Chapter 5 - The Truth My Mother Had Buried
I returned to Ohio the next morning.
Dominic came with me.
I told myself it was because he needed to protect the evidence.
That wasn't the whole truth.
I didn't want to face my mother alone.
Mary Miller was thinner than I remembered.
The illness had taken so much from her.
But when she saw Dominic, she didn't look afraid.
She looked relieved.
“You found him,” she whispered.
Dominic frowned.
“Found who?”
“My husband's son.”
He froze.
I stared at her.
“What?”
She shook her head.
“Not you.”
She looked at Dominic.
“Your father.”
I felt like the floor had vanished.
She continued.
“Thomas Russo wasn't merely Dominic's father.”
“He was your father's employer?”
“No.”
She closed her eyes.
“He was his friend.”
Dominic sat beside her.
“What happened?”
“My husband, Daniel Miller, was a translator.”
I looked at her.
“I thought he worked in shipping.”
“He did because it was safer.”
She explained.
Daniel had discovered that the Russo family's contracts were being altered.
He began investigating.
Thomas trusted him.
Adrian didn't.
Daniel discovered the trust.
He realized billions of dollars had been diverted.
Then Thomas decided to expose everything.
Adrian arranged the crash that killed Daniel.
But before Daniel died, he left something behind.
A letter.
My mother had hidden it for twenty-six years.
She opened a drawer.
Inside was a sealed envelope.
My name was written on it.
I couldn't move.
Dominic took one step back.
“This is yours.”
I opened it.
My father's handwriting filled the page.
Casey,
You will be too young to understand this now.
Maybe one day you will.
Your existence is the reason I cannot run.
You were named as one of the protected beneficiaries because I needed you to be safe even if I wasn't.
The Russo family has enemies.
Some are outside.
Some are inside.
Trust Thomas.
Never trust Adrian.
And if you ever meet Dominic, tell him this:
His father loved him.
I started crying.
Dominic looked away.
He was crying too.
I had never seen a man like Dominic Russo cry.
It made him look less frightening.
Almost human.
My mother reached for my hand.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“Then why didn't you?”
“Because Adrian came back.”
I froze.
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
Dominic stood.
“What did he want?”
“To know whether you had the register.”
“He knows about the register?”
“Yes.”
My phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
One message.
You finally found the letter.
Another appeared.
Now bring me the register.
Then a photograph arrived.
My mother outside the clinic.
Taken that morning.
I felt my stomach drop.
Dominic took the phone.
His expression went completely blank.
“That means he's close.”
My mother looked terrified.
“Who?”
Dominic's voice became cold.
“Adrian.”
Then the lights went out.
I heard glass breaking downstairs.
Dominic grabbed my hand.
“Stay behind me.”
Men entered the house.
Three.
Then five.
Dominic moved with terrifying speed.
I heard shouting.
A door slammed.
Someone fell.
I grabbed my mother.
Within seconds, Dominic had neutralized the first attackers.
But one man escaped through the back door.
Dominic chased him.
I followed to the porch.
The man turned.
Raised a gun.
Dominic pushed me down.
The shot struck the railing.
Then another gunshot came.
The attacker fell.
A woman stood across the street holding a weapon.
I recognized her.
Victoria Russo.
Dominic's wife.
She lowered the gun.
“Don't look so surprised,” she said.
I stared at her.
“Why are you here?”
She looked at Dominic.
“Because I finally figured out what my husband wasn't telling me.”
Dominic's face became unreadable.
Victoria walked closer.
“I thought you were stealing from me.”
Dominic frowned.
“I wasn't.”
“I know.”
She looked at me.
“I thought you were having an affair.”
My face flushed.
“You're mistaken.”
“I know that now.”
She swallowed.
“Adrian has been using me.”
Dominic stared.
“How?”
“He convinced me you were hiding money.”
“And?”
“I helped him.”
Silence.
“How?”
She handed Dominic a flash drive.
“I gave him access to our legal files.”
Dominic took it.
“Why?”
“Because I thought you were betraying me.”
She looked down.
“But I was wrong.”
I watched her.
The woman who had humiliated me in front of an entire restaurant now looked exhausted.
“I owe you an apology,” she said.
I didn't answer.
She deserved to finish.
“I called you an illiterate servant.”
“Yes.”
“I was cruel.”
“Yes.”
She nodded.
“I was wrong.”
Then she looked at Dominic.
“And so was I about you.”
Dominic closed his hand around the flash drive.
“You helped Adrian.”
“I did.”
“You could go to prison.”
“I know.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“You shouldn't.”
She looked at me.
“But maybe you should trust what I'm giving you.”
Dominic inspected the drive.
I plugged it into my laptop.
Files appeared.
Emails.
Bank transfers.
Encrypted communications.
Then one name.
Elias Grant.
Dominic's security chief.
The same man he had trusted for fourteen years.
I looked at Dominic.
“There's your traitor.”
He didn't speak.
Instead, he picked up his phone.
“Elias.”
The call connected.
“Boss?”
Dominic said quietly.
“Where are you?”
“At the Manhattan office.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“Stay there.”
He ended the call.
May you like
Then he looked at me.
“We're going home.”
