Treat You Better

Chapter Sixty: The Final Showdown.

I couldn't help a small relieved sigh though. He was fine, and his eyes immediately searched the room till they found mine before checking the rest of me to see if I was hurt. I nodded my head, I was fine too.

"Welcome, finally!" Franca stretched out her arms as she walked over to him. One of the guards walked forward with something (the camera?), and handed it to Franca before returning to their previous position.
"Believe me, it's very nice to have you back."

"Drop. The niceties." Angelo emphasized in a low voice, his eyes flashing with anger despite his carefully blank expression. "First, you're letting Violet go, you have me where you want me."

"Do I?" Franca laughed, simultaneously signalling for Hans to cut my bonds. But then the guards behind Angelo went on to shut the doors, sealing us into the room. "Well, she's loose, but no one's leaving till we reach a...civil agreement."

"Angelo." I said, hurrying out of my seat to reach him. "Do you have a plan?" I asked in a hurried whisper, grabbing his arm as I faced Franca and Hale.

"I need to know if you're alright." He said to me and I nodded even though I was terrified and anxious.

"I'm okay."

"Please try to stay that way, okay?"

I didn't even get to respond before Franca spoke up, "Now I have to laugh." She said, passing the camera to her son. "You brought a...knife to a gun fight, or is that the saying?"

Angelo shrugged, "Why would you think that is a weapon?"

"I'm almost offended that you'd think I'd underestimate you." Franca said pointedly and Hale let the camera slip from his fingers. The sound of it crashing into a billion bits made me jump while Angelo went stiff next to me.

Susan was going to miss that thing.

"Does that make you feel better?" Angelo asked after a beat.

"Search him." Franca ordered her men and went to lean against the great dining table, keeping a watchful eye as they thoroughly checked him for anything strange.

"So, I don't want to be the one to make outrageous demands, but seeing as I can blast a hole through your sweetheart's head this very moment, I think I can be excused."

"Name your price." Angelo said, adjusting his shirt sleeve.

"You will leave this town and never return, before which you'll cut of all connections to the Frances-Sullivan name."

What?

"Let's just say that you keeping your name a mystery and randomly revealing it one day is making the wrong people ask all sorts of questions. I can't have that."

Angelo gave her a long stare and I started to panic. He couldn't possibly be considering something so outrageous!
"What about Violet?" He asked, finally.

"Angelo, hold on a minute!" I exclaimed, trying to get him to look at me.

"Violet, her family and anything relating to her will have nothing to do with us for as long as they live." Franca rolled her eyes with a smile, and when she stretched her hand, Hans provided her with some papers. "I even took the time to include her in the contract, now I need you to step forward if you don't mind."

"But what about-? I thought that... " I stuttered, as he squeezed my hand before letting go, a gesture probably meant to be comforting, then going to Franca. "You can't sign that!"

But he was going to! And the look on Franca's face as he hovered the pen over the paper was the greediest one I'd ever seen on a person. Even Hale had to peek over as he started to sign...