Chapter 7 - The Truth About the Jackson Boulevard Rescue
The footsteps stopped.
Nobody moved.
Then the man upstairs spoke again.
“Clara, I’ve been waiting twenty-eight years to tell you who your father is.”
Dominic raised his weapon.
Arthur moved toward the staircase.
Ethan grabbed my arm.
“Don’t.”
I pulled away.
“Who is that?”
Ethan’s face had gone completely white.
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying again.”
“I swear.”
Dominic looked at him.
“If you know something, now is the time.”
“I don’t.”
A floorboard creaked upstairs.
Then another.
Someone was coming down.
Arthur positioned himself beneath the staircase.
Dominic stood in front of me.
Luca moved toward the back hallway.
Helen stayed near the study door, staring at the staircase as though she had seen a ghost.
The footsteps stopped.
A shadow appeared across the wall.
Then a man slowly descended.
He was in his late sixties.
Silver hair.
Dark coat.
A narrow scar crossing his right cheek.
I didn’t recognize him.
But Dominic did.
His gun rose immediately.
“Victor Sloane.”
The man smiled.
“Good morning, Dominic.”
Arthur aimed his weapon.
“You have ten seconds.”
Victor ignored him.
His eyes moved toward me.
Then he smiled.
Not kindly.
Not cruelly.
Almost sadly.
“You look exactly like Evelyn.”
My throat tightened.
“You knew my mother?”
“I knew her better than anyone.”
“Then tell me who my father was.”
Victor glanced at Dominic.
“Your husband has been asking the wrong question.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“Don’t play games.”
“I’m not.”
Victor descended another step.
“Clara’s father wasn’t a Rossi.”
I released a breath.
“I know.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You don’t.”
He stopped halfway down the stairs.
“Your father was the reason Michael Rossi kept Evelyn alive.”
My eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
“Because Evelyn had something Michael wanted.”
“The ledger?”
Victor smiled.
“Not the ledger.”
He looked directly at me.
“You.”
Silence.
I felt Dominic’s hand touch my shoulder.
Victor continued.
“You were born with information that could destroy three families.”
I almost laughed.
“I was a baby.”
“Exactly.”
“What information could a baby possibly have?”
“Blood.”
My stomach twisted.
Victor descended the final step.
“Your father belonged to a family that Michael Rossi considered an enemy.”
“Which family?”
Victor looked at Dominic.
“The Morettis.”
Dominic’s face became unreadable.
“Lies.”
Victor smiled.
“Your father was Vincent Moretti.”
The name hit the room like a gunshot.
I looked at Dominic.
He looked stunned.
“The Moretti boss?” I whispered.
Victor nodded.
“Your biological father.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“My mother would have told me.”
“She tried.”
“When?”
“Seven years ago.”
My heart stopped.
“Before she died?”
Victor nodded.
“She left instructions.”
“Why didn’t I receive them?”
“Because someone intercepted them.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“Who?”
Victor looked at him.
“Your father.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“My father died twelve years ago.”
“Michael Rossi died.”
Victor paused.
“The man who replaced him did not.”
Arthur frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Victor’s smile disappeared.
“It means Michael had enemies.”
“So?”
“So he built a second identity.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
“Michael had another name.”
“Yes.”
“What name?”
Victor didn’t answer.
Instead, he looked at me.
“Your mother knew the truth. That is why she sent you to Jackson Boulevard.”
My breathing became shallow.
“You said she sent me.”
“Yes.”
“To save Dominic.”
“No.”
Victor shook his head.
“She sent you to save the only man who could eventually protect you.”
Dominic looked at me.
“Me.”
Victor nodded.
“You were supposed to die that night.”
Dominic’s face hardened.
“Who attacked me?”
“Your father’s people.”
“Why?”
“Because you had discovered the ledger.”
Dominic looked at me.
“What did I discover?”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“You discovered payments made to keep a woman and her daughter hidden.”
“Evelyn and Clara.”
“Yes.”
Dominic’s face changed.
“So I was investigating Clara before I met her.”
“You were investigating the money.”
“And found her.”
“Eventually.”
I felt dizzy.
The pieces were moving too quickly.
The photograph.
The alley.
The marriage.
The debt.
My mother.
Dominic.
All connected.
But something still didn’t make sense.
“If my mother wanted Dominic to protect me, why did she send me to him while he was bleeding?”
Victor looked at me.
“Because she knew you would save him.”
“How?”
“Because she knew what kind of person you were.”
My eyes burned.
“That doesn’t explain why I can’t remember the night properly.”
Victor went silent.
Dominic noticed.
“You know.”
Victor looked at him.
“Of course I know.”
“Tell her.”
“I think she deserves to remember it herself.”
I stepped toward him.
“No.”
My voice shook.
“You don’t get to decide what I deserve.”
Victor studied me.
“Then ask yourself this.”
“What?”
“Why were you carrying blue nylon thread?”
I froze.
He continued.
“You were a nursing student. You had a basic medical kit. But blue nylon thread was not part of your standard emergency supplies.”
I stared at him.
“I bought it.”
“When?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Exactly.”
Dominic’s eyes sharpened.
“What are you saying?”
Victor looked at him.
“Clara didn’t buy that thread.”
My stomach dropped.
“Then who did?”
“Evelyn.”
I closed my eyes.
Rain.
The alley.
My hands.
Blue thread.
A man bleeding.
But now another memory appeared.
My mother standing in the kitchen.
A small medical kit on the table.
Her hands trembling.
“Take this with you.”
I opened my eyes.
“She gave me the kit.”
Victor nodded.
“She knew you might need it.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“Because if you knew the truth, you would have become a target before you were ready.”
Dominic stared at Victor.
“You knew all this.”
“Yes.”
“And you did nothing.”
“I was ordered to stay away.”
“By whom?”
Victor’s eyes darkened.
“Your mother.”
“My mother?”
“No.”
Victor looked at me.
“Evelyn.”
The room went silent.
Then Ethan suddenly spoke.
“I knew.”
I turned.
“What?”
He swallowed.
“Not everything.”
“But enough.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Mom sent me.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Dominic was the man in the alley.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the Moretti connection.”
“No.”
“Then what did you know?”
Ethan’s eyes dropped.
“I knew you were supposed to meet Dominic.”
“How?”
“Mom told me.”
“When?”
“Two weeks before she died.”
I stared at him.
“She knew she was dying.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“Because she thought someone was watching you.”
“Who?”
Ethan looked toward Victor.
Victor’s expression became cold.
“Not me.”
“Then who?”
Nobody answered.
A sound came from outside.
Car doors slamming.
Arthur checked his phone.
His face changed.
“We have company.”
Dominic immediately moved toward the window.
Three black SUVs were approaching the house.
Luca looked outside.
“That’s Sloane’s security.”
Victor shook his head.
“Not mine.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Then whose?”
Victor didn’t answer.
The first SUV stopped.
Men stepped out.
Armed.
Professional.
Arthur cursed.
“How did they find us?”
Victor looked at me.
“Because someone followed you.”
My heart sank.
“Who?”
Victor looked at Ethan.
Ethan’s face changed.
“No.”
Dominic turned.
“Ethan?”
“I didn’t.”
“You were the only person who knew we were coming here.”
Ethan shook his head.
“I swear.”
Dominic’s phone vibrated.
He looked at the screen.
A message.
YOU BROUGHT HER HOME. THANK YOU.
Then another.
NOW WE CAN TAKE HER.
Dominic’s expression became terrifying.
“Clara.”
I looked at him.
“Stay behind me.”
The windows shattered.
Gunfire erupted.
Arthur tackled Helen to the floor.
Luca pulled Ethan behind the desk.
Dominic grabbed me around the waist and dragged me down as bullets tore through the study walls.
I heard screaming.
Glass.
Wood splintering.
Then silence.
Too sudden.
Arthur looked toward the windows.
“They’re moving around the back.”
Dominic checked his weapon.
“How many?”
“At least twelve.”
Victor remained standing.
Calm.
Almost too calm.
I looked at him.
“You knew this would happen.”
He didn’t answer.
“Victor.”
He finally said:
“They aren’t here for Dominic.”
My blood froze.
“They’re here for me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because they know what your blood can prove.”
I stared at him.
“My blood?”
Victor reached inside his coat.
Arthur immediately raised his gun.
Victor stopped.
Slowly, he removed a small plastic envelope.
Inside was a medical test.
DNA analysis.
My name was printed at the top.
I took it.
My eyes scanned the page.
Then stopped.
There were two comparisons.
Mine.
And someone else’s.
The first result was marked:
PATERNITY CONFIRMED.
I looked at Victor.
“Vincent Moretti.”
He nodded.
Then I looked at the second comparison.
The name was different.
My fingers began trembling.
“Who is this?”
Victor’s expression darkened.
“Your father isn’t the only secret.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“What the hell does that mean?”
Victor looked at him.
“It means Clara has a sibling.”
Luca frowned.
“Ethan?”
“No.”
My heart pounded.
Victor pointed at the second DNA report.
“The other match is one hundred percent.”
I stared at the name.
I didn’t recognize it.
But Dominic did.
His face went completely pale.
“That's impossible.”
I looked at him.
“Who is it?”
He didn’t answer.
Outside, another gunshot exploded.
Victor whispered:
“Your twin.”
May you like
I looked at the name again.
And suddenly Dominic reached for the paper as if he had just recognized the person listed beneath my name—because the name belonged to the one person he had sworn died twenty-eight years ago.
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