Chapter 5 - The Night Callie Became the Target
Helen didn't answer.
I called again.
Nothing.
Dominic grabbed his coat.
“Stay here.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Callie.”
“She helped me.”
“And I'm handling it.”
“You don't even know where she is.”
“I'll find her.”
“I know her routine.”
Dominic stopped.
“What routine?”
“She works Wednesday nights.”
“Where?”
I told him.
Ten minutes later, we were inside an SUV with Luca and two guards.
Dominic sat beside me.
“You stay in the vehicle.”
“Fine.”
“You're lying.”
“Yes.”
He looked at Luca.
“Why did I marry her?”
Luca almost smiled.
“You wanted someone innocent.”
Dominic stared at me.
“Another mistake.”
We reached the clinic.
Helen's car remained outside.
The front door was unlocked.
Dominic entered first.
I followed despite his glare.
“Helen?”
Nothing.
Then a voice came from the rear hallway.
“Callie?”
Helen emerged.
She was unharmed.
I exhaled.
“Oh, thank God.”
Then Dominic grabbed my arm.
“Wait.”
A man stepped out behind Helen.
Anthony Russo.
No gun.
No dramatic attack.
Just a frightened man holding a folder.
Dominic's voice became cold.
“Move away from her.”
Anthony raised his hands.
“I didn't hurt anyone.”
“You ran.”
“Because I knew you'd think I betrayed you.”
“You accessed my security.”
“Yes.”
“You used Bellini's network.”
“Yes.”
Luca stepped forward.
Anthony shook his head.
“But I wasn't poisoning you.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“Then who was?”
Anthony looked directly at Luca.
The room went silent.
Luca stared back.
“Careful.”
Anthony threw the folder onto a desk.
“Bank records.”
Dominic didn't move.
“Explain.”
“Vincent didn't build the network alone.”
Anthony pointed at Luca.
“He did.”
I looked at Dominic.
His expression didn't change.
That was more frightening than anger.
Luca slowly reached toward his jacket.
Dominic's men immediately raised their weapons.
“Don't,” Dominic said.
Luca stopped.
Anthony continued.
“After Vincent died, Luca kept paying Bellini.”
“That's a lie.”
Helen opened the folder.
“These payments go back nearly three years.”
Luca looked at me.
And suddenly I understood why he'd wanted me gone.
Why he'd questioned me.
Why he'd called me a complication.
Dominic whispered, “Why?”
Luca laughed bitterly.
“Because you were supposed to become weak.”
“I trusted you.”
“You trusted Vincent too.”
“You stood beside me at his funeral.”
“I stood beside the man who inherited everything.”
Dominic stepped forward.
Luca's composure cracked.
“You think you're different from Vincent?”
“Yes.”
“Because you spared one frightened doctor?”
“No.”
Dominic glanced at me.
“Because someone finally reminded me I could be.”
Luca pulled his weapon.
Everything happened at once.
A guard tackled his arm aside.
Dominic shoved me behind him.
The weapon struck the floor.
Within seconds, Luca was restrained.
No one fired.
Dominic stared down at the man who had served beside him for years.
“You kept me sick.”
Luca smiled.
“You kept yourself sick. I just helped.”
Dominic's face tightened.
I took his hand.
He looked at me.
“Don't give him what he wants.”
Luca laughed.
“She controls you already.”
Dominic's fingers closed around mine.
“No.”
He looked at his former lieutenant.
“She reminds me I still control myself.”
Dominic ordered his men to turn Luca over to the authorities along with the financial evidence connecting him to the illegal medical scheme and the Bellini network.
As Luca was taken away, Anthony looked stunned.
“You're letting the courts handle him?”
Dominic looked exhausted.
“I've buried enough family.”
Then he turned toward me.
“You disobeyed me.”
“I did.”
“You followed me into danger.”
“Yes.”
“You're impossible.”
“So I've heard.”
Dominic stared at me.
Then, unexpectedly, he laughed.
Not a cold laugh.
Not a threatening one.
A real one.
May you like
And for the first time, I saw the man beneath the name everyone feared.
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