Chapter 5 - The Child They Needed
Dominic was on his feet before the call ended.
“What do you mean gone?”
Rebecca was crying.
Someone had triggered a fire alarm in the secure apartment.
The guards evacuated.
A woman wearing emergency medical clothing approached Rebecca.
Seconds later, the lights failed.
When they returned, Matteo had disappeared.
Dominic looked at Luca.
Luca’s face became something Elena had never seen.
A father.
Not the frightened man hiding from enemies.
A father whose child had been taken.
Elena grabbed the phone.
“Rebecca! Where is my baby?”
“I’m sorry.”
“WHERE IS HE?”
Dominic took the phone.
“Rebecca. Listen carefully. If you had anything to do with this, tell me now.”
Rebecca went silent.
Dominic looked at Luca.
The photograph lay between them.
Finally Rebecca said, “They threatened my daughter.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
So the photograph had been real.
But the conclusion had been wrong.
Rebecca had been coerced.
She admitted someone had contacted her six months earlier.
They knew her daughter attended college in Boston.
They demanded access to corporate records.
Rebecca complied.
Then they demanded Matteo.
She refused.
The kidnapping happened anyway.
“Who?”
“I never knew his name.”
“Voice?”
“Distorted.”
“Meetings?”
“One.”
“Where?”
“Caruso International.”
Dominic froze.
“Inside my headquarters?”
“Yes.”
“Which floor?”
Rebecca whispered, “Forty-one.”
Dominic knew floor forty-one.
Executive finance.
Only six people had unrestricted access.
Dominic, Victor, Rebecca, the CFO, the compliance director—
And Dominic’s longtime executive assistant, Adrian Cole.
Luca stood.
“That name.”
“What?”
“I saw Cole with Dad years ago.”
Dominic stared.
Adrian had worked for the family for twenty-two years.
He had organized Dominic’s father’s medical care.
He had scheduled Luca’s final meeting.
He had arranged Victor’s transportation on the night of the crash.
Dominic called New York.
Adrian did not answer.
They flew home immediately.
During the flight, Luca sat beside Elena.
Neither knew what to say.
Finally Elena asked:
“Did you ever plan to come back?”
“Every day.”
“That isn’t the same as coming.”
“I know.”
“You left me pregnant.”
“I thought you’d be safer.”
“You don’t get to decide that for me.”
“I know.”
“You missed his birth.”
Luca looked down.
“I know.”
“You missed his first smile.”
His eyes filled.
“I know.”
Elena turned away.
Luca did not ask forgiveness.
That mattered.
He simply sat beside her and accepted the pain he had caused.
Dominic watched from across the cabin.
He understood then that survival did not erase responsibility.
When they landed, Marcus had news.
Adrian Cole had disappeared.
His office was empty.
But his computer contained a recently deleted itinerary.
Private airfield.
Departure scheduled for midnight.
Dominic checked the time.
10:42 p.m.
They had seventy-eight minutes.
Police and federal authorities were contacted.
Dominic refused to wait.
Luca went with him.
Elena tried.
Dominic stopped her.
“Matteo needs one parent who isn’t walking into whatever this is.”
She looked at Luca.
“He has two.”
Luca kissed her forehead.
“I’m coming back.”
Elena’s eyes hardened.
“You promised that once.”
Luca swallowed.
“Then this time I’ll prove it.”
At the airfield, authorities surrounded a private hangar.
Inside stood Adrian Cole.
Matteo was in a portable crib.
Alive.
Unharmed.
Elena’s baby was crying.
Dominic heard him from outside.
Adrian held no weapon.
He simply stood beside a briefcase.
Dominic entered with Luca.
Adrian smiled.
“Both Caruso brothers. Finally.”
Luca stared.
“You killed our father.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Your father killed himself with arrogance. I merely stopped saving him.”
Dominic’s fists tightened.
Adrian explained.
For decades he had watched the Carusos build wealth while men like him remained invisible.
He learned every account.
Every weakness.
Every signature.
He created companies beneath their companies.
He moved money slowly.
Victor discovered some of it.
Luca discovered more.
Their father discovered everything.
“So you killed him,” Dominic said.
Adrian did not answer directly.
Instead he looked at Matteo.
“The boy complicated things.”
Luca stepped forward.
“Don’t look at my son.”
Adrian smiled.
“There he is. The father.”
Dominic realized Adrian wanted them emotional.
Careless.
He refused.
“You’re finished.”
“Am I?”
Adrian lifted the briefcase.
“Everything needed to destroy Caruso International is here.”
“Then destroy it.”
Adrian blinked.
Dominic continued.
“I’ll rebuild.”
“You’d lose billions.”
“I have enough.”
“Your reputation.”
“I can earn another.”
“Your empire.”
Dominic looked at Matteo.
“My family is not my empire.”
Luca stared at his brother.
For years, that sentence would have been impossible for Dominic Caruso.
Now he meant it.
Police moved in.
Adrian tried to run.
He never reached the aircraft.
Minutes later, Luca lifted Matteo from the crib.
The baby stopped crying.
He stared at his father.
Gray eyes met gray eyes.
Luca broke.
“Hey, little man.”
Matteo touched his face.
Luca laughed through tears.
Dominic looked away to give him privacy.
Then Marcus approached.
“We found something in Cole’s briefcase.”
“What?”
“Documents.”
“What kind?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Your father’s medical records.”
Dominic looked at him.
“And?”
“There’s something else.”
Marcus handed him an envelope.
Inside was a signed statement.
Sofia Caruso.
Their mother.
Dated seventeen years earlier.
Dominic read the first line.
If my sons ever discover what happened inside this family, they deserve to know Victor Caruso is not their uncle.
Dominic stared at the page.
Luca came closer, holding Matteo.
“What does it say?”
Dominic slowly looked toward Victor, who had just entered the hangar behind the federal agents.
Victor saw the paper.
All color disappeared from his face.
Dominic turned the page.
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