Chapter 7 - splintered loyalties
"Taken by who?" Dominic demanded, leaning over the desk, his knuckles turning white against the polished wood.
"The people who really run Chicago," Rosa said softly. "The ones your father made a deal with forty years ago."
Dominic stared at her. "My father ruled this city alone!"
"No boss rules alone, Dominic!" Rosa snapped back, a flash of fiery spirit surfacing. "Your father gave up twenty percent of the syndicate's territory to an invisible inner council—the Founders. Elena found out about them. She was going to tell you."
Before Dominic could process her words, the study door burst open. Frank rushed in, his gun half-drawn.
"Boss! We've got a situation downstairs!" Frank shouted. "Sofia tried to leave with the kid! She was caught trying to sneak out through the basement delivery doors!"
Dominic’s jaw tightened. "Secure Rosa in the tea room. Don't let her speak to anyone." He swept past Frank and headed straight for the lower levels.
In the mansion’s holding foyer, two large guards stood near the heavy iron doors. Sofia was pinned against the wall by one guard's arm, her hands tied with plastic zipties. Emma was huddled on a chair nearby, crying silently while hugging Daisy.
"Get your hands off her!" Dominic roared as he rounded the corner.
The guard immediately pulled back, stepping away. Dominic walked straight up to Sofia, his eyes dark with fury and betrayal.
"I brought you here to keep you safe," Dominic said, his chest heaving. "And you try to run?"
"You don't want to keep us safe! You want to use us as bait!" Sofia yelled back, her tears spilling over her flushed cheeks. "I found out what's in Julian's notebook, Dominic! Your whole family is built on lies! Charles was on the list! Your father was on the list!"
Dominic froze. "What notebook?"
Sofia bit her lip, realizing she had said too much.
Dominic stepped closer, lowering his voice so the guards couldn't hear. "Sofia. You have five seconds to tell me where that notebook is, or I will have my men search every inch of your life."
"I hid it!" she spat out, staring him dead in the eye despite her trembling frame. "And I will never give it to you! Because the moment I do, you won't need me or my daughter anymore!"
Dominic looked at her—defiant, fiercely protective of her child, standing alone against the most dangerous syndicate in the Midwest.
Instead of ordering his men to break her, Dominic reached down, pulled a small silver pocket knife from his vest, and sliced through her plastic wrist restraints with one swift motion.
Sofia rubbed her red wrists, startled.
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"I won't hurt you, Sofia," Dominic said, his voice strangely quiet and intense. "And I won't let anyone else hurt you either. But if you want to protect your daughter, you need to trust me. Because Charles Bennett didn't run. He was kidnapped an hour ago. And whoever took him is coming for whatever Julian left behind."
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