Chapter 6 - THE FATHER WHO NEVER DIED
My father wanted one thing.
Control.
He had built the Black Network decades earlier.
He had manipulated politicians.
Bought judges.
Controlled unions.
Destroyed enemies.
And when I tried to dismantle his operations after inheriting the family empire, he disappeared.
I had thought I won.
I hadn't.
He had simply gone underground.
The location came through an encrypted message.
An abandoned estate in Connecticut.
We went before dawn.
Grace insisted on coming.
“You're staying in the car.”
“No.”
“You could be killed.”
“So could you.”
“I can protect you.”
She stared at me.
“That's what everyone keeps saying.”
“What?”
“That they can protect me.”
She stepped closer.
“I don't need a cage, Dominic.”
I looked at her.
“I know.”
“Then don't build one.”
I nodded.
“I won't.”
We entered the estate through a side entrance.
Michael was in the basement.
Alive.
Unhurt.
My father stood behind him.
Older.
Gray-haired.
But unmistakable.
“Hello, Dominic.”
I raised my weapon.
“You're dead.”
He smiled.
“You believed that.”
“You left me.”
“I protected you.”
“You destroyed my life.”
“I built it.”
“You murdered people.”
“I created order.”
“You created fear.”
He looked at Grace.
“And now you've brought an enemy into my house.”
Grace stepped forward.
“You killed my father.”
“He betrayed me.”
“He exposed you.”
“He tried to destroy everything.”
I looked at Michael.
“Let him go.”
My father laughed.
“He is the future.”
“He's a child.”
“He is your brother's son.”
I froze.
“What?”
My father smiled.
“Your brother wasn't dead either.”
Another figure stepped from the shadows.
My brother.
Adrian.
Alive.
Older than I remembered.
Scarred.
He looked at me.
“Hello, Dominic.”
I couldn't speak.
Twenty-four years of grief.
Twenty-four years of believing my little brother had died.
And he was standing there.
“Why?”
Adrian looked down.
“Because Dad wanted me hidden.”
“Why?”
“Because I was the heir.”
Michael ran toward me.
I caught him.
My father watched.
“Everything I've built belongs to this family.”
“No.”
I held Michael tighter.
“It doesn't.”
My father raised a gun.
Grace stepped in front of me.
He stared at her.
“You would die for him?”
She answered without hesitation.
“Yes.”
Something shifted in his face.
“You're exactly like your mother.”
Grace frowned.
“My mother?”
“She loved a Rossi.”
“You knew her?”
“I knew everyone.”
Suddenly, Adrian pulled a weapon on our father.
“Enough.”
My father turned.
“You wouldn't.”
“I would.”
“You're my son.”
“And he's my brother.”
Adrian pointed toward me.
“You've spent twenty-five years destroying everyone around you.”
My father laughed.
“You think you're better?”
“No.”
Adrian's hand shook.
“But I'm finished.”
Gunfire erupted.
I grabbed Grace and Michael.
We ran.
Adrian fired toward our father.
Then a bullet struck Adrian.
He fell.
“Adrian!”
I dragged him behind a pillar.
Blood spread across his shirt.
He looked at me.
“Take Michael.”
“I won't leave you.”
“You have to.”
“No.”
He smiled weakly.
“For once, little brother…”
His eyes closed.
“Let me do something right.”
We escaped through the basement tunnel.
Outside, sirens approached.
Federal agents.
Grace looked at me.
“How did they know?”
I looked at the black cross.
The tracking device.
My mother had planned this.
She had known the day would come.
We returned to the safe house.
Adrian survived surgery.
My father was arrested.
But Vanessa was still free.
And before dawn, a message arrived.
May you like
One sentence.
YOU STILL DON'T KNOW WHO YOUR MOTHER WAS.
