.”
She sat across from him.
“But neither was getting fifteen people out of a warehouse.”
He smiled.
“What happens if I do?”
“You lose enemies.”
“I may gain others.”
“You gain sleep.”
“I don't sleep.”
“Exactly.”
He looked out the window.
For the first time, Nari saw a man imagining a different life.
Then he turned.
“I need someone to negotiate the transition.”
She laughed.
“No.”
“I haven't made the offer.”
“I know you.”
“Four hundred thousand.”
“No.”
“Five.”
“No.”
“A title.”
“No.”
“Your own department.”
Nari paused.
He noticed.
“What department?”
Alessio smiled.
“Now we're negotiating.”
She hated him a little for that.
But she sat back down.
Because maybe the most important translation Nari would ever make was not between French and English.
May you like
Maybe it was translating one man's old life into something that could survive daylight.
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