Chapter 2 - Dominic Learned I Had Entered His Mansion Under a Fake Name—But the Real Shock Was Why I Had Chosen His SonDominic didn't leave my room for the next two hours.
He asked questions.
I refused to answer most of them.
Not because I didn't trust him.
Because I wasn't sure if I could.
The Black Ledger had survived because people talked.
I had survived because I didn't.
Finally, Dominic stood.
"You came into my home under a false identity."
"Yes."
"You lied about your employment history."
"Yes."
"You were sent by someone."
"No."
His eyes narrowed.
"I came for protection."
"From whom?"
"The people I stole from."
"Why my house?"
I hesitated.
"Because nobody gets inside Blackthorne House without your permission."
Dominic stared at me.
"You thought my security could protect you."
"I knew it could."
His expression hardened.
"You underestimated me."
"Perhaps."
Then he asked the question I had been avoiding.
"Why Caleb?"
I frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"You attached yourself to him."
"I didn't."
"You found him crying."
"By accident."
"You became his friend."
"I couldn't leave him alone."
"And yesterday, you threw yourself in front of a bullet for him."
I looked at him.
"Wouldn't you?"
His face softened.
"Yes."
Silence.
I looked toward the window.
"Caleb reminded me of someone."
"Who?"
"My brother."
Dominic said nothing.
"My brother was six when he died."
His expression changed.
"How?"
"Wrong place. Wrong time."
Dominic sat again.
"What happened?"
I closed my eyes.
"My family was connected to the Black Ledger."
That got his attention.
"My father had been a courier."
"For the network?"
"Yes."
"What did he carry?"
"Documents."
"What kind?"
"Names."
Dominic stared at me.
"You grew up around this."
"Yes."
"And you ran."
"Until they found me."
"Who?"
"Lucian."
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"You trusted him."
"I did."
"Then why did he betray you?"
"I don't know."
"Do you believe he's working with the Black Ledger now?"
I looked at him.
"I believe he wants what I stole."
"What's his real name?"
I hesitated.
"Lucian Voss."
Dominic looked toward the security feed.
"I know the name."
"Most people do."
"Why?"
"Because he was once considered the deadliest assassin in New York."
Dominic's jaw tightened.
"What did he want with Caleb?"
I stared at him.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out."
Then Caleb entered.
His face was pale.
He carried a stuffed tiger.
He walked directly toward me.
"Are you dying?"
I smiled weakly.
"Not today."
He climbed carefully onto the chair beside my bed.
"I told Daddy not to let you die."
Dominic looked at his son.
"Caleb."
"What?"
"You need to rest."
"I want to stay."
Dominic looked at me.
I nodded.
Caleb reached for my hand.
Then he whispered:
"The bad man knew my name."
My blood turned cold.
"What bad man?"
"The one who shot."
"Did he say anything?"
Caleb nodded.
"He said something to the man with the silver ring."
Dominic and I exchanged a glance.
"What?"
Caleb frowned.
"Something about the star room."
Dominic stood.
"What star room?"
Caleb shrugged.
"The room where Daddy never lets me go."
Dominic went silent.
There was a room in Blackthorne House called the star room.
I had never heard of it.
Dominic had specifically forbidden staff from entering the north wing.
I suddenly understood.
Lucian hadn't targeted Caleb randomly.
He had been looking for something inside the house.
Something connected to me.
Something hidden in the one room Dominic never opened.
That night, Dominic took me there.
The room was covered in dust.
Old furniture.
Locked cabinets.
A piano.
On one wall were photographs.
Dominic's mother.
His father.
His childhood.
And one photograph that made my blood run cold.
Lucian.
Standing beside my brother.
Eight years before the bombing.
I stared.
Dominic noticed.
"What?"
"My brother knew him."
"You're saying your family knew Lucian?"
"No."
I pointed.
"Your family knew my family."
Dominic turned pale.
May you like
And suddenly, the Black Ledger wasn't a distant enemy.
It had been connected to both of us long before I ever entered Blackthorne House.
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