Chapter 4 - The Man Dominic Trusted Most
Dominic ordered every gate locked.
No one left.
No one entered.
Emma described the man.
Silver hair.
Blue eyes.
A scar beside his mouth.
Sophia returned to the photograph.
The unidentified third man matched.
Dominic knew him.
“Leon Mercer.”
“Who is he?”
“My father’s attorney.”
“Is he alive?”
“He disappeared seven years ago.”
Emma looked up.
“He was here.”
Dominic’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Leon Mercer spoke first.
“If Sophia Bennett wants to know why her husband died, bring her to St. Agnes Cemetery tomorrow at noon.”
Dominic’s voice hardened.
“You came into my house.”
“I came to correct a mistake that has lasted seven years.”
“You threatened a child?”
“That wasn’t me.”
Dominic looked at the bloody key.
“Then who?”
“You’re still asking the wrong question.”
The call ended.
At noon, Dominic and Sophia went to the cemetery.
Leon waited beside James Bennett’s grave.
He looked exhausted.
Older than his photograph.
The scar beside his mouth was real.
Sophia walked straight to him.
“You knew my husband.”
“Yes.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
Leon looked at Dominic.
“The man your father trusted enough to call a son.”
“Adrian?”
Leon shook his head.
“Adrian is greedy. He helped cover it up. But he didn’t order James’s death.”
Dominic’s face tightened.
“Then who?”
Leon handed Sophia a sealed envelope.
“James discovered that someone had been draining Moretti companies for more than a decade. Adrian moved the money. Vivian’s family washed portions through legitimate businesses. But neither controlled the operation.”
“Who did?”
Leon looked around the cemetery.
Fear entered his eyes.
A rifle cracked.
Leon fell.
Dominic dragged Sophia behind a stone monument.
His guards fired toward the tree line.
Sophia crawled toward Leon.
Blood spread across his coat.
He pushed the envelope into her hand.
“Black door,” he whispered.
“We found it.”
“No.”
His eyes widened.
“Not Dominic’s.”
He died before explaining.
Inside the envelope was a bank statement.
One account.
Hundreds of transfers.
The beneficiary was listed only as R.M.
Dominic stared at those initials.
Sophia saw recognition.
“Who is R.M.?”
Dominic folded the page.
“My brother.”
Sophia blinked.
“You have a brother?”
“Had.”
“What happened?”
“He died fifteen years ago.”
That evening, they returned to the mansion.
Dominic went directly to his study.
Sophia followed.
“You believe he’s dead?”
“I buried him.”
“Did you see the body?”
Dominic stopped.
“No.”
The answer seemed to disturb him.
His brother Rafael had been twenty-nine when his boat exploded off Long Island.
No body had been recovered.
Only blood.
Fragments.
A watch Dominic had given him.
Sophia sat down.
“James discovered payments to a dead man.”
“Yes.”
“And someone killed Leon before he could explain them.”
“Yes.”
A knock interrupted them.
Mrs. Costa entered carrying a package.
“No return address.”
Inside was an old photograph.
Two young men stood beside Dominic’s father.
Dominic.
Rafael.
On the back:
ONE SON INHERITED THE EMPIRE.
THE OTHER LEARNED HOW TO STEAL IT.
Beneath the photograph was a flash drive.
Dominic inserted it into an isolated computer.
A video opened.
James appeared.
Alive.
Terrified.
“If you’re watching this, I didn’t make it.”
Sophia covered her mouth.
James looked directly into the camera.
“Dominic Moretti is not the man you should fear.”
The video glitched.
Then James leaned closer.
“The man betraying him is—”
The screen went black.
Someone had remotely erased the file.
Then every light in the mansion went out.
From the dark hallway came three slow knocks.
May you like
And a man’s voice Dominic had not heard in fifteen years said:
“Hello, brother.”
