Chapter 5 - The Choice
By midnight, Dominic Vale had lost something more valuable than money.
Protection.
The documents were transferred to independent attorneys and federal investigators through channels even my organization could not control.
That was deliberate.
Mara's final lesson.
Evidence first.
Anger later.
Celeste found me on the terrace.
Snow had replaced the rain.
“You hate me,” she said.
“No.”
“You should.”
“You protected Elena.”
“Not enough.”
“Neither did I.”
She looked through the glass doors.
Noah was asleep on the sofa with his rabbit beneath his chin.
“I knew about him,” Celeste admitted.
I turned.
“How long?”
“Since he was born.”
My expression hardened.
“I promised Elena.”
“You let him live in my house without telling me.”
“I kept him alive.”
That stopped me.
Celeste's eyes filled, but her voice remained steady.
“My father watched you constantly. If you suddenly discovered you had a nephew, he would have known Elena had left evidence.”
“So Mara became his mother.”
“She volunteered.”
“And you?”
“I made sure my father believed Mara was nothing more than your house manager.”
For years, Celeste had played the obedient daughter.
The perfect future wife.
The bridge between two criminal dynasties.
It had all been camouflage.
“Why agree to marry me?”
“Because getting close to you was the safest way to keep Noah close to the one man powerful enough to protect him once the truth came out.”
I almost laughed.
“So our entire engagement was surveillance?”
“Initially.”
“And later?”
She looked at me.
“That became complicated.”
Before I could answer, Noah appeared behind the glass door.
Barefoot.
Rabbit dragging beside him.
“Uncle Roman?”
I opened the door.
“What happened?”
“I had a bad dream.”
I crouched.
He wrapped both arms around my neck.
For five years, I had believed power meant knowing everything happening inside my territory.
A child had just proven otherwise.
I lifted him.
“Come on.”
“Where?”
“Bed.”
He rested his head against my shoulder.
Then looked at Celeste.
“Is she coming?”
I glanced at her.
“If she wants.”
May you like
Celeste followed us upstairs.
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