Chapter 9 - The Last Betrayal Came From Inside the House
Dominic trusted Luca more than anyone.
That was why the betrayal hurt so much when it appeared to point directly at him.
Security footage showed Luca entering the estate archives at 1:14 a.m.
The threatening photograph had been printed from a machine inside that room at 1:22.
His key card accessed the east gate twice after midnight.
Dominic watched the footage without speaking.
Norah stood behind him.
“Could it be fake?”
“Video?”
“Credentials.”
Dominic looked tired.
“I don’t know.”
Luca had served beside him for thirteen years.
Saved Lily during two attacks.
Taken a bullet meant for Dominic.
Men could fake loyalty.
Thirteen years was harder.
Dominic ordered Luca detained in the security quarters.
Not harmed.
Not questioned violently.
Norah insisted.
“You still trust him.”
Dominic looked away.
“I want to.”
“Then start there.”
They interviewed him together.
Luca looked furious.
Not frightened.
“You think I threatened Lily?”
“I think your key card did.”
“Clone it.”
“Your face is on video.”
“Deepfake.”
Dominic stared.
Luca leaned forward.
“Boss, if I wanted to hurt that little girl, you’d have found me dead before I let myself finish the thought.”
Norah believed him.
Dominic wanted to.
Then Lily interrupted.
Naturally.
She marched into the room despite Maria chasing her.
“Uncle Luca!”
Everyone froze.
Lily hugged his waist.
Luca’s eyes filled.
Dominic looked away.
Norah asked:
“Lily, did you see Luca last night?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“He came to my room.”
Dominic turned sharply.
Luca stared.
“I did not.”
Lily frowned.
“Yes, you did.”
“What did he say?” Norah asked.
“That Dad wanted me downstairs.”
Dominic’s face hardened.
“And you went?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Lily shrugged.
“Mr. Buttons didn’t like him.”
Silence.
Dominic crouched.
“What do you mean?”
“He smelled wrong.”
Norah’s mind moved quickly.
Lily knew Luca.
His cologne.
His voice.
His posture.
A disguised man could fool a camera.
Maybe a child in low light.
But something felt wrong enough that she stayed.
“Where were you really?” Dominic asked Luca.
“Garage.”
Security confirmed another camera showed Luca inspecting a vehicle at the same time.
The man outside Lily’s room was an impersonator.
Someone who looked enough like Luca to pass at a distance.
Luca swore creatively.
Dominic almost looked relieved.
They traced the disguise through estate staff records.
One temporary security contractor had access to uniform measurements and key-card duplication equipment.
Nathan Vale.
Vivienne’s son.
Sofia’s nephew.
Lily’s cousin.
Dominic stared at the name.
“He was seventeen when Sofia died.”
Now twenty-two.
Raised mostly by Vivienne.
And apparently working for Carlo long before his mother defected.
Vivienne was devastated when told.
“He thinks Carlo is his father.”
Norah frowned.
“Is he?”
Vivienne closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Everything connected.
Nathan believed Dominic destroyed his father.
Believed his mother betrayed their family.
Believed Lily and Daniel would inherit everything while he received nothing.
Jealousy wrapped in ideology.
The oldest poison in the world.
Nathan disappeared before they could reach him.
Then, at thirty-five weeks pregnant, Norah woke to smoke.
The estate fire alarm screamed.
Dominic jumped from bed.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Norah.”
“Lily.”
They ran.
Smoke filled the west corridor.
Not fire.
Smoke grenades.
Designed to trigger evacuation.
Dominic understood.
“Don’t use the main stairs!”
Too late.
Security was already moving staff toward the courtyard.
Exactly where Nathan wanted them.
Lily was missing from her bedroom.
Norah’s blood froze.
Then she heard crying from the old service hallway.
They found Nathan carrying Lily toward a side entrance.
He wore a security uniform.
Lily struggled.
“Put me down!”
Dominic stopped twenty feet away.
“Nathan.”
The young man turned.
Gun in one hand.
Lily in the other.
Norah’s heart hammered.
“Let her go.”
Nathan laughed.
“You always get everything.”
Dominic remained still.
“This isn’t about her.”
“It’s always about her.”
Nathan’s face twisted.
“My mother ruined herself for your family.”
“No,” Vivienne said from behind them.
Everyone turned.
She had arrived with Luca.
Nathan stared.
“Mom?”
Vivienne’s face broke.
“I ruined myself.”
He shook his head.
“Carlo said—”
“Carlo lied.”
“He’s my father.”
“Yes.”
Nathan looked stunned by the admission.
Vivienne continued.
“And he used you exactly the way he used me.”
Nathan’s grip loosened.
Lily bit his hand.
Hard.
He yelled.
She ran.
Dominic moved.
Luca moved.
Nathan raised the gun.
Norah shouted.
One shot cracked.
Dominic stumbled.
Everything stopped.
Norah screamed his name.
The bullet had struck his upper arm.
He remained standing.
Luca disarmed Nathan.
Vivienne dropped beside her son, sobbing.
Dominic reached for Lily with his uninjured arm.
She flew into him.
Then Norah felt something.
A deep pressure.
Warmth.
She looked down.
“Oh no.”
Dominic saw her face.
“What?”
“My water broke.”
His expression became almost comical.
“Now?”
Norah laughed despite everything.
“Apparently Daniel enjoys timing.”
Another contraction doubled her over.
Dominic forgot his bleeding arm.
“Car.”
Luca stared.
“You’ve been shot.”
“Car!”
“You need an ambulance too.”
“Fine. Two ambulances.”
Norah grabbed his shirt.
“Do not pass out.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“You have terrible plans.”
“I know.”
At the hospital, Dominic received twelve stitches while Norah progressed rapidly through labor.
Daniel had decided he was done waiting.
At 4:37 a.m., after hours of fear, pain, swearing, and Norah threatening Dominic’s life at least three times—
their son was born.
Small.
Early.
But breathing.
Crying.
Alive.
The nurse placed him against Norah’s chest.
She sobbed.
Dominic stood beside her with his arm in a sling.
He stared at Daniel.
Gray eyes.
Dark hair.
Tiny fist.
His entire face crumpled.
Norah smiled through tears.
“You can touch him.”
Dominic extended one finger.
Daniel wrapped his tiny hand around it.
Dominic cried.
Completely.
No attempt to hide it.
Norah watched the feared Mafia Don become simply a father.
Lily entered later wearing an oversized hospital gown over pajamas.
She looked at the baby.
“He’s tiny.”
“He came early,” Norah said.
Lily leaned closer.
“Can we keep him?”
Dominic laughed.
“Yes, Bug.”
She nodded.
“Good.”
Then she looked at Dominic’s bandage.
“And you got shot again.”
“Unfortunately.”
Lily sighed.
“You’re bad at being careful.”
Norah smiled.
“Finally, someone understands.”
Dominic looked at his family.
Norah.
Lily.
Daniel.
And for the first time in his life, the thought of losing power did not frighten him.
May you like
Losing this did.
Which was exactly why he knew what he had to do next.
