Chapter 4 - The Night Everything Went Missing
Dominic had spent three years trying to remember a face.
Now he realized he had been trying to remember the wrong thing.
He remembered the silhouette.
Tall.
Broad shoulders.
Long coat.
A silver watch.
But he also remembered a scent.
Cedarwood.
His father's cologne.
Except his father had been dead for nine years.
Dominic told Sadi.
She stared at him.
“You never told me.”
“I thought it was a nightmare.”
“That night was not a nightmare.”
She opened the ledger.
The pages were filled with numbers and coded names.
She moved through them quickly.
Then stopped.
“Here.”
Dominic leaned closer.
There was a payment dated two days before Sadi's death.
$5 million.
Recipient: E.R.
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“Elena Russo?”
“No.”
Sadi pointed lower.
The initials were followed by a second code.
“Estate Transfer.”
Dominic looked at Elena.
She shook her head.
“That isn't me.”
Matteo suddenly stepped forward.
“I know what it is.”
Dominic turned.
Matteo looked afraid.
“That money was used to create a trust.”
“For whom?”
Matteo did not answer.
Sadi did.
“For Dominic.”
Silence.
Dominic looked stunned.
“Why would my father create a trust for me after he was dead?”
“He didn't.”
Elena stepped closer.
“He created it before his death.”
Dominic frowned.
“What does that have to do with Sadi?”
Elena looked at the ledger.
“Everything.”
She turned the page.
There was a list of names.
One name had been crossed out.
Sadi Russo.
Another was circled.
Dominic Russo.
A third name appeared beneath it.
Lucas Russo.
Dominic stared.
“Who is Lucas?”
Elena looked at Sadi.
Sadi's face had gone pale.
“Lucas was my brother.”
Dominic looked at her.
“You never told me you had a brother.”
“Because he's dead.”
“Where?”
“According to my family?”
She swallowed.
“He died when he was fourteen.”
Elena spoke quietly.
“He didn't.”
Sadi's hand trembled.
“What?”
“He was taken.”
“By whom?”
“Anton.”
Dominic suddenly understood why Sadi had been targeted.
She was not merely the widow of a mafia boss.
She was connected to a missing heir.
Someone had spent years hiding Lucas Russo.
Dominic asked:
“Why?”
Elena looked at him.
“Because Lucas is your son.”
The room stopped.
Sadi's eyes closed.
Dominic stared at her.
“No.”
She did not answer.
“You were pregnant?”
Sadi nodded.
Three years earlier.
Before the crash.
She had been pregnant.
Dominic sat down.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because someone threatened to kill the baby.”
Dominic's voice was barely audible.
“Where is he?”
Sadi looked at him.
“He isn't dead.”
Dominic's heart slammed against his ribs.
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
The ledger suddenly made sense.
The missing money.
The hidden trust.
The secret names.
The assassination.
The fake death.
Everything pointed toward a child.
A child Dominic had never known existed.
Ray burst into the room.
“Boss, we've got a problem.”
Dominic stood.
“What?”
“The security cameras were hacked.”
“By whom?”
“Nathan.”
“What did he take?”
Ray looked uncomfortable.
“The footage from the night Sadi disappeared.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“Anything else?”
“One file.”
“What file?”
Ray hesitated.
“Your private medical records.”
Dominic froze.
Sadi looked at him.
“What?”
“I had blood tests done six months ago.”
“Why?”
“Because I was sick.”
She moved closer.
“What did they say?”
“Nothing serious.”
Sadi stared.
“Nothing serious?”
Dominic shook his head.
“The doctor said it was stress.”
She did not believe him.
Neither did he.
Ray interrupted.
“Boss, Nathan left a message.”
Dominic looked at him.
“What?”
“He said you're looking for your son.”
Silence.
“What else?”
Ray swallowed.
“He said the boy has your eyes.”
Sadi's knees nearly gave out.
Dominic caught her.
A second later, the mansion's alarm screamed.
Then came a phone call.
Unknown number.
Dominic answered.
A man's voice said:
“You've spent three years burying the wrong person.”
Dominic tightened his grip on the phone.
“Who are you?”
“I am the reason your son survived.”
“Where is he?”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“Whether you can stop being Dominic Russo for 24 hours.”
The call ended.
Dominic stared at the screen.
Sadi wiped away a tear.
“Who was it?”
“I don't know.”
Elena shook her head.
“He wants you isolated.”
Dominic nodded.
“Then we'll give him what he wants.”
Sadi looked at him.
“What?”
“I'll disappear.”
“No.”
“That's what he expects.”
“No, Dominic.”
She grabbed his sleeve.
“You disappeared once. I watched you become a ghost.”
He looked at her.
“I know.”
His expression softened.
“This time I come back.”
Sadi stared into his eyes.
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
For three years, Dominic had lived as a man with nothing left to lose.
May you like
Now he had discovered he had a family he had never known existed.
And that meant he had something to fight for.
