Chapter 6 - The Father Who Had Been Living in the Shadows
Daniel Marino was alive.
Sixteen years.
He had lived under another name.
He had watched me from a distance.
He had seen me become a bartender.
He had seen me meet Dominic.
He had known everything.
When I found him, I couldn't speak.
He hugged me.
I cried into his shoulder.
“You were alive.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“To keep you alive.”
I wanted to be angry.
But I couldn't.
He explained everything.
He had hidden the ledger.
He had tried to expose Morelli.
He had worked with Dominic's mother.
And he knew Dominic's father had ordered his death.
But Dominic had not.
He had been manipulated.
My father looked at me.
“You love him.”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then don't punish him for becoming better.”
I cried again.
Dominic met my father.
The two men stared at each other.
Finally Daniel said:
“You were just a boy.”
Dominic swallowed.
“I should have saved you.”
“You did.”
“How?”
“You gave me time to disappear.”
Dominic looked shocked.
Daniel smiled.
“You didn't know.”
“No.”
“That was the point.”
The three of us sat together.
For the first time, the past made sense.
But Matteo was still free.
He had kidnapped Daniel.
A message arrived.
BRING DOMINIC.
He wanted a final confrontation.
Dominic went.
I followed.
He argued.
I ignored him.
We found Matteo at an abandoned factory.
He stood beside my father.
“I want the ledger.”
“It's gone.”
“No.”
I stepped forward.
“It isn't.”
I held up a copy.
Matteo smiled.
“You think that's enough?”
“No.”
Dominic moved beside me.
“We don't need it.”
“Why?”
“Because every transaction is already with the FBI.”
Matteo's smile disappeared.
The police surrounded the building.
He raised his gun.
Dominic stepped forward.
“Don't.”
Matteo laughed.
“You think you're different.”
“I am.”
“Because of her?”
Dominic looked at me.
“Yes.”
Matteo fired.
Dominic pushed me aside.
The bullet missed.
Police rushed in.
Matteo surrendered.
The Bellini organization collapsed.
The case became one of the largest organized crime investigations in Boston history.
Dominic testified.
My father testified.
I testified.
Everything came out.
The truth about the poison.
The ledger.
The corruption.
The staged deaths.
The decades of lies.
And Dominic's father's crimes.
Dominic didn't deny any of it.
May you like
He accepted responsibility for what he had done.
Then he walked away from the old life.
