Chapter 7 - The Pieces Fall
The words hit Domenico like a freight train. He stumbled back a step, his gun lowering completely. "Mine?" he choked out. The memory flashed in his mind—a brief, intense romance two years ago in Florence with an American woman named Elena. She had vanished without a trace, breaking his heart and turning him into the cold, ruthless boss he was today. "Elena," Domenico breathed, the name tasting like ash on his tongue. "You took Elena's child?" Camilla nodded weakly. "When your father found out about your affair with an agent, he handled it. He had her killed after she gave birth. He couldn't let you raise a federal agent's bastard, but he needed a Romano heir. So he gave the baby to Alessandro and me. He forged the document framing you for Alessandro's death as an insurance policy, in case you ever found out and turned against him." Domenico’s breathing became erratic. Every moment of his life for the past two years had been a carefully constructed lie orchestrated by his own father. The old man was dead now, rotting in a mausoleum, but his poison was still destroying the family. Enzo, who had been quietly bandaging a graze on his arm, stepped forward. "Boss. We have a problem." Domenico turned his head slowly. "What." "If Marco was making calls to the Morettis to arrange a hit on you tonight..." Enzo looked toward the heavy iron door of the cellar. "...then where are the men he promised them?" As if on cue, a massive explosion shook the foundation of the Romano mansion. Dust rained down from the stone ceiling of the cellar. The lights flickered and died completely, leaving them in the eerie red glow of the emergency lamps. The Moretti cartel wasn't waiting for Marco to open the gates. They were taking the estate by force. "Sofia," Domenico said, panic finally gripping his chest. He had left her in the secure panic room upstairs with two guards, but if the house was breached, nowhere was safe. He looked down at Camilla, who was trembling in the corner. "If my daughter gets a single scratch on her tonight, I will burn you alive." Domenico bolted for the stairs, racking the slide of his pistol, ready to wage a war for the only pure thing left in his life.
