Chapter 2 - The Brother Who Was Supposed to Be Innocent
The first gunshot shattered the motel's front window.
Glass exploded across the lobby.
Elias ducked.
Dominic grabbed Sadi by the arm and pulled her behind the concrete support wall.
Ray's voice came through the corridor.
“Boss!”
Dominic opened the door.
“Get downstairs. Keep them away from the lobby.”
Ray stared when he saw Sadi.
There was a fraction of a second when his face revealed shock.
Then training took over.
“Boss…”
“Later.”
Dominic pointed toward the stairwell.
“Now.”
Ray moved.
Paulie followed.
Gunfire erupted below.
Sadi pressed her back against the wall.
“You shouldn't have brought your men.”
“I didn't bring them for you.”
“You brought them because you always think more guns solve everything.”
Dominic glanced at her.
“They usually do.”
“That is the problem.”
A bullet punched through the thin motel door.
Dominic fired once through the wood.
A man screamed from the hallway.
Sadi grabbed his wrist.
“Don't.”
Dominic turned.
“What?”
“We need one alive.”
“Why?”
“To tell us who sent them.”
Dominic stared at her.
She nodded toward the wounded man.
“He won't talk if you kill him.”
Dominic lowered the gun.
“Fine.”
They waited until the shooting stopped.
When Ray returned, blood covered his sleeve.
“Three men downstairs. One alive.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Good.”
Ray's eyes drifted back toward Sadi.
He looked like he had seen a ghost.
“She really is…”
“Alive,” Dominic finished.
Ray exhaled.
“You sure this isn't a trick?”
Sadi answered.
“If it were a trick, Ray, you would already be dead.”
Ray's mouth twitched.
“That sounds like her.”
Dominic noticed.
“You remember her?”
“Boss, everyone who worked for you then remembered her.”
Sadi looked away.
Dominic felt something ache inside him.
Three years ago, she had been the only person who could enter his office without knocking.
She had been fearless.
She had made fun of his temper.
She had stolen cigarettes from his pocket and replaced them with mints because she hated the smell.
Then one night, her car went over a bridge.
And everything changed.
Dominic pushed the memory away.
“Where is Matteo?”
Ray hesitated.
“At the Russo estate.”
Dominic stared at him.
“Tonight?”
“He came home two hours ago.”
Sadi closed her eyes.
“I told you.”
“You told me he ordered your death.”
“I know what I said.”
Dominic looked down the hall.
The wounded attacker was dragged upstairs.
“Bring him to the office.”
The man coughed blood onto the carpet.
Dominic knelt.
“Who sent you?”
The man laughed.
“You think you'll survive tonight?”
Dominic punched him in the ribs.
Sadi grabbed Dominic's wrist.
“I told you.”
He glared.
She leaned down toward the attacker.
“Tell us the truth, and you walk.”
The man looked at her.
Then his expression changed.
“You.”
“Yes.”
“They said you were dead.”
“They were wrong.”
He swallowed.
“It wasn't Bellini.”
Dominic's eyes sharpened.
“Who?”
The attacker laughed again.
“The man you call family.”
Dominic did not move.
Sadi did.
“What was the order?”
“Bring her in alive.”
“Why?”
“Because they need her.”
“Who?”
The man's eyes moved toward Dominic.
“They need what she knows.”
Then he died.
Dominic rose slowly.
“What does she know?”
Sadi looked toward the cracked window.
“Where the money went.”
“What money?”
“The money your family stole.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“My family?”
Sadi nodded.
“Three years ago, your father had hidden accounts.”
Dominic froze.
“My father is dead.”
“So was I.”
That sentence struck harder than the gunshots.
Sadi continued.
“When your father died, certain accounts disappeared. Matteo found them first.”
Dominic shook his head.
“No.”
“I saw the records.”
“You're saying Matteo stole from the family?”
“I'm saying he has been moving money through shell companies for years.”
Ray entered.
“Boss.”
Dominic turned.
“The prisoner is dead.”
“I know.”
Ray lowered his voice.
“And Matteo just called.”
Dominic said nothing.
“He wants you at the estate.”
Sadi laughed softly.
“Of course he does.”
Dominic stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because he knows I'm with you.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“How?”
“Because this motel was never safe.”
She looked around the room.
“They wanted me here.”
Dominic's stomach dropped.
“The janitor?”
“Elias was forced to help them.”
Elias shook his head.
“No.”
Sadi looked at him.
“They threatened your granddaughter.”
The old man's eyes filled with tears.
“I had no choice.”
Dominic stepped toward him.
“Tell me everything.”
Elias broke.
“They came yesterday. They gave me a photograph of my granddaughter leaving school. They said she would disappear if I didn't keep Sadi in this room until they arrived.”
Sadi closed her eyes.
“I knew it.”
Dominic looked at her.
“You knew Elias was compromised?”
“Yes.”
“Then why stay?”
“Because I needed them to think I was trapped.”
Dominic stared.
She smiled faintly.
“I needed the person behind them to come in person.”
A cold silence settled.
“You knew I would come.”
Sadi looked at him.
“I hoped you would.”
Dominic's chest tightened.
“Why?”
“Because you're the only man powerful enough to force the truth out of the people around you.”
The words sounded like an accusation.
And a plea.
Dominic picked up his coat.
“We're going home.”
Sadi shook her head.
“Your house isn't home.”
“It is for me.”
“Not anymore.”
Ray looked between them.
“Boss, where are we going?”
Dominic answered without looking away from Sadi.
“To find my brother.”
The Russo estate sat behind black iron gates on a hill overlooking the city.
By midnight, every light in the mansion was still on.
Matteo waited in the drawing room.
He looked exactly as Dominic remembered.
Perfect suit.
Perfect hair.
Perfect smile.
The smile disappeared when Sadi entered behind Dominic.
Matteo went pale.
For 3 long seconds, nobody moved.
Then Matteo whispered:
“No.”
Sadi smiled.
“Hello, Matteo.”
He stumbled backward.
Dominic stepped forward.
“You want to explain?”
Matteo looked at Dominic.
Then at Sadi.
Then back to Dominic.
“I can explain everything.”
“Good.”
Dominic pulled a chair out.
“Start with why my dead wife is alive.”
Matteo swallowed.
“She was never supposed to survive.”
The room went silent.
Dominic slowly removed his gloves.
“You have 10 seconds.”
Matteo looked terrified.
Not of Sadi.
Of someone else.
Then the front doors opened.
A woman walked into the mansion.
She wore a dark red dress and carried a leather folder.
She looked at Sadi and smiled.
“I'm glad you finally came home.”
Sadi's face went white.
Dominic turned.
“Who are you?”
The woman placed the folder on the table.
“Your mother's sister.”
Dominic stared.
“My mother was an only child.”
The woman smiled.
“That is what your father wanted everyone to believe.”
She opened the folder.
Inside was a birth certificate.
And a photograph of Dominic as a child.
Standing beside his father.
And beside a little girl.
A girl Dominic had never seen before.
On the back of the photograph was a single handwritten sentence.
May you like
Her name was Elena.
And she was the only reason Dominic Russo was still alive.
