Chapter 6 - The Underboss On His Knees
Mateo vanished.
No phone.
No car.
No security feed.
Dominic knew immediately that it was personal.
Three hours later, a video arrived.
Mateo was tied to a chair.
Victor stood behind him.
"Bring the ledger."
Dominic's jaw tightened.
"Or?"
Victor smiled.
"You know."
Penelope watched beside him.
"We can't give him everything."
"I know."
"If the ledger reaches the authorities—"
"Then half the city burns."
"And the other half?"
Dominic looked at her.
"Gets a chance to start over."
She understood.
They planned an exchange.
The old Bellucci theater.
Abandoned for twenty years.
Dominic entered with the ledger.
Penelope stayed hidden.
Victor arrived with Mateo.
There were twelve armed men.
Dominic counted them.
Then smiled.
"You're making a mistake."
Victor laughed.
"You have no leverage."
Dominic raised the ledger.
"This is all the leverage I need."
He threw it.
Victor caught it.
"Open it."
Victor did.
Every page was blank.
His face changed.
Dominic smiled.
"The real ledger isn't here."
Victor shouted.
Gunfire exploded.
Penelope emerged from the balcony.
She had the real ledger.
Victor's men turned.
She ran.
Mateo broke free.
Raphael's team stormed the theater.
Chaos erupted.
Dominic reached Victor.
They fought through the backstage corridor.
Victor pulled a knife.
Dominic disarmed him.
"You should have stayed out of my family."
Victor laughed.
"You don't even know who your family is."
"What?"
Victor pointed at Penelope.
"Ask her."
Dominic turned.
Penelope stood frozen.
Victor continued:
"Her father isn't Thomas Hayes."
Dominic stared.
"What did you say?"
Victor smiled.
"Thomas was the man who raised her."
Penelope's face went white.
Victor vanished through the emergency door.
Dominic turned to Penelope.
"What does he mean?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
"You don't?"
"I swear."
She looked at the ledger.
"The original birth record was sealed."
Dominic immediately understood.
Someone had hidden Penelope's identity.
Just as someone had hidden hers.
The next clue came from the final page.
A name.
Isabella Russo.
Dominic's stepmother.
But beside it was another name.
Penelope Hayes.
And a note:
THE TWO GIRLS WERE SWITCHED.
Dominic stopped breathing.
Penelope stared at the page.
"No."
Dominic looked at her.
"What does that mean?"
May you like
She whispered:
"My mother gave birth to twins."
