Chapter 13 - THE WOMAN WHO WOULDN’T DIE
Mara woke to beeping.
Hospital.
Her mouth was dry.
Her body felt like broken glass.
She tried to move.
“Don’t.”
Dominic.
He was sitting beside the bed.
Same suit.
Different shirt.
No tie.
His eyes looked exhausted.
“How long?”
“Thirty-six hours.”
“Caleb?”
“Safe.”
“Daniel?”
“Safe.”
“Lily?”
“Safe.”
She closed her eyes.
“Then why are you still here?”
Dominic almost smiled.
“You’re welcome.”
“What happened to Kane?”
“Escaped.”
Mara opened her eyes.
“You had one job.”
“I had two.”
“What?”
“Catch Kane.”
He looked at her.
“And keep you alive.”
Mara stared at the ceiling.
“Three bullets?”
“One went through your shoulder. One grazed your ribs.”
“And the third?”
“Missed anything important.”
“Clearly missed my common sense.”
Dominic leaned forward.
“You saved my son.”
“Again.”
“Yes.”
“So maybe stop letting people shoot at him.”
“That is the plan.”
Mara noticed dried blood on his cuff.
“Yours?”
“No.”
“Whose?”
Dominic’s face went cold.
“One of Kane’s men.”
“You killed him?”
“He tried to finish you in the ambulance.”
Mara stared.
Dominic’s voice dropped.
“I told you. Nobody touches what’s mine.”
Her expression changed.
“I’m not yours.”
He closed his eyes briefly.
“Bad choice of words.”
“Very.”
“What I meant was—”
“I know what you meant.”
Silence.
Then Dominic said something she never expected.
“I’m sorry.”
“For?”
“Lily.”
Mara looked at him.
“I should’ve told Daniel immediately.”
“Yes.”
“I was wrong.”
“Yes.”
“You could make this easier.”
“No.”
He almost smiled.
Mara’s eyes burned.
“You scare me, Dominic.”
His smile disappeared.
“Because of what I do?”
“Because sometimes I understand why you do it.”
He looked at her for a long time.
“That scares me too.”
The door opened.
Caleb rushed in.
“Mara!”
A nurse protested behind him.
Dominic said, “Let him.”
Caleb climbed carefully onto the bed.
“You got shot.”
“I noticed.”
“Three times.”
“Technically two and a half.”
“That’s still bad.”
“Very bad.”
He hugged her without touching the wounds.
Mara kissed his hair.
Then Caleb whispered:
“The man said something to me.”
Dominic’s eyes sharpened.
“What man?”
“The bad man.”
“Kane?”
Caleb nodded.
“Before he shot.”
“What?”
“He said Dad killed my real father.”
The room went silent.
Dominic stood.
“What exactly did he say?”
Caleb repeated it.
“Ask your father why he murdered Michael Vale.”
Mara stopped breathing.
Daniel entered the room behind them.
He had heard everything.
His face went white.
Mara whispered, “Michael Vale was our father.”
Daniel stared at Dominic.
Dominic stared back.
Caleb looked between them.
Mara felt the pieces move into place.
Elena.
Her father.
The ledger.
Caleb.
“No,” she whispered.
Daniel’s voice broke.
“Caleb is Dad’s son?”
Mara looked at the six-year-old boy in her arms.
May you like
Her little brother.
And Dominic Mercer knew.
