Chapter 4 - The Debt That Followed Them
Sophia received the first message three days later.
She was in the estate kitchen, helping Mrs. Bellini prepare lunch, when her phone vibrated inside her apron pocket.
The number was unknown.
But the message made her blood turn cold.
You can hide behind Caruso’s gates, Sophia. But Emma is still my daughter.
Her hands began to shake.
A second message arrived.
Tell your sister I want my money.
Sophia deleted nothing.
She walked directly to Vivian’s office.
Vivian read the messages, her face tightening.
“He found you.”
“He always finds me,” Sophia whispered.
“No,” Vivian said. “Not this time.”
But Sophia knew the truth.
Joseph had never been clever. He was not a mastermind. He was not powerful.
He was simply the kind of man who blamed everyone else for the wreckage he created.
And men like that could be dangerous when they had nothing left to lose.
Dominic was informed within minutes.
He read the messages in silence while Luca Ferraro, his head of security, stood beside the desk.
“Locate Joseph Mercer,” Dominic said.
Luca nodded. “Already started.”
Sophia stood stiffly near the fireplace.
“I don’t want anyone hurt because of me,” she said.
Dominic lifted his gaze.
“No one will be hurt because of you.”
“You don’t know Joseph.”
“I know men like Joseph.”
His voice was calm, but it carried something cold enough to make Vivian’s skin prickle.
Sophia looked down. “He owes money to Vincent Russo.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
Vivian noticed immediately.
Russo was not merely a loan shark. He was the nephew of an old Chicago crime family—small compared to the Carusos, but reckless enough to cause trouble. His uncle had once worked with Dominic’s late father. Their alliance ended years ago after a betrayal nobody discussed.
“Russo is involved?” Dominic asked.
Sophia nodded. “The men who came to our apartment mentioned his name. Joseph said he could fix everything if he got enough money.”
“Did he say how?”
Sophia’s face went pale.
“He said there were people who paid well for information. For access. He said I was stupid for running when I could have helped him.”
Dominic’s jaw hardened.
Luca stepped closer. “Boss, we should move Sophia and Emma to the city property.”
“No,” Dominic said. “They stay here. Double the gate detail. No staff leave alone. Every vehicle is checked.”
Sophia looked horrified. “I can’t let you lock down your home because of me.”
Dominic stood.
“This home was already locked down,” he said. “You and Emma are the first reason it has felt alive in years.”
Vivian’s heart tightened at the words.
She should have been happy.
Instead, jealousy slipped in like poison.
Sophia’s eyes shone with gratitude. “Thank you.”
Dominic nodded once, then left with Luca.
Vivian stayed behind.
Her sister touched her arm. “He cares about her.”
“He cares about children,” Vivian said too quickly.
Sophia gave her a searching look.
“Vivian.”
“It’s nothing.”
But it was not nothing.
That evening, Dominic found Vivian in the library.
She was arranging books that did not need arranging.
“You’re upset,” he said.
“I’m working.”
“You have moved the same book three times.”
Vivian turned to face him.
The firelight caught the tired edges of his face. He looked less like the untouchable man Chicago feared and more like someone who had been carrying grief for too long.
“Do you love my sister?” Vivian asked.
The question escaped before she could stop it.
Dominic went still.
“No.”
“Do you love Emma?”
He did not answer immediately.
“I don’t know,” he said. “But I know I would kill anyone who tried to hurt her.”
Vivian’s breath caught.
“That is not the same thing,” she whispered.
“No,” Dominic said. “It is not.”
He moved closer, his voice lower.
“Vivian, what are you asking me?”
She looked at him, and six years of carefully hidden hope rose to the surface.
“Nothing,” she said.
Then she walked past him before he could see how much the answer hurt.
Two nights later, Joseph Mercer made his move.
A delivery truck arrived at the service gate carrying fresh produce from one of the estate’s usual suppliers.
The guards inspected the vehicle.
Everything looked normal.
But hidden beneath crates of lettuce and potatoes was a small tracking device and a phone programmed with one message.
At 2:13 a.m., every light in the east guest wing shut off.
The estate generator failed.
Security cameras flickered dark.
And in the blackness, someone whispered Emma’s name.
Sophia woke first.
She heard the sound of a door closing.
Then Emma’s frightened cry.
“Mommy!”
Sophia ran into the hallway.
A man in a dark mask was carrying Emma toward the service stairs.
Sophia screamed.
The man shoved her into the wall.
Pain exploded through her shoulder.
But she grabbed the back of his jacket and refused to let go.
“Let her go!” she screamed.
Emma kicked and cried, reaching toward her mother.
Then Dominic appeared at the far end of the hallway.
No suit.
No guards.
Only a black T-shirt, bare feet, and a gun held low at his side.
His voice was terrifyingly quiet.
“Put the child down.”
The intruder froze.
For one second, nobody moved.
Then the man dropped Emma and ran.
Dominic caught Emma before she hit the floor.
She clung to him, sobbing.
Sophia sank against the wall, shaking.
Luca and the security team flooded the hallway seconds later, but Dominic barely looked at them.
He held Emma tightly, one hand covering the back of her dark curls.
“It’s okay,” he whispered. “You’re safe.”
Emma pressed her wet face against his shoulder.
“Don’t let him take me.”
Dominic’s eyes closed.
“I won’t.”
In the shadows outside the estate, Joseph Mercer watched the failed kidnapping attempt unfold through a security feed on his phone.
Vincent Russo stood beside him.
“You failed,” Russo said.
Joseph swallowed. “Caruso was there.”
Russo exhaled smoke into the cold night.
“Then we stop trying to take the child.”
Joseph looked at him.
Russo smiled.
May you like
“We take the man who thinks he can protect everyone.”
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