Chapter 9 - THE LIE ABOUT CALEB
Dominic nearly crashed the car.
“What did you say?”
Daniel coughed blood.
“You heard me.”
Mara pressed harder against his wound.
“He needs a hospital.”
Dominic pulled into an abandoned garage owned by one of his men.
“Doctor’s coming.”
Then he dragged Daniel upright.
“Say it again.”
Mara shoved Dominic back.
“He’s injured.”
“My son was just mentioned.”
“Dominic!”
Daniel laughed weakly.
“Still charming.”
Dominic’s eyes could have killed him.
Daniel took a breath.
“Your wife, Elena, was working with federal investigators.”
“I know that now.”
“She discovered Kane had people inside your business.”
“Names?”
“Some.”
“Who?”
“She kept evidence.”
“Where?”
Daniel looked at Mara.
“In the ledger.”
Dominic paced once.
Then stopped.
“And Caleb?”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“Elena was pregnant before she married you.”
Silence.
Dominic stared at him.
“You’re lying.”
“Could be.”
Daniel’s voice was rough.
“But Kane believed Caleb’s biological father was someone in his organization.”
“Who?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I never learned.”
Mara watched Dominic.
The news wasn’t hurting his pride.
It was hurting something deeper.
Fear.
“If Caleb isn’t mine,” Dominic said slowly, “why would Kane want him?”
“Leverage.”
“For what?”
“The ledger. The names. Whatever Elena found.”
Dominic’s voice hardened.
“Caleb is my son.”
Daniel shrugged.
“Then biology doesn’t matter.”
It was the smartest thing he had said all night.
The doctor arrived.
While Daniel received treatment, Mara found Dominic outside.
He was smoking.
She had never seen him smoke.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Good answer.”
He glanced at her.
“You’re learning.”
She leaned against the wall.
“If Caleb isn’t biologically yours, would it change anything?”
Dominic stared into the darkness.
“No.”
“You answered fast.”
“Because there’s nothing to think about.”
Mara looked at him.
For once, there was no crime boss.
No threat.
No armor.
Just a father.
“He calls me Dad,” Dominic said. “I taught him to walk. I stayed awake when he had pneumonia. I buried his mother while he held my hand.”
He threw the cigarette down.
“Blood doesn’t decide that.”
Mara thought about Daniel.
“No. It doesn’t.”
Dominic looked at her.
“You still trust him?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s a dangerous answer.”
“It’s an honest one.”
Inside, Daniel suddenly shouted.
“Mara!”
They ran in.
The doctor was on the floor.
Unconscious.
A window stood open.
Daniel was gone.
On the table was a bloody note.
SORRY, ANNIE.
Mara stared at it.
Dominic examined the room.
Then his phone buzzed.
A security alert from Blackthorne House.
He opened the video.
Caleb was asleep in bed.
A shadow stood beside him.
Mara’s blood froze.
The man leaned toward the camera.
Victor Kane.
Silver hair.
Scar above the eyebrow.
The same man Mara would later see in the ballroom.
Kane smiled.
May you like
Then he lifted one finger to his lips.
The feed went black.
