Chapter 6 - THE LAST ORDER OF DOMINIC DELUCA
Dominic DeLuca had spent forty years convincing men that calmness was power.
Standing beside the lake with a weapon pressed against his daughter, he looked almost relaxed.
Vivienne did not.
Her face was bruised.
Her hands were bound.
Sarah’s anger toward her vanished.
Whatever Vivienne had done, she was now terrified of her own father.
Anthony stepped from behind the wall.
“Let her go.”
Dominic laughed.
“The noble Anthony Moretti.”
“Let Vivienne go.”
“You ended an alliance because a housekeeper’s child shouted at her.”
Anthony’s face did not move.
“No. I ended it because your daughter revealed exactly what kind of family I was marrying into.”
Dominic’s smile faded.
Vivienne whispered, “Anthony…”
“Don’t speak,” her father snapped.
Ellie was safely inside with federal agents.
That knowledge was the only thing allowing Sarah to stand upright.
Daniel stayed beside her.
Two years separated them.
Yet when danger came, their hands found each other automatically.
Sarah noticed.
So did Anthony.
For one painful moment, something passed across Anthony’s face.
Then it disappeared.
He had always known Sarah belonged first to a life she had lost.
Now that life stood beside her.
Dominic raised his voice.
“Give me Daniel’s drive.”
Anthony responded, “No.”
“Then Vivienne dies.”
Vivienne shut her eyes.
Anthony took another step.
“You won’t do it.”
Dominic smiled.
“You think you know me?”
“I know your type.”
“You mean men like your father?”
Anthony’s jaw tightened.
“My father built something rotten. You poisoned him because he finally tried to clean it.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
Only slightly.
Enough.
Daniel whispered to Sarah, “He did it.”
Anthony continued.
“You had Daniel’s car sabotaged.”
Dominic’s eyes flicked toward him.
“You bribed police.”
Silence.
“You paid Vivienne to erase records.”
Vivienne began crying.
Anthony looked directly at Dominic.
“And when my father saved Daniel, you spent two years trying to find him.”
Dominic’s restraint snapped.
“Your father destroyed everything!”
His voice rang across the water.
“He became sentimental. Weak. Suddenly there were rules. No children. No families. No trafficking. No civilian casualties. He wanted legitimacy after spending thirty years benefiting from men willing to do what he no longer had the stomach to do.”
Anthony gave a humorless smile.
“Keep talking.”
Dominic realized too late.
Federal agents were recording everything.
Sirens approached through the forest.
His head snapped toward the road.
“You set me up.”
Anthony said nothing.
Dominic shoved Vivienne aside and aimed toward Daniel.
Sarah screamed.
Anthony moved.
The shot cracked across the lake.
Daniel pulled Sarah down.
Federal agents returned fire.
Dominic stumbled.
His weapon fell into the grass.
Vivienne crawled away, sobbing.
Marco rushed forward and kicked the weapon beyond reach.
Within seconds, Dominic DeLuca was surrounded.
Alive.
Wounded.
And arrested.
The man who had terrified an entire network of criminals looked suddenly old.
Very old.
As agents lifted him, he stared at Anthony.
“You think this makes you good?”
Anthony stood over him.
“No.”
Dominic smiled weakly.
“Then what does it make you?”
Anthony looked toward Sarah.
Toward Daniel.
Toward the cabin where Ellie was waiting.
“Different.”
Dominic was taken away.
The silence afterward felt enormous.
Vivienne sat on the ground.
Anthony approached her cautiously.
She looked up.
“I’m sorry.”
He stopped.
She laughed through tears.
“Imagine that. Vivienne DeLuca apologizing to a Moretti.”
“You don’t owe me the first apology.”
Vivienne followed his gaze toward Sarah.
Sarah stood several feet away.
Vivienne swallowed.
Then approached.
Daniel tensed.
Sarah touched his arm.
“It’s okay.”
Vivienne stopped in front of her.
“I treated you terribly.”
Sarah said nothing.
“I thought everyone beneath my social class existed to make my life easier. I thought being Anthony’s fiancée made me important.” She looked toward the cabin. “Your daughter had more courage in three seconds than I had in twenty-nine years.”
Sarah’s expression softened slightly.
“You helped destroy evidence.”
“I know.”
“You helped keep me from the truth.”
“I know.”
“I’m not ready to forgive you.”
Vivienne nodded.
“You shouldn’t be.”
“But I hope you tell investigators everything.”
“I will.”
That afternoon, federal authorities took Daniel into protective custody.
Sarah refused to let go of his hand until the final possible moment.
“When can you come home?”
Daniel’s expression broke.
“I don’t know.”
“No more disappearing.”
“Never again.”
“You promise?”
“With everything I have left.”
Ellie stared at the bearded stranger standing before her.
Sarah knelt.
“Sweetheart, do you remember the pictures I showed you of Daddy?”
Ellie looked at Daniel.
Then at Sarah.
Then back at Daniel.
Daniel dropped to his knees.
His voice trembled.
“Hi, Ellie.”
She studied him.
“You’re my daddy?”
Daniel cried before answering.
“Yes.”
Ellie frowned.
“You got old.”
Sarah laughed through tears.
Daniel laughed too.
“Yeah. I guess I did.”
Then Ellie stepped forward and wrapped both arms around his neck.
Daniel broke completely.
Anthony turned away.
Sarah saw him wipe his eyes.
Hours later, after Daniel left with federal marshals, Sarah found Anthony alone in the garden.
Whiskers the orange cat sat beside him.
“You’re leaving,” Anthony said.
Sarah stopped.
“I haven’t decided.”
“You should.”
That hurt more than she expected.
“Is that what you want?”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“But Daniel is alive.”
“Yes.”
“He is your husband.”
“Yes.”
“And Ellie deserves her father.”
Sarah crossed her arms.
“You’ve decided this for me?”
“I’m trying not to make your life more complicated.”
“You don’t get to decide what complicates my life.”
A faint smile touched his face.
“I should have learned that by now.”
Sarah moved closer.
“Daniel and I have two years to understand.”
Anthony nodded.
“I know.”
“He survived. That doesn’t mean our marriage survived untouched.”
Anthony’s expression tightened.
“I will not stand between you.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
The truth hung between them.
Something had grown there.
Not betrayal.
Not yet love, perhaps.
But close enough to frighten both of them.
Sarah touched his sleeve.
“You gave me the truth when you could have buried it.”
“It was yours.”
“You protected Ellie.”
“Always.”
“And you destroyed your alliance with the DeLucas knowing it could cost you everything.”
Anthony looked toward the mansion.
“I was tired of inheriting choices made by dead men.”
Sarah understood.
“So what happens now?”
“I dismantle the rest.”
“The criminal operations?”
“Yes.”
“That could make enemies.”
“It already has.”
She looked at him.
“And after?”
Anthony exhaled.
“Maybe I learn how to run legitimate companies.”
Sarah smiled.
“You?”
“Try not to sound so shocked.”
She laughed.
It was the first real laugh she had given him.
For several seconds, Anthony simply watched her.
Then Marco appeared at the garden entrance.
“Boss.”
Anthony sighed.
“What?”
“We have a problem.”
Sarah’s smile vanished.
Marco held out a phone.
“Dominic wasn’t working alone.”
Anthony read the message.
His face went cold.
Sarah’s heart sank.
“Who?”
Marco looked toward the mansion.
“Someone inside this house.”
Anthony stared at him.
“Who?”
Marco hesitated.
Then answered.
May you like
“Evelyn.”
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