Chapter 13 - The Twins Became the Target
Dominic wanted the children out of the country.
Clara refused.
Again.
“I’m beginning to understand why you’ve had six nannies,” she told him.
“Because my children are difficult?”
“Because you are.”
Under normal circumstances, he might have laughed.
There were no normal circumstances anymore.
“Salvatore has forty-eight million dollars and decades of contacts.”
“And passports are magical?”
“No.”
“Then moving them doesn’t guarantee safety.”
“It increases distance.”
“And destroys stability.”
Dominic paced the study.
“I’m not debating this.”
Clara crossed her arms.
“You hired the wrong woman if you wanted someone who never debates.”
“I noticed.”
Their eyes met.
Tension lived between them now.
Not just fear.
Not just respect.
Something neither had named since the kiss near the rail depot.
Mia had named it.
At breakfast, loudly.
“Daddy loves Clara.”
Dominic had nearly choked on coffee.
Clara had turned red.
Gabriel had smiled into his pancakes.
Now, standing in the study, neither mentioned it.
Dominic said, “I will not lose them.”
Clara softened.
“I know.”
“I already lost Sofia.”
“I know.”
“If something happens—”
She stepped closer.
“Fear cannot raise your children for you.”
His eyes closed briefly.
“You make everything sound simple.”
“No. I make it sound worth fighting differently.”
He looked at her.
“Differently how?”
“Stop playing by Salvatore’s rules.”
Dominic considered.
For years, Salvatore had depended on secrecy.
Threats.
Fear.
Private leverage.
So Dominic did something Salvatore never expected.
He went public.
A respected investigative journalist received copies of financial evidence.
So did federal prosecutors.
So did attorneys in three states.
If anything happened to Dominic, the records would continue spreading.
Suddenly, killing him would solve nothing.
Salvatore responded within hours.
A video appeared online.
Dominic’s face.
His businesses.
Old photographs.
Accusations.
Some true.
Some fabricated.
Headlines exploded.
CASTELLANO CRIME EMPIRE EXPOSED?
BUSINESSMAN OR MOB BOSS?
FAMILY WAR ERUPTS BEHIND MANSION GATES
Reporters gathered outside.
Clara looked through the curtains.
“This is awful.”
Dominic shrugged.
“You get used to bad headlines.”
Mia appeared.
“Why are they calling Daddy dangerous?”
Clara turned.
Dominic froze.
He had spent years hiding his world from the children.
Now it sat on television.
Mia looked at him.
“Are you dangerous?”
Dominic slowly knelt.
“Yes.”
Clara watched.
Mia’s eyes widened.
“To bad people?”
“Sometimes.”
“Do you hurt people?”
Dominic could have lied.
He did not.
“I’ve made decisions I’m not proud of.”
Mia looked at Clara.
She gave no answer for him.
Dominic continued.
“But I am trying to make better ones.”
“Because of us?”
“Yes.”
Mia thought.
“And Clara?”
Dominic glanced at her.
“Yes.”
Clara looked away.
Gabriel walked toward his father.
He placed one hand on Dominic’s shoulder.
No words.
Forgiveness without pretending the past did not exist.
That evening, federal authorities offered Dominic a deal.
Cooperation.
Full testimony.
Asset transparency.
In exchange, consideration for charges connected to businesses he had inherited but not directly managed.
Dominic agreed.
Matteo looked shocked.
“You understand what this means?”
“Yes.”
“Everything changes.”
“Good.”
“You might lose companies.”
“I can build companies.”
“You might lose the house.”
Dominic looked toward the playroom.
“I can buy another house.”
Matteo smiled faintly.
“There he is.”
“Who?”
“The man Sofia believed you could become.”
Dominic swallowed.
Before he could respond, an alarm sounded.
Not security.
Fire.
Smoke poured from the east wing.
“Children!” Clara screamed.
They ran.
Mia emerged coughing with a guard.
Gabriel was not with her.
“Where is he?”
Mia cried.
“He went back for the fox!”
Clara ran toward the smoke.
Dominic grabbed her.
“No.”
“Gabriel is inside!”
“I’ll go.”
“You don’t know his hiding places.”
She pulled free.
Dominic followed.
They found Gabriel under the library table.
Flames had reached the curtains.
Clara wrapped him in her yellow coat.
Dominic carried him out.
Outside, firefighters arrived.
The fire was contained.
An investigator later found accelerant near a service entrance.
Arson.
More disturbing was the camera footage.
A staff delivery worker had carried the device inside.
The man had never worked for them.
Fake identification.
Salvatore had penetrated the estate again.
Dominic looked at the burned library.
“This house is no longer safe.”
Clara finally agreed.
They relocated to a fortified townhouse downtown.
For two weeks, nothing happened.
Then a package arrived.
No explosives.
No threats.
Only two bullets resting inside velvet.
One engraved with M.
One engraved with G.
Mia.
Gabriel.
Clara stared at them.
Dominic closed the box.
His voice became almost inaudible.
“This ends now.”
May you like
But none of them knew the ending was already approaching.
And when it came, Clara would have only three seconds to choose between her life and the lives of the two children who had become hers.
