Chapter 9 - The ConfessionDominic stood still, making no move toward his own shoulder holster. He looked at the fragile woman holding a letter opener against him, her body still marked by seven bullet wounds she had taken for his mother.

"I was nineteen years old, Clara," Dominic said softly, his voice devoid of any arrogance. "Your father was a monster who ordered the execution of my elder brother."

Clara choked back a sob. "So you murdered him in cold blood?!"

"I carried out an order given by the Commission," Dominic corrected. "I pulled the trigger that ended the war. But I didn't kill his family. Victor Costa wanted your mother and you dead that night. He wanted every Moretti wiped off the face of the earth."

Clara stared at him, her eyes wide. "What...?"

"I was the one who put your mother in that car with federal agents," Dominic revealed, taking a slow step toward her. "I was the one who paid off the state trooper to ensure your Witness Protection transport cleared the state line without Costa’s men finding you. I spared your life sixteen years ago, Clara."

Clara felt her mind spinning, the black-and-white lines of her reality blurring into terrifying shades of gray. "You... you saved me?"

"I promised myself that night that if the debt ever came full circle, I would finish protecting what I started," Dominic said, reaching out to gently touch the hand holding the letter opener. "When you stepped in front of my mother at the gala, you didn't just save Isabella. You proved that you had more courage in your small finger than any man in this city."

Slowly, gently, Dominic folded her fingers down, taking the silver blade from her grip and setting it on the table behind him.

"I didn't marry you to trap you, Clara," he whispered, leaning down until his forehead rested against hers. "I married you because as long as I draw breath, nobody in this world will ever hurt you again."

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Clara’s strength buckled. She didn't stab him. She collapsed against his chest, her hands clutching his black jacket as silent tears soaked into his linen shirt.

Dominic wrapped his arms around her, holding her fragile frame against his body like an impenetrable shield.