Chapter 2 - The Secret Buried Beneath the Rossi Empire
The private elevator descended without stopping.
Lena stood beside Dominic in silence.
Her phone was in his hand.
He had not returned it.
That alone told her the situation was serious.
"How long have you known?" she finally asked.
Dominic stared at the illuminated floor numbers.
"Known what?"
"That my father may still be alive."
His jaw tightened.
"I don't know if he's alive."
"But you know his name."
"Daniel Vale."
Lena looked at him.
"My father's name was Michael."
Dominic turned.
"Michael Vale was the name he used after he disappeared."
The doors opened into the underground garage.
Three black SUVs waited.
Men in dark suits stood around them.
Lena knew some of those men.
She had seen them at the office.
She had assumed they were security.
Now she understood why they carried themselves like soldiers.
Dominic guided her into the middle vehicle.
A man named Rafael locked the door from the front before taking the driver's seat.
The SUV moved.
Lena stared through the dark window.
"I deserve the truth."
"You do."
"Then tell me."
Dominic looked at her.
"Your father worked for my father."
Lena felt cold.
"He was an accountant."
"That was the public version."
"What did he actually do?"
"He handled financial records."
"Illegal ones?"
"Among other things."
Her fingers curled.
"My father was a criminal?"
"He was an accountant who discovered where the money was going."
Dominic paused.
"He tried to expose my father."
Lena swallowed.
"What happened?"
"Your father disappeared."
"You said he left."
"He did."
"Because he was running from your family."
"Because he was trying to stay alive."
The SUV turned underground toward a private garage beneath a Rossi-owned building.
Lena's eyes filled with tears.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?"
Dominic's voice was quiet.
"Because your father made me promise."
"Made you?"
"I was 22."
He looked out the window.
"Your father approached me when my own father was preparing to kill him."
Lena stared.
"You knew him personally."
"Yes."
"What did he ask you to do?"
"Protect you."
Lena suddenly understood why Dominic had never fired her.
Why he had always made sure she had the safest parking space.
Why he had refused to let her travel alone during certain negotiations.
Why every threat against the company mysteriously disappeared before reaching her.
"You hired me because of him."
Dominic didn't deny it.
"At first."
The honesty hurt.
"What about now?"
He looked directly into her eyes.
"Now I couldn't imagine this company without you."
The words landed harder than any confession could have.
Before Lena could respond, the SUV stopped.
They entered a hidden office beneath the Rossi headquarters.
Dominic opened a steel cabinet.
Inside were old files.
Photographs.
Bank records.
A bloodstained ledger.
Lena recognized the man in one photograph.
Her father.
Beside Dominic's father.
And another man stood between them.
Marcus Devo.
Lena stepped closer.
Her stomach tightened.
"That photograph is twelve years old."
"Yes."
"What was Marcus doing with them?"
Dominic removed a folder.
"Planning a takeover."
He opened it.
There were documents showing secret payments from Dominic's father to Devo companies.
But one name appeared repeatedly.
Cecilia Hargrove.
Lena's voice went quiet.
"She works with you."
"She works for herself."
Dominic turned another page.
A handwritten note appeared.
If Michael's daughter ever comes near the books, use the girl.
Lena stared at the sentence.
"The girl."
Dominic looked at her.
"That's you."
She stepped backward.
The room felt smaller.
"Why would they care about me?"
"Because your father left evidence."
"What evidence?"
Dominic hesitated.
"We don't know."
Lena stared at the ledger.
Then remembered something.
A silver key.
Her mother had kept it hidden inside an old jewelry box.
Lena had never known what it opened.
"I have something."
Dominic's eyes sharpened.
"What?"
"A key."
"Where?"
"At my apartment."
Dominic immediately reached for his phone.
"Rafael."
"We're already on it."
But Lena stopped him.
"No."
Dominic looked at her.
"I'm coming."
"You are not going back there."
"That's my home."
"It may be compromised."
"It is my home."
Dominic stepped closer.
"Lena, someone knew enough about you to send a message tonight. That means they have been watching you."
She held his gaze.
"Then I want to know why."
Dominic reached for her hand.
"We'll find out."
The words were simple.
But something in his eyes made them feel like a vow.
That night, Dominic stayed in the guest room of Lena's apartment.
He refused to leave.
He sat on the sofa outside her bedroom with a gun on the table and a laptop open beside him.
Lena stood in the doorway.
"You are really staying?"
"Yes."
"You don't trust your own security?"
"I trust them."
"Then why stay?"
Dominic looked at her.
"Because I don't trust whoever is watching you."
Lena leaned against the doorframe.
"And if I'm the real target?"
"Then they made one mistake."
"What?"
"They told me you were in danger."
His expression hardened.
"They should have kept you out of this."
"And now?"
"Now they're going to regret it."
Later that night, Lena found the silver key hidden in an old box.
It was wrapped inside a photograph.
The photograph showed her father holding her when she was a child.
On the back, someone had written five words.
Look where the river remembers.
Lena carried it to Dominic.
His eyes widened.
"Pier 9."
"What's at Pier 9?"
"An abandoned Rossi warehouse."
Lena frowned.
"Why would my father hide evidence there?"
Dominic looked at the photograph.
"He didn't."
"Then who did?"
Dominic slowly lifted his eyes.
"Your mother."
At that exact moment, every light in the apartment went out.
A gunshot shattered the window.
Dominic pulled Lena to the floor.
Glass exploded across the room.
Then another shot.
Dominic rolled toward the window, pulled his weapon, and fired into the darkness.
"Lena, stay down."
She grabbed his sleeve.
"Who's shooting?"
May you like
Dominic looked at the destroyed window.
"Someone who knows exactly where we are."
