Chapter 9 - The Man Who Started the War
My mother was waiting in a private hospital room.
She looked exhausted.
But her eyes were clear.
“Edward is your father's brother,” she said.
I stared.
“My father's brother?”
“Yes.”
Dominic frowned.
“My father told me he died.”
“He didn't.”
“Where is he?”
My mother looked at me.
“Inside the walls of the Rossi organization.”
We followed her instructions to a warehouse in Queens.
Edward was waiting.
He looked older than the photograph.
Thin.
Gray.
But alive.
He raised his hands.
“Don't shoot.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“You nearly killed my mother.”
“I know.”
“You arranged the Aster Crown attack.”
Edward closed his eyes.
“I did.”
My entire body went cold.
“Why?”
“Because I thought I was saving your father.”
He explained.
He had been pressured by Vale.
Vale threatened to kill my mother.
Edward cooperated.
He leaked the guest list.
He provided the floor plan.
He hired the shooter.
But Edward said he never intended for me to be there.
“I didn't know you would protect Isabella.”
“You knew I was working that night.”
“Yes.”
“You knew where I would stand.”
“I didn't know.”
“Then why did you keep watching me?”
“Because your father asked me to.”
I felt sick.
Everyone had been watching me.
Everyone had known pieces of my life.
And nobody trusted me with the truth.
Edward continued.
“The seven bullets were supposed to hit Isabella.”
I looked at Dominic.
His face was stone.
“Why didn't they?”
“Because the shooter panicked.”
“No.”
My father stepped forward.
“The shooter wasn't supposed to panic.”
Edward nodded.
“He was supposed to kill Evelyn too.”
Silence.
The truth hurt.
But there was more.
Edward said Vale had arranged the entire operation because my father's evidence was hidden inside my family.
Vale believed I would eventually lead them to it.
They needed me alive.
The shooting was supposed to create fear.
Instead, it created the one thing they couldn't control.
Dominic's obsession with protecting me.
Edward looked at him.
“You changed everything.”
Dominic's voice was cold.
“You changed nothing.”
Edward lowered his eyes.
“I know.”
The authorities were already moving.
With the ledger, recordings, and witness statements, the network began collapsing.
Bank accounts were frozen.
Businesses were searched.
Several officials resigned.
Costa was arrested at the airport trying to flee the country.
Jonathan Vale was found three days later in a hospital under an alias.
He was arrested.
The last remaining threat was gone.
But Dominic still had one final decision.
He had promised to dismantle the organization.
To do that, he had to testify.
It meant admitting everything.
Every illegal business.
Every violent operation.
Every secret.
I knew what it could cost him.
“You don't have to do it alone,” I told him.
He looked at me.
“I know.”
“You can tell the truth.”
“You're not afraid?”
“I’m afraid.”
He smiled faintly.
“Good.”
“Good?”
“It means we're both human.”
The trial lasted months.
Dominic testified.
So did my father.
So did Edward.
Costa blamed everyone else.
Vale denied everything.
But evidence doesn't care about excuses.
The old empire crumbled.
Dominic walked away from it all.
Some assets were sold.
Some were transferred into legitimate companies.
Some were surrendered.
The rest disappeared under government seizure.
By the end, Dominic was no longer New York's feared crime boss.
He was simply Dominic Rossi.
A businessman.
A son.
A husband.
A man trying to rebuild his life.
I had surgery to remove the remaining bullets.
The doctors had warned me that it would be complicated.
The operation lasted hours.
Dominic waited outside.
When I woke, he was there.
“You're awake.”
“Again.”
He smiled.
“I like hearing your voice.”
I looked at him.
“How many bullets?”
“Seven.”
“How many left?”
He hesitated.
“Two.”
I touched his hand.
“Then maybe someday we'll remove the rest.”
“Someday.”
We married again six months later.
For real this time.
A courthouse first.
Then a small ceremony by the Hudson.
No politicians.
No gangsters.
No weapons.
Just family.
My mother sat in the front row.
My father cried.
Isabella cried harder.
Enzo pretended he wasn't crying.
Even Clara smiled.
After the ceremony, Dominic whispered to me.
“You know what I remember most about the first wedding?”
I laughed.
“You putting a ring on an unconscious woman?”
“Yes.”
“That sounds terrible.”
“It was.”
“What do you remember?”
His eyes softened.
“I remember being terrified.”
I kissed him.
“And now?”
“Now I'm terrified for a different reason.”
“What?”
He pulled a small velvet box from his pocket.
I stared.
“Dominic.”
He opened it.
Inside was a tiny silver key.
“To what?”
“Our future.”
I laughed.
“That isn't a real key.”
“It opens a house.”
“What house?”
“The one I bought for you.”
I stared.
“You bought me a house?”
“Not exactly.”
“What exactly?”
“I bought us a house.”
My eyes filled with tears.
He smiled.
“No guards.”
“No hidden rooms.”
“No secret tunnels.”
“No illegal business.”
“No dead uncles.”
I laughed through my tears.
“That last one might be impossible.”
He kissed my forehead.
“You ready?”
“For what?”
“To finally live.”
I rested my head against his chest.
“Yes.”
For the first time in eighteen years, I believed him.
Then a man approached us.
He was dressed in a dark suit.
I recognized him immediately.
A federal investigator.
He handed Dominic an envelope.
“You should read this.”
Dominic opened it.
His face changed.
“What?”
He handed me the paper.
There was one name.
Rafael Rossi.
Under it was a note.
Missing.
Not dead.
We stared at each other.
Dominic slowly folded the paper.
I expected fear.
Instead, he smiled.
“Let him run.”
“Why?”
“Because we're done chasing ghosts.”
He took my hand.
May you like
And for the first time, the past no longer felt like a prison.
It felt like something we had survived.
