Chapter 3 - The Untethered Truth
Vincenzo’s words hung in the air like fresh smoke after a gunshot. I looked up at Moretti—whose full name was Dominic Moretti—and saw his jaw tighten until the muscles quivered.
“He’s lying,” Dominic muttered, but it sounded like he was trying to convince himself.
He pulled a small silver key from inside his collar and unlocked the bottom drawer of his desk. Inside lay a single leather-bound journal and a yellowed photograph. He pulled out the photo and turned it toward the desk lamp.
It was a picture of Clara, young and laughing, wrapped in Dominic’s arms on a sunlit yacht. But on the back, written in Clara’s precise cursive script, were words that made my heart hurt even though I was too little to fully understand them:
“If Dominic finds out the truth about the bloodline, he will kill us both to protect the syndicate. Forgive me, my sweet Lily. We must stay in the dark to stay alive.”
Dominic read the words over and over, his eyes wide with disbelief. “I would have burnt the world for her,” he whispered, his voice cracking. “She thought I would hurt her?”
The monitor flickered violently. On the screen, Vance’s medical team was trying to wheel Clara’s gurney toward the secret elevator, but the door blew inward. Smoke billowed into the frame. Vincenzo stepped through the haze, holding a small glass vial containing a glowing purple liquid.
“Thirty minutes, Dominic!” Vincenzo’s voice echoed through the comms. “That’s all the time Clara has left before the toxin hardens her lungs completely. Walk out of your panic room with the master ledger, give up your seat as Don, and I hand over the antidote. Refuse… and watch the woman you loved die a second time.”
Dominic looked at the screen, then down at me.
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I held up my stuffed rabbit, tears slipping down my nose. “Is Mommy coming back?”
Dominic leaned down, kissing the top of my forehead. His tears were warm against my hair. “Yes, Lily. Mommy is coming back. Because your father is going to burn this mansion to the ground.”
