Chapter 3 - We reached my apartment in eleven minutes.Dominic's driver broke every traffic law in the city.
I barely noticed.
My mother was supposed to be at the dialysis center until ten.
She should have been home by then.
The building looked normal from the street.
That was the worst part.
No police.
No broken windows.
No screaming.
Just rain sliding down glass.
Dominic stepped out first.
Three men followed.
I hated how quickly they moved.
They checked corners.
Doors.
Vehicles.
Like they had done this a thousand times.
I ran upstairs.
My front door was locked.
I opened it.
Everything looked exactly the way I remembered.
Except the television was on.
I hadn't left it on.
Dominic entered behind me.
His eyes moved through the apartment.
“Don't touch anything.”
Too late.
I had already seen the note.
It sat on the kitchen table.
A small white envelope.
My name written across the front.
I picked it up.
Dominic stopped me.
“Wait.”
He examined it.
No stamp.
No return address.
He opened it carefully.
Inside was a photograph.
My mother.
Leaving the dialysis center.
The picture had been taken that afternoon.
On the back:
YOUR FATHER LEFT SOMETHING BEHIND.
My hands began shaking.
Dominic's phone rang.
One of his men answered.
Then walked toward us.
“Mr. Moretti, we found something.”
He handed Dominic a small metal object.
A key.
Old.
Heavy.
Engraved with one letter.
C.
My father's initials were D.C.
I stared at it.
“What does that open?”
Dominic didn't answer.
“You know.”
He rubbed his thumb across the metal.
“I've seen it before.”
“When?”
“Eight years ago.”
He looked directly at me.
“Daniel gave me one.”
“Gave you one?”
“Yes.”
“Where is yours?”
Silence.
Dominic finally said:
“Missing.”
A sound came from upstairs.
We all looked toward the ceiling.
Three guards moved immediately.
I followed before Dominic could stop me.
My mother's bedroom door stood open.
Her jewelry box was on the floor.
Drawers had been emptied.
Her medical records were scattered across the bed.
But nothing valuable had been taken.
Dominic noticed it too.
“This wasn't a robbery.”
I looked around.
“They were searching.”
“For what?”
I knew the answer before he said it.
“Whatever your father hid.”
I stared at the ruined room.
My father.
A secret.
A key.
A murdered man.
And a billionaire mafia boss who somehow knew all of them belonged to the same story.
Then my phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
One message.
Come to Pier 17 alone.
Underneath:
Bring the key.
Another message appeared.
And don't trust Dominic.
I showed him.
He read it.
Then smiled without humor.
“That's convenient.”
“What?”
“Someone is trying very hard to make you distrust me.”
“Maybe they should.”
“Maybe.”
He handed the phone back.
“You're going to Pier 17.”
I stared at him.
“I am?”
“Yes.”
“Alone.”
“No.”
“They specifically said—”
“I know.”
“You said the opposite.”
“I changed my mind.”
I almost laughed.
“This is my life.”
“And whoever is threatening you now is using my world.”
He reached into his coat.
Placed a small firearm into my hand.
I stared at it.
“I've never used one.”
“Then don't.”
He took it back.
“Use what you know.”
That sentence hit me harder than it should have.
He knew.
At least some of it.
My martial arts background.
My father's training.
Something.
At midnight, we arrived at Pier 17.
The docks were almost empty.
Fog covered the water.
A warehouse stood at the far end.
One light burned above the door.
Dominic remained in the SUV.
“I go inside.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever arranged this wants me to enter.”
“You're going anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Then I'm coming.”
“You'll stay behind me.”
We entered.
The warehouse smelled like oil and salt.
A single wooden chair sat in the center.
Nobody was sitting in it.
A voice echoed from the darkness.
“You brought the daughter.”
I stopped.
Dominic stepped forward.
“Show yourself.”
A man emerged.
Late forties.
Gray coat.
Scar across his throat.
He looked at Dominic and smiled.
“Still protecting Daniel's family.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“You knew Daniel?”
The man laughed.
“I was there the night he died.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
I stepped forward.
“What happened?”
The man stared at me.
“Your father found the ledger.”
“What ledger?”
“The one that could destroy every man in this city.”
Dominic said nothing.
The stranger pulled a metal key from his pocket.
Identical to mine.
My knees nearly buckled.
“There are two keys,” he said.
“Two halves of the same secret.”
He tossed his key onto the concrete.
It landed inches from me.
“You have the first.”
Dominic looked at the key.
“Where's the other?”
The man's smile disappeared.
“Inside your mansion.”
Dominic's face went completely still.
Then the warehouse lights went out.
Gunfire exploded.
Dominic grabbed me and threw me behind a steel crate.
Bullets tore through the wall.
His men returned fire.
I heard footsteps.
Three.
Maybe four.
Someone rushed toward our position.
I reacted without thinking.
I stepped into the darkness.
The first attacker grabbed my shoulder.
I turned.
Pulled.
Dropped him onto the floor.
The second swung at my head.
I ducked.
Elbow.
Knee.
He fell.
The third froze.
He stared at me.
“You're her.”
I didn't understand.
“What?”
He backed away.
“The Red Viper.”
Then he ran.
Dominic had heard it.
I knew because when the lights came back on, he was staring at me.
Not surprised.
Not confused.
Certain.
“What did he call you?”
I looked away.
“Nothing.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Avery.”
He paused.
“You weren't just a fighter.”
I said nothing.
His eyes hardened.
“You were the girl who disappeared after the Carter Tournament.”
I felt the past closing around me.
And somewhere behind us, the man with the scar was laughing.
Because he had just realized something Dominic hadn't.
May you like
I wasn't running from my old life anymore.
I was walking straight back into it.
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