Chapter 17 - Sins of the Mother
The heavy wooden doors of the cathedral slammed shut behind Harper, echoing like a gunshot through the empty, rotting sanctuary.
She stopped ten feet away from the altar, her clothes soaked with freezing rain and mud, her fists clenched tightly at her sides.
Eleanor took a long, elegant drag from her cigarette, looking Harper up and down with clinical, unfeeling eyes.
She noted aloud that Harper had inherited her resilience, surviving the golden cage and escaping Rossi's fortress completely undetected.
Harper's voice shook with raw, unadulterated fury as she asked her mother if a single day of her childhood had actually been real.
Eleanor stood up from the pew, smoothing the creases of her expensive coat.
She explained flawlessly that the love she showed Harper was real, but in their world, love was simply a tool used to forge a weapon.
She confessed that she had faked her illness for three years, waiting patiently for Vincent Rossi to show a moment of weakness.
The night Vincent left that massive tip at the Brass Rail, Eleanor knew he had finally found a vulnerability.
She had intentionally orchestrated Harper's kidnapping by the Marcano family, knowing Vincent would wage a bloody war to get her back.
With Marcano dead and Vincent's forces severely depleted, Eleanor was now perfectly positioned to crush the Rossi empire and reclaim her throne.
Harper stared at the monster wearing her mother's face, feeling physically sick to her stomach.
She demanded to know why Eleanor was willing to sacrifice her own flesh and blood just to rule a city of criminals.
Eleanor smiled coldly and stepped closer, gently tucking a wet strand of hair behind Harper's ear.
She whispered that power was the only absolute truth in this world, and she had intended for Harper to inherit the empire after Rossi was dead.
She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a heavy, loaded silver revolver.
She grabbed Harper's trembling hand and forced the cold grip of the weapon into her palm.
Eleanor told her that Vincent Rossi would inevitably come looking for her tonight.
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When he walked through those church doors, Eleanor commanded Harper to look him in the eyes and pull the trigger, or die alongside him.
Before Harper could drop the heavy gun, the stained-glass windows of the cathedral suddenly exploded inward.
