Chapter 5 - The Man Who Never LeftDominic stared at the wall.
The room seemed to shrink around him.
“Why would anyone want you dead?”
“Because I was going to leave.”
Norah turned.
“Leave the family?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Dominic laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“My father was building an empire. Victor was making sure it became a graveyard.”
He walked toward a shelf.
On it sat an old tape recorder.
Beside it was a stack of cassette tapes.
Each one was labeled with a date.
Norah picked up the oldest.
October 16, 2000.
The day before the massacre.
Dominic pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then a woman's voice.
Rosa.
“If you're hearing this, someone failed to stop them.”
Norah's skin prickled.
Rosa continued.
“Salvatore thinks Victor stole the ledger.”
A pause.
“He didn't.”
Dominic leaned closer.
“He wants my husband to believe I betrayed him.”
Another pause.
“He wants Dominic dead.”
Norah looked at Dominic.
The tape continued.
“Because Dominic discovered where the money was going.”
A man's voice interrupted.
“I warned you, Rosa.”
Norah froze.
Victor.
Rosa answered.
“You can't scare me anymore.”
“You should be scared.”
“I have copies.”
Silence.
Then Victor spoke softly.
“You think the ledger is your protection?”
“No.”
“What is?”
“The child.”
Norah's breathing stopped.
Rosa continued.
“If anything happens to me, Dominic's daughter will be proof that this family can still be saved.”
The tape crackled.
Then a loud noise.
A chair scraping.
A gunshot.
Norah covered her mouth.
The recording cut off.
Dominic stared at the machine.
“My mother knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That Victor was laundering money through charities.”
Norah looked at the tapes.
“How many are there?”
“Twenty-three.”
They listened to the next one.
The voices were clearer.
Rosa and Salvatore.
Arguing.
“You are choosing the family over your own son.”
“I am protecting him.”
“You are protecting the empire.”
“The empire protects him.”
“No.”
Rosa's voice broke.
“The empire is what is killing him.”
Then Salvatore spoke.
“Take the girl and run.”
Norah stared at Dominic.
“Your father told her to take you?”
“No.”
Norah realized it at the same time.
He meant the baby.
Me.
The next tape began.
Rosa spoke quickly.
“Norah is three months old.”
Norah closed her eyes.
“Dominic doesn't know she survived.”
Dominic gripped the table.
“Why?”
“Because Victor was watching him.”
Rosa's voice became almost a whisper.
“If Dominic knows she lives, Victor will kill her.”
Dominic's face went white.
“You knew I had a daughter.”
Salvatore's voice answered.
“I knew she was alive.”
Dominic's chair scraped backward.
“You lied to me.”
Salvatore tried to speak.
Dominic turned away.
“I spent twenty-six years mourning a child who was sitting inside this house.”
Norah moved toward him.
“Dominic…”
“Don't.”
He looked at her.
His eyes were red.
“You don't get to call me that yet.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm your father.”
The words hung in the room.
Norah felt tears build.
She hadn't known what to feel.
Anger.
Relief.
Fear.
All of it arrived at once.
Dominic stepped toward her.
“I should have protected you.”
“You didn't know I was alive.”
“I should have known.”
Before Norah could answer, the tape clicked.
A new voice appeared.
Not Rosa.
Not Salvatore.
Victor.
Calm.
Almost amused.
“You've found the room.”
Dominic grabbed the recorder.
Victor continued.
“If you're listening, Dominic, you're already too late.”
The door behind them slammed shut.
The lights went out.
Norah screamed.
A metallic lock slid into place.
May you like
From somewhere inside the darkness, a man's voice whispered:
“Welcome home.”
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