Chapter 9 - The Woman Who Knew EverythingThe townhouse plunged into darkness.
Bruno shouted instructions from the hallway while the guards moved toward the windows.
Dominic tried to stand.
I pushed him back against the pillows.
“You are not getting up with a bullet wound.”
“Claire, the security system—”
“Can wait.”
“That's not how this works.”
“Then you should have explained that to the bullet.”
For the first time since the farmhouse, Dominic actually laughed.
It was short and painful, but it was a laugh.
A moment later, emergency lighting flickered on.
Bruno returned.
“Power failure. The backup generators are coming online. No sign of an intruder.”
Dominic exhaled.
“Check every entrance.”
Then he looked at Michael.
“My mother helped you disappear. Start talking.”
Michael sat in the chair beside the bed.
“Carlo discovered I was investigating him. I tried to contact you, but every attempt was intercepted. He threatened Claire and Rosie. Then he staged the warehouse fire and convinced you I had stolen the ledger.”
“Why didn't you go to the police?”
“Carlo had people inside the department. I didn't know who I could trust.”
Dominic's expression remained cold.
“And my mother?”
“Isabella learned what had happened through a contact at the hospital. She arranged for me to be moved to Hawthorne. She believed she could convince Carlo to release me once she found enough evidence to destroy him.”
Dominic stared at him.
“For four years, my mother allowed me to believe you were dead.”
“She was afraid that telling you would make you act before we had proof. She knew you'd go after Carlo immediately.”
“She's right about that.”
Michael lowered his eyes.
“I wanted to escape. I tried twice. The first time, they broke my leg. The second time, they threatened to send men to Claire's apartment. After that, I stopped trying.”
I felt the old anger rise again.
“You could have found a way to tell me.”
“I know.”
“You could have sent a letter. A message. Anything.”
“I know.”
“Do you understand how many nights Rosie cried herself to sleep because she believed she wasn't important enough for you to come home?”
Michael covered his face.
“No excuse will ever make that right.”
For the first time, I believed he understood the damage he'd left behind.
It didn't mean I forgave him.
Dominic's phone rang.
He answered without looking at the screen.
“Mother.”
Isabella Moretti's voice came through sharply.
“Dominic, where are you?”
“Somewhere safe. Unlike your secrets.”
Silence followed.
Then she sighed.
“I suppose Michael has told you.”
“Not everything.”
“No. Not everything.”
Dominic closed his eyes briefly.
“Why didn't you tell me he was alive?”
“Because I knew you would choose vengeance over evidence.”
“You had no right to make that decision.”
“No,” she admitted. “I didn't.”
Her voice softened.
“But I have spent four years trying to keep your uncle from turning our family into a graveyard. I had to protect Michael, and I had to protect you.”
Dominic's expression remained hard.
“Where are you?”
“Bergman's department store.”
I looked up.
“The store?”
“Your mother was there yesterday,” Michael whispered. “She was arranging a private meeting with Carlo's accountant. She wanted to find out where the original records were being kept.”
Dominic gripped the phone.
“Mother, leave the store immediately.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because Carlo is standing right behind me.”
A sharp crash sounded through the speaker.
Isabella screamed.
Then a man's voice took over.
“Hello, nephew.”
Carlo Moretti sounded almost cheerful.
“Your mother and I are going to have a little conversation.”
Dominic rose from the bed, ignoring the pain.
“Touch her, and I'll destroy everything you own.”
Carlo laughed.
“That's exactly what I wanted to hear.”
A pause followed.
Then he delivered his demand.
“Bring Michael, the ledger, and the little girl to Bergman's by midnight.”
Dominic's face became a mask of fury.
“You have my word that I'll come.”
“Wonderful.”
Carlo lowered his voice.
“But if you bring an army, Isabella dies first.”
The call ended.
Dominic stood motionless.
I stared at him.
“We're going to get her back.”
He looked at me.
“Yes.”
“And then you're going to end this.”
His eyes were cold enough to freeze the room.
“Tonight.”
Michael shook his head.
“Dominic, wait. Carlo expects you to come.”
“Good.”
“It's a trap.”
Dominic reached for his coat.
“Then it's time he discovered what happens when he sets one for me.”
May you like
He turned toward the door.
And I realized that the most dangerous man in New York was about to walk directly into the trap that had destroyed my family.
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