V Is for Vengeance

came here because I want to be straight with you whatever the cost.”
    “Well, aren’t you the noble one?”
    “Nora. God’s truth. I never laid a hand on your boy. I’m not excusing myself. He died because of me. I’m responsible, but not through any intention on my part. I made an offhand remark and Cappi took it for something else. He’s vicious and he has no impulse control. He’s been that way since he was a kid. I should have had him taken out. I couldn’t bring myself to do it, but I should have done it anyway. I didn’t understand how dangerous he was.”
    “Yes, you did. You knew perfectly well, but you looked the other way.”
    “I don’t want to argue with you. That’s not why I’m here. You’re right. Whatever you say, I accept. I should have turned him in two years ago when I found out he threw Phillip off that roof. I thought his being my brother mattered more than justice. I was wrong.”
    “You could have turned him in yesterday. I might have believed in your sincerity if you’d done that.”
    “I’ll make it right. I’ll talk to the DA and tell him everything.”
    “Who gives a shit what you do now? He’s still your brother. I don’t see why you should suddenly see your way clear to doing what you should have done long before now.”
    “Listen to me. Listen. All bets are off. Cappi sold me out to the cops and that’s the end of anything I owe him.”
    “Are you hearing yourself? You’re saying if he’d been loyal, you’d have gone on protecting him. So what if he killed a few people, you’d have shielded him as long as there was some benefit to you.”
    “I carried him because Pop would’ve died if anything happened to him. I thought if I looked after him, my old man would eventually bring me in out of the cold.”
    “Oh, you’re out in the cold, all right.”
    “Fine. I’m out. I won’t fight you on this. As long as we’re putting our cards on the table, there’s something else. You do whatever you have to do, but fold this into the equation while you’re at it. Phillip was a good kid, but he was off track. He told me he gambled all through college. He bragged he made money at it, but that was bullshit. All poker players say that. It’s a distortion . . . filtering out the losses and exaggerating the wins. Did you ever stop and calculate how much you and Channing paid out to cover his debts? You’d be paying to this day because he would never have given it up. He couldn’t. That was his fix . . . how he took care of whatever pain and anxiety he felt.”
    “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    “Yes, I do. I see guys like him all day long. I lend them money so they can try to bail themselves out of whatever hole they’ve dug. You and Channing were always going to be picking up after him. He was weak.”
    “How dare you criticize my son! He was a child ! Twenty-three years old.”
    “Nora, he had big problems. He was up and down, immature, grandiose. Which was fine as long as he lived in the bubble he created for himself, but in the real world, he was floundering.”
    “How do you know he wouldn’t have straightened out? He lost any chance he had. He lost his life and for what?”
    “Maybe he would have straightened up. I don’t know that and neither do you. He didn’t deserve to die. What happened to him was my fault and I don’t deny the part I played. I know you can’t forgive me. I’m not asking you to. I just don’t want you to pretty up who Phillip was and what he did. I’m sorry he died. I mean that. I know how much he meant to you and I’m sorry.”
    “Anything else?” she asked, her tone flat.
    Dante took a deep breath. “As long as I’m being honest, I might as well give you the rest. I set him up. I meant to teach him a lesson, something Tripp might have done if he’d lived.”
    “A lesson? What the hell are you talking about?”
    “I put a woman at his table, one of my employees. Georgia’s a world-class poker player. I knew he’d go down in flames if he came up against her. I wanted him to hit rock bottom so he’d see the error of his ways. He was never going to figure it out if he had people coming to his rescue. That was truly my intent, to put him back on the straight and narrow.”
    She started to close the door.
    He put a hand out, stopping her. “Listen to me. My brother killed your son. Phillip didn’t kill himself. His death had nothing to do with you. Blame me, if it helps. You’ve been through