Chapter 7 - The Night Dominic Told Her the Truth
The truth about Dominic's father changed everything.
We traveled to the old family estate.
There, Dominic found a locked room.
Inside were letters.
Dozens.
One carried his name.
Dominic,
If you ever read this, know that I loved you.
I did not choose this life because I wanted power.
I chose it because someone had to stand between monsters and the people they wanted to destroy.
Dominic sat on the floor.
He cried.
I had never seen him cry.
I sat beside him.
He leaned against me.
“I hated him.”
“He knew.”
“I thought he abandoned us.”
“He protected you.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“My father saved your father.”
“Yes.”
“And my father saved your mother.”
“Yes.”
“And your father trusted mine.”
“Yes.”
He laughed through tears.
“So this was never an accident.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Maybe we were always going to find each other.”
I smiled.
“Maybe.”
Then we found the final letter.
It contained the location of Adrian's last hidden account.
And a warning.
There is one person who knows where I hid everything.
A woman named Clara.
Dominic's aunt.
She lived in a retirement community under another name.
We found her.
She told us Adrian had one final weapon.
Political protection.
A senator.
A man who could erase every case against him.
And that senator was coming for us.
The attack happened two weeks later.
Our apartment was burned.
We escaped.
Everything we owned was destroyed.
I stood outside watching the flames.
Dominic held my hand.
“I'm sorry.”
“For what?”
“This life.”
I looked at him.
“We'll build again.”
He stared at me.
“You aren't afraid?”
“I am.”
“Then why aren't you running?”
“Because I spent my whole life running.”
I touched his cheek.
“I don't want to anymore.”
That was when he kissed me.
Not because we were pretending.
Not because someone was watching.
Because we loved each other.
The fire destroyed our apartment.
But it didn't destroy our life.
We moved temporarily into Sofia's place.
Then the senator made his move.
He publicly accused Dominic of organized crime.
The press attacked.
Photos of me appeared.
My workplace fired me.
People called me a criminal's girlfriend.
I wanted to hide.
Dominic refused.
“Stand beside me.”
“At a press conference?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I won't let them rewrite you.”
We stood together.
Reporters shouted.
“Is Dominic Costantini a criminal?”
I looked at the cameras.
“He was part of a criminal organization.”
The room erupted.
Dominic looked at me.
I continued.
“But he walked away.”
“Why should anyone believe him?”
“Because he gave the government everything he had.”
“Are you afraid?”
I looked directly into the cameras.
“Yes.”
The reporters went quiet.
“But fear doesn't mean I'm lying.”
Dominic squeezed my hand.
Then Sofia presented the evidence.
Bank transfers.
Audio recordings.
Video footage.
The senator's secret payments.
The press conference became the beginning of the end.
The senator resigned.
Adrian's last protection disappeared.
He was convicted.
Richard Reed cooperated.
Mason testified.
And Chicago finally understood the truth.
Dominic had been dangerous.
But he had chosen to become something else.
Months later, I got my nursing license reinstated.
I returned to a hospital.
But this time, I wasn't working two jobs.
Dominic had never told me how much money he had retained.
I found out one morning.
A hospital wing had been donated in my name.
I stared at the plaque.
Lena Bennett-Costantini Trauma Center.
I turned to him.
“You did this?”
He smiled.
“You saved lives.”
“I wasn't expecting a building.”
“I was.”
I laughed.
“You're ridiculous.”
“I know.”
Then I noticed something.
A small office next to the trauma center.
My name was on the door.
My own practice.
May you like
He had given me the one thing I had never believed I could have.
A future.
