Chapter 5 - The Man Behind the Family
Dominic raised his weapon.
A hand appeared through the opening.
Empty.
Then Marco stepped through.
Dominic stared.
“You were downstairs.”
“I was.”
“How did you get here?”
Marco looked at Samuel.
“He showed me this passage twenty-two years ago.”
Samuel’s face hardened.
“I showed Anthony.”
Marco nodded.
“Anthony showed me.”
Dominic lowered the weapon slightly.
“Why are you here?”
“Because the north gate vehicles are mine.”
Silence.
Victoria whispered, “Marco.”
He raised his hands.
“I staged the breach.”
Dominic stepped toward him.
“You have about three seconds to explain.”
“To flush out whoever inside the estate is still communicating with Anthony.”
Dominic stopped.
Marco pointed toward the security monitors.
“When the alarm triggered, one person made a call.”
“Who?”
Marco looked at Victoria.
Everyone followed his gaze.
Victoria’s face went white.
“No.”
Marco shook his head.
“Not you.”
Then he looked toward the hallway camera.
A figure appeared.
Aunt Serafina.
She was standing alone beside the kitchen service entrance.
Phone pressed to her ear.
Dominic stared.
Marco increased the volume.
Serafina's voice came through the security feed.
“He brought Samuel here. They know about Anthony.”
Isabella covered her mouth.
A distorted male voice answered.
“Keep Isabella there.”
Dominic's jaw flexed.
Serafina whispered, “You promised nobody would hurt her.”
The voice replied:
“That depends on Dominic.”
The call ended.
Dominic looked toward Marco.
“Open the door.”
“Dominic—”
“Now.”
Isabella caught his arm.
“What are you going to do?”
“Talk to my aunt.”
“That expression does not look conversational.”
He looked down at her.
“I promised you this family wouldn't humiliate you again.”
“This is slightly beyond humiliation.”
“That is an understatement.”
Despite the terror in the room, she almost smiled.
Dominic gave her hand to Samuel.
“Stay with her.”
Isabella immediately pulled it away.
“My father doesn't get automatic privileges after being dead for nineteen years.”
Samuel winced.
“Fair.”
Victoria nearly laughed.
It was the strangest possible moment for humor, but perhaps that was why they needed it.
Dominic left with Marco.
They found Serafina in the library.
She did not run.
She sat beside the fireplace with a drink in her hand.
Dominic closed the door.
“You called Anthony.”
Serafina stared at the glass.
“Yes.”
Marco whispered, “How long?”
“Four years.”
Dominic sat opposite her.
“Why?”
She laughed weakly.
“You think your father left this family wealthy?”
“We were wealthy.”
“On paper.”
Dominic frowned.
She continued.
“After your father died, half the accounts were frozen. Anthony kept several businesses alive.”
“By laundering money.”
“By doing what your father had already done for decades.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“I spent ten years cleaning those companies.”
“Yes.”
“And apparently you spent four years dirtying them again.”
Serafina looked away.
“I was trying to preserve what was ours.”
“By targeting my wife?”
“I never targeted Isabella.”
“You helped the man who did.”
“I didn't know he would use her.”
“But you told her she embarrassed me.”
Serafina closed her eyes.
“That was me.”
Dominic stared.
No excuses.
No protecting the family.
Just an admission.
“Why?”
Her mouth trembled.
“Because I was angry.”
“At Isabella?”
“At you.”
Dominic leaned back.
Serafina looked at him.
“You changed everything after your father died. You closed businesses. Ended relationships. Walked away from people who had spent their lives loyal to the family.”
“Criminals.”
“Our people.”
“And you punished Isabella for that?”
“She represented it.”
Dominic frowned.
“What?”
“The life you wanted instead.”
That silenced him.
Serafina laughed bitterly.
“A normal wife. Charity dinners. Legitimate companies. Children eventually. You looked happy.”
“So you tried to destroy that.”
“I told myself I was teaching her.”
“Teaching her what?”
“That this family isn't a fairy tale.”
Dominic stood.
“No. You taught her that cruelty often comes dressed as advice.”
Serafina looked down.
Marco's phone vibrated.
He read the message.
His expression changed.
“Dominic.”
“What?”
“Anthony sent coordinates.”
“To whom?”
“Serafina.”
Dominic picked up her phone.
A location appeared.
An abandoned Serrano textile warehouse near the river.
Underneath:
Bring Samuel's ledger.
Come alone.
Or the story about Isabella goes public at midnight.
Dominic almost laughed.
“That’s his threat?”
Serafina whispered, “It isn't only photographs.”
He looked at her.
“What else?”
She began crying.
“Tell me.”
“Anthony has recordings.”
“Of Isabella?”
Serafina nodded.
“From the townhouse.”
Dominic went absolutely still.
“What recordings?”
“Private conversations.”
His face changed.
Marco stepped forward.
“Dominic.”
But Serafina continued.
“He planted listening devices through household contractors. He has arguments. Therapy calls. Conversations with her mother. Things she told you.”
Dominic’s disgust was immediate.
“Why?”
“To humiliate her publicly. To make it look like your marriage is failing.”
Dominic walked toward the door.
Marco followed.
“You are not going alone.”
“No.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“Ending this.”
Back in the safe room, Isabella listened as Dominic explained.
She did not cry.
That surprised him.
She simply became quiet.
“He recorded me?”
“Yes.”
“In our bedroom?”
“We don't know.”
“In my dressing room?”
“Bella.”
She looked toward the plum gown.
The tracker.
The notes.
The photographs.
The comments.
For months she had blamed her own body for the feeling that someone was always looking at her.
Now she understood.
Someone actually had been.
“I want to go.”
Dominic stared.
“No.”
“Anthony wants me?”
“No. He wants leverage.”
“Then let him see he doesn't have it.”
“Absolutely not.”
Samuel said, “She may be right.”
Dominic turned.
“You have been her father again for approximately forty minutes. Do not make me regret allowing it.”
Samuel almost smiled.
“I understand.”
“No, you don't.”
Isabella stepped between them.
“Dominic.”
“No.”
“You don't even know what I'm going to say.”
“You want to walk into a warehouse where a criminal has been spying on you.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
She crossed her arms.
He stared at her.
She stared back.
Victoria murmured, “She’s going.”
Dominic looked at his mother.
Victoria shrugged.
“You married a stubborn woman.”
“I noticed.”
Isabella approached him.
“For six months, I made myself smaller because I thought that would keep everyone comfortable.”
“This is not the same thing.”
“It is to me.”
He softened.
“Bella.”
“If I hide now, Anthony wins in exactly the same way they did.”
She glanced toward Serafina's image on the monitor.
“He wants me ashamed.”
Dominic said nothing.
“I’m done being ashamed.”
Twenty minutes later, they developed a plan.
Police could not be trusted completely; Anthony had old connections.
Marco contacted one federal agent Samuel had worked with years earlier.
Security positioned teams outside the warehouse.
Isabella wore no tracker.
Dominic insisted on a protective vest beneath her coat.
She complained.
He ignored her.
Samuel brought a fake ledger.
At eleven-twenty, they arrived.
The warehouse was dark.
Dominic took Isabella’s hand.
“You stay beside me.”
“I know.”
“If anything happens—”
“I know.”
“If I tell you to run—”
“I know.”
He looked at her.
She sighed.
“I will run.”
“Good.”
They entered.
A single light turned on.
Anthony Bellini stood at the far end.
Older than Marco.
Silver-haired.
Smiling.
“You brought everyone.”
Dominic replied, “You always were bad at giving instructions.”
Anthony looked at Isabella.
“So this is Samuel's little girl.”
Isabella did not move.
“You spent a lot of money trying to make me hate myself.”
Anthony smiled.
“I barely had to spend anything. Your family did most of the work.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“Look at me when you speak.”
Anthony laughed.
“There he is.”
Samuel raised the fake ledger.
“You wanted this.”
Anthony looked at it.
“Yes.”
“Then let this end.”
Anthony’s smile disappeared.
“Oh, Samuel. It ended nineteen years ago.”
He pressed a remote.
A large screen illuminated behind him.
Isabella appeared on it.
Private footage.
Inside her own dressing room.
Dominic’s face became murderous.
Anthony smiled.
“One button, and every news outlet in New York receives everything.”
Isabella stared at her own image.
Then something strange happened.
She began laughing.
Anthony frowned.
“What's funny?”
She looked at him.
“You chose the wrong woman to shame.”
His expression changed.
Isabella reached inside her coat.
Dominic tensed.
She pulled out her phone.
On its screen was a live broadcast.
Not public.
Sent directly to the federal task force.
Anthony’s face collapsed.
“You've been recorded since we walked in.”
Footsteps thundered outside.
Anthony reached beneath his jacket.
Dominic moved.
Security rushed through the side entrance.
Samuel shouted.
Chaos erupted.
Then Anthony grabbed Isabella.
A gun pressed against her side.
Dominic froze.
“Let her go.”
Anthony backed toward a steel door.
“No.”
“Anthony.”
“If you follow me, she dies.”
Isabella looked at Dominic.
For the first time that night, fear showed in her eyes.
Anthony dragged her through the doorway.
The steel door slammed shut.
Dominic reached it seconds later.
Locked.
May you like
A gunshot exploded from the other side.
Then silence.
