Chapter 6 - The Man Behind the Curtain
Anton did not enter the farmhouse.
He stood outside with armed men around him.
His voice came from a hidden loudspeaker.
“Dominic, come outside.”
Dominic laughed.
“You survived all these years just to ask politely?”
“I came for the boy.”
Lucas held Sadi's hand.
Dominic stepped in front of them.
“You'll never touch him.”
Anton smiled.
“I said the same thing when your mother refused to give him to me.”
Dominic's mother stepped forward.
“You killed my husband.”
Anton answered calmly.
“He chose the wrong side.”
“He was your brother.”
“He betrayed me.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“You've been manipulating this family for years.”
Anton smiled.
“Families are easy to manipulate because everyone thinks love makes them loyal.”
Dominic looked at Matteo.
“You hear that?”
Matteo nodded.
Anton's voice continued.
“The ledger belongs to me.”
Dominic held it up.
“No.”
“Then everyone in this city learns what your family has done.”
Sadi stepped forward.
“You don't have the whole ledger.”
Anton became silent.
She smiled.
“I memorized the missing pages.”
Anton shouted:
“Kill them!”
Gunfire erupted.
Dominic dragged Lucas behind cover.
Sadi and Matteo returned fire.
Elena moved the older woman toward the cellar entrance.
Ray shouted:
“They're circling!”
Paulie fired through the window.
Dominic realized Anton was not trying to kill them.
He was trying to force them toward the cellar.
A trap.
“Back room!”
They moved.
The farmhouse had an old tunnel leading to the forest.
They escaped beneath the roots of the hill.
On the other side waited a single vehicle.
When they reached it, Sadi noticed blood on Dominic's shirt.
“You're hit.”
“Scratch.”
She touched the fabric.
“It's not a scratch.”
Dominic smiled.
“I'm alive.”
She looked at him.
“You always say that like it's enough.”
“Tonight it is.”
They reached a safe house by sunrise.
Dominic finally removed his shirt.
A bullet had grazed his shoulder.
Sadi cleaned the wound.
Their hands touched.
Neither spoke.
Lucas slept in the next room.
The silence was different now.
Not empty.
Full.
Sadi whispered:
“I hated you.”
Dominic looked at her.
“For three years.”
“I know.”
“I blamed you.”
“I know.”
“I thought you chose your empire over me.”
“I never chose it over you.”
She looked down.
“Then why didn't you find me?”
“Because I was looking for a dead woman.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I was right there.”
“I know.”
She stared at him.
“And now?”
Dominic answered without hesitation.
“Now I choose you.”
Sadi kissed him.
It was brief.
Almost frightened.
Then Lucas appeared in the doorway.
“Are you two married?”
They separated.
Sadi laughed.
Dominic smiled.
“Not currently.”
Lucas nodded.
“You should.”
Dominic looked at Sadi.
She smiled.
“Maybe someday.”
The moment ended when Elena entered.
“We have a problem.”
Dominic sighed.
“Of course we do.”
She handed him a flash drive.
“Nathan sent this.”
Dominic inserted it into the laptop.
Video appeared.
Anton sat at a desk.
Across from him sat Nathan.
Nathan said:
“The Russo empire is almost mine.”
Anton smiled.
“And Dominic?”
“Dead.”
Anton shook his head.
“No.”
Nathan frowned.
“I want him alive.”
“Why?”
“Because I want him to understand.”
“Understand what?”
Anton leaned toward the camera.
“That the woman he loves betrayed him.”
The video changed.
A second recording appeared.
Sadi, three years earlier, standing beside Nathan.
Dominic stared.
In the recording, Sadi said:
“I will do anything to keep Dominic alive.”
Nathan answered:
“Then disappear.”
The video ended.
Dominic turned slowly toward Sadi.
“What is that?”
She looked stunned.
“I don't remember this meeting.”
Nathan had edited the recording.
But Dominic did not know that.
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A seed of doubt had been planted.
And Anton knew exactly where to plant it.
