flash
The rain pelted the roof of the armored black Cadillac with the force of falling lead. Inside, the cabin was suffocatingly silent, save for the rhythmic, mechanical swipe of the windshield wipers. I reached into my coat pocket, my thumb grazing the damp, frayed fabric of Miss Rose. / Chapter 6 / 20

Chapter 6 - The Twisted Web

I walked past Colombo’s corpse, my boots squelching in the mud, and rushed toward Elena. I dropped to my knees beside her, pulling a pocket knife from my belt and slicing through the thick plastic zip ties biting into her wrists.

"Dominic..." she sobbed, collapsing into my arms, burying her face against my shoulder.

"You're safe," I murmured, holding her tight against me for the first time in my life, letting the heavy armor finally shatter completely. "It's over. I've got you."

A small, trembling pair of arms wrapped around my leg from behind.

I looked down. Little Lily was staring up at me, her face stained with tears, holding out Miss Rose by one muddy arm.

“You came back,” she whispered.

I scooped her up into my arms, pressing her small, fragile body against my chest right alongside her mother. For twenty years, I had believed that love was a weakness, that caring for someone was an open invitation for a bullet. But holding them both in the cold, blood-soaked wreckage of Red Hook, I realized the exact opposite was true.

Love wasn't a weakness. It was the only reason left to fight.

"Always," I whispered into her hair.

I turned my attention back to the center of the warehouse, where Marco had pinned Niko Bellini against a stack of crates, a pistol pressed firmly against his throat.

"Explain yourself, Niko," I said, handing Lily gently to Elena and standing up. "You leaked the estate security rotations to Colombo. You sold out my household. Why did you save me at the last second?"

Niko didn't flinch. He looked down at the blood staining the concrete, letting out a bitter, tired laugh.

"I didn't sell you out to Colombo, boss," Niko said, spitting a streak of blood onto the floor. "Colombo was a loudmouth thug who wanted your docks. But he wasn't the architect."

My eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"Colombo didn't figure out where Elena and the girl were hiding by accident," Niko said, his gaze shifting to meet mine with absolute clarity. "Someone inside the inner council gave him the exact blueprint of your private safehouse in Westchester. Someone who wanted Colombo to strike first so they could step in and take over the syndicate while you were distracted by a war."

The warehouse went dead silent. The rain outside seemed to pound softer against the rusted tin roof.

"Name him," I whispered.

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The burner phone in my hand felt heavy, like a slab of cold iron pulled from a sunken ship. Across the line, Marcus let out a breath that sounded like a low whistle escaping a pressure valve. Nineteen years of rust, nineteen years of school plays, quiet dinners, and ledger sheets—all of it dissolved in the space of a single heartbeat.

The burner phone in my hand felt heavy, like a slab of cold iron pulled...

The man in the back of the Bentley was not a stranger, though it took me three agonizing seconds to place the face behind the silver-trimmed beard. Arthur Vance. The reclusive billionaire shipping tycoon, corporate sniper, and my father’s oldest, most estranged rival.

The man in the back of the Bentley was not a stranger, though it took me...

The ink on the medical schedule wasn't standard printer black. It was darker, heavier, pressed down with the kind of deliberate malice that only a fountain pen could deliver. I stared at the signature at the bottom of the page, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird.

The ink on the medical schedule wasn't standard printer black. It was da...

Niko shook his head. "I don't have a name. But I have the encrypted ledger from Colombo’s laptop. Every financial transfer, every communication log, every meeting schedule between Colombo and the real traitor."

Marco lowered his gun slightly, looking over at me. "Boss... if there's a traitor left on the council, cutting off Colombo’s head only solves half the problem."

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