Chapter 12 - The Man Who Betrayed Them
“Dominic!”
I ran toward him.
He caught himself against the floor.
Blood spread across his shoulder.
“I'm fine.”
“You're bleeding.”
“It's not fatal.”
Clara stood frozen.
She hadn't fired.
Calvin looked toward the shadows.
“Who shot him?”
A second figure stepped forward.
Dominic's uncle.
The man everyone believed had died years earlier.
Dominic stared.
“You.”
His uncle smiled.
“You were always too sentimental.”
Dominic raised his weapon.
His uncle laughed.
“Drop it.”
Guards appeared behind us.
Their guns were pointed at Dominic.
I realized then that the entire attack had been controlled from inside.
Every door.
Every camera.
Every guard.
His uncle had been building an army inside the estate.
For years.
He looked at me.
“You were the last piece.”
“What do you want?”
“The trust.”
“I don't care about it.”
“You will.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“Your mother understood the value of power.”
“My mother wanted me safe.”
“Your mother wanted you hidden.”
He looked toward Dominic.
“She knew what would happen if he discovered who you were.”
Dominic's eyes burned.
“You killed her.”
“Yes.”
The room went silent.
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because she wouldn't tell me where the trust was.”
“And Evelyn?”
“She was leverage.”
“Leo?”
“Leverage.”
I felt sick.
“All these years…”
He smiled.
“You were never supposed to meet.”
Dominic slowly stood despite the blood.
His uncle frowned.
“You should be on the floor.”
“I've been on the floor before.”
Dominic lifted his gun.
“So have you.”
The guards hesitated.
Dominic looked at Calvin.
“Now.”
The lights went out.
Gunfire erupted.
I grabbed Leo.
Calvin tackled one guard.
Clara pulled another away.
Dominic fired.
His uncle disappeared through a side door.
“Go!” Dominic shouted.
I ran with Leo.
We reached the warehouse entrance.
Evelyn was waiting.
She grabbed my hand.
“This way.”
We escaped through a hidden tunnel.
Outside, sirens screamed.
Police surrounded the building.
Dominic emerged minutes later.
His shirt was soaked with blood.
I ran to him.
He caught me.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then I whispered:
“Your uncle said I'm your father's daughter.”
Dominic looked at me.
“I don't know if that's true.”
“You didn't know?”
“No.”
“Then why did you protect me?”
He touched my face.
“Because I loved you before I knew anything about your blood.”
My heart broke open.
Then a detective approached.
“Mr. Russo.”
Dominic turned.
“We found your uncle.”
“Where?”
“He escaped.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
The detective handed him an envelope.
“Then we found this in his office.”
Dominic opened it.
Inside was a birth certificate.
He read it.
Then looked at me.
His face changed.
“Beatrice.”
“What?”
He handed me the paper.
May you like
I read the name listed under my father.
And every secret I thought I understood became something else entirely.
