Chapter 5 - The Betrayal Came From Inside Dominic’s Own Family
The warning changed everything.
Dominic trusted very few people.
Now he trusted almost nobody.
His father.
His uncle.
His cousins.
His security team.
Even Leo.
Anyone could be the traitor.
My father survived surgery.
He was placed under heavy protection.
Dominic stayed beside me.
I barely slept.
One night, I found him sitting alone in the hospital chapel.
"You haven't eaten."
"Neither have you."
"I asked first."
He looked at me.
"I was thinking."
"That's dangerous."
He smiled.
A real smile.
It surprised me.
"You do that."
"Do what?"
"Make me forget what I'm supposed to be afraid of."
I sat beside him.
"I don't want to be afraid either."
He took my hand.
His fingers were warm.
Steady.
Neither of us spoke for a while.
Then he said:
"If we survive this, what do you want?"
I looked at him.
"A normal life."
He smiled sadly.
"With me?"
I hesitated.
"Maybe."
"Good."
He squeezed my hand.
"Because I don't think I can imagine one without you anymore."
Before I could answer, Leo entered.
"We found something."
Dominic stood.
A security recording showed a man entering the hospital.
The face was hidden.
But the access badge belonged to Salvatore Russo.
Dominic went pale.
"My father."
He called him.
No answer.
We went to the Russo estate.
Salvatore was standing in the library.
Dominic raised his weapon.
"Why did you send someone to my hospital?"
Salvatore looked at him.
"I didn't."
"Your badge was used."
"It's been stolen."
"Who has access?"
Salvatore looked toward his brother.
Adrian Russo.
Dominic's uncle.
Adrian smiled.
"Why are you looking at me?"
Dominic turned.
"You were at the Onyx Room the night Lydia warned me."
Adrian laughed.
"So was half the city."
"Not half the city had access to my security credentials."
Adrian stepped closer.
"You've always been too emotional."
Dominic's eyes hardened.
"You're the traitor."
Adrian shook his head.
"No."
He looked at me.
"She is."
My blood ran cold.
Dominic stepped between us.
"What?"
Adrian pointed at me.
"Ask your father why he disappeared."
Dominic didn't move.
"Ask him who paid for his escape."
I stared at Adrian.
He smiled.
"Your father wasn't protecting you, Lydia."
He looked at Dominic.
"He was using you."
Dominic turned toward me.
For a second, uncertainty entered his eyes.
It hurt more than anger.
I stepped back.
"My father wouldn't."
Adrian laughed.
"Your father knew the Russo family would eventually need a scapegoat."
Dominic's face became unreadable.
Adrian continued.
"He used Lydia to force a war between the families."
"Enough," Dominic said.
"She saved you because she needed your trust."
I shook my head.
"No."
Adrian looked at me.
"You don't know what your father really did."
Dominic turned to Leo.
"Find him."
We rushed back to the hospital.
My father was gone.
The room was empty.
Security officers were unconscious.
A note lay on the pillow.
Daughter first.
Truth later.
I felt sick.
Dominic read it.
Then he looked at me.
"This is a trap."
"I know."
The next message arrived thirty minutes later.
A video.
My father sat tied to a chair.
Adrian stood behind him.
"So here's the choice, Dominic."
He leaned toward the camera.
"Kill your father's empire and Lydia lives."
"Do nothing, and both die."
The video ended.
Dominic stared at the screen.
I whispered:
"Don't choose the empire."
He looked at me.
"I won't."
"You can't."
He stepped closer.
"I'm choosing you."
A tear slipped down my cheek.
"I don't know why."
"Neither do I."
He touched my face.
"But I know what it feels like."
He kissed me.
Not like a man claiming ownership.
Like a man terrified he might never get another chance.
Then he pulled away.
"We're going to save your father."
We traced the video.
It led to an abandoned warehouse near the Brooklyn docks.
Dominic assembled a small team.
No army.
No spectacle.
Just Leo, me and three trusted men.
Inside, we found Adrian.
My father was tied to a chair.
"Drop your weapons," Adrian said.
Dominic did.
My heart stopped.
Adrian smiled.
"You've learned."
Dominic stepped forward.
"You wanted the ledger."
"Yes."
"I have it."
Adrian's eyes shifted.
"What?"
Dominic held up the book.
"Take it."
Adrian reached.
Dominic smiled.
"It's fake."
Adrian's face changed.
The warehouse doors exploded open.
Federal agents stormed inside.
Diane Whitfield stood behind them.
My father's old lawyer.
She had been helping him for years.
The real ledger had already been sent to investigators.
Adrian was arrested.
The entire Moretti network began collapsing.
But one person remained missing.
Leo.
He was gone.
May you like
His gun lay on the floor.
A bloodstain marked the doorway.
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