PART 2 — THE PERSON BEHIND VICTOR HARLAND WAS CLOSER THAN DOMINIC EVER IMAGINED
PART 2 — THE PERSON BEHIND VICTOR HARLAND WAS CLOSER THAN DOMINIC EVER IMAGINED
For three weeks after the night at the Sterling Room, Dominic Moretti believed the worst was over.
Victor Harland was gone.
The restaurant had changed.
Claire Bennett was healing.
And for the first time in years, Dominic allowed himself to believe that maybe some battles could end without someone losing everything.
He was wrong.
Because Victor Harland had never been the real threat.
He had only been the person standing in front of it.
The first warning came at 2:13 in the morning.
Dominic was sitting alone in his office, staring at the city lights through the window.
Chicago looked peaceful from above.
That was the dangerous thing about cities.
From far away, everything looked perfect.
The cracks only appeared when you got close.
His phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
He almost ignored it.
Then the message appeared.
YOU SAVED THE WAITRESS. GOOD.
Dominic’s expression changed.
A second message followed.
NOW TRY SAVING YOURSELF.
He stared at the screen.
Nobody outside his organization knew what Claire meant to him.
Nobody.
Except…
someone inside.
The next morning, Dominic called Anthony Russo.
“Find out who sent this.”
Anthony took the phone.
His face became serious.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“This number doesn’t exist.”
Dominic looked at him.
“What do you mean?”
“It was created six minutes before the message was sent.”
Anthony paused.
“Then destroyed immediately afterward.”
Dominic leaned back.
Someone had experience.
Someone careful.
Someone who knew how to disappear.
That worried him more than the threat itself.
Meanwhile, Claire Bennett was trying to return to normal life.
But normal had become complicated.
The burn on her shoulder was healing.
The physical pain was fading.
The memories were not.
Every time she walked into a restaurant kitchen, she remembered the sound of porcelain breaking.
Every time someone raised their voice, her body reacted before her mind did.
She hated admitting it.
But the night had changed something.
Not because Victor hurt her.
Because everyone watched.
And almost everyone stayed silent.
One afternoon, Dominic found her sitting outside the new Sterling Room.
She was holding a cup of coffee and watching employees enter.
“You’re thinking too loudly.”
Claire smiled slightly.
“You always say things like that.”
“Because it’s true.”
She looked at him.
“You know what bothers me?”
“What?”
“That everyone keeps telling me I was brave.”
Dominic sat beside her.
“And you don’t believe them?”
“No.”
She looked down.
“I was scared.”
Dominic was quiet.
Claire continued.
“I was terrified.”
A small pause.
“But I still stood up.”
Dominic nodded.
“That’s what courage is.”
She looked at him.
“You always have an answer?”
“No.”
He looked away.
“Just experience.”
For a moment, everything felt peaceful.
Then Dominic’s security team arrived.
Too quickly.
Too urgently.
Claire noticed.
“What happened?”
Dominic stood.
“Nothing.”
She gave him a look.
“Dominic.”
He sighed.
“Someone broke into one of my offices.”
Her expression changed.
“Was it related to Victor?”
“No.”
He hesitated.
“That’s the problem.”
The office had not been robbed.
Nothing valuable was taken.
Money.
Documents.
Computers.
Everything remained.
Except one thing.
A photograph.
A photograph of Dominic’s father.
And written across the back:
THE SON ALWAYS FOLLOWS THE FATHER.
That night, Dominic opened an old family box.
Something he had not touched in fifteen years.
Inside were letters.
Documents.
Photographs.
Memories from a life before the empire.
Before the violence.
Before people feared the Moretti name.
And beneath everything…
was a small envelope.
His father’s handwriting.
Dominic stared at it.
Because his father had been dead for twenty years.
And nobody knew this envelope existed.
The letter contained only one sentence.
If they ever come for you, do not trust the person standing closest.
Dominic read it again.
And suddenly everything made sense.
The betrayal.
The information leaks.
The attack on Antonio.
Victor’s confidence.
Someone close had been feeding information.
Someone who knew family secrets.
Someone who knew Dominic’s weaknesses.
The next morning, Dominic called everyone.
His inner circle.
The people who had worked beside him for years.
Ten men entered the room.
Ten people he trusted.
And one of them was a traitor.
Anthony looked around.
“Are you sure?”
Dominic nodded.
“Someone here helped Victor.”
Nobody spoke.
Then one man laughed.
A quiet laugh.
A nervous laugh.
Dominic noticed immediately.
“Something funny, Marcus?”
The room turned.
Marcus Bell.
Dominic’s security director.
The man who had protected him for eight years.
Marcus smiled.
“You’re accusing your own people now?”
Dominic stared.
“No.”
He walked closer.
“I’m looking for the person who thinks I’m stupid.”
Marcus shook his head.
“You really believe Victor was the enemy?”
Dominic stopped.
“What did you say?”
Marcus realized his mistake too late.
Dominic’s eyes narrowed.
“You know more than you should.”
Silence.
Then Marcus said something nobody expected.
“Victor wasn’t trying to destroy you.”
Dominic stared.
“He was trying to protect himself.”
“From who?”
Marcus looked at him.
“From the person who hired him.”
The room became silent.
“Who?”
Marcus looked away.
“I don’t know.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I know only one thing.”
“What?”
Marcus swallowed.
“The person behind everything has been planning this for years.”
Before Dominic could respond, Claire entered.
Everyone turned.
“Claire?”
She looked at Dominic.
“I found something.”
She held a folder.
Dominic frowned.
“Where?”
“At the restaurant.”
She placed it on the table.
“Victor left it behind.”
Inside were old employee records.
Financial documents.
And one photograph.
Dominic picked it up.
His blood went cold.
Because he recognized the person standing beside Victor.
Someone he knew.
Someone Claire knew.
Someone who had been helping the Sterling Room employees for years.
Ruth McKenna.
The dishwasher who called Dominic that night.
The woman who supposedly saved Claire.
Claire immediately shook her head.
“No.”
Dominic looked at her.
“You trust her?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Claire looked at him.
“Because she saved my life.”
Dominic remained silent.
Because that was the problem.
The evidence pointed in one direction.
But his instincts pointed somewhere else.
And Dominic Moretti had survived because he trusted his instincts.
That night, Dominic went alone to find Ruth.
He found her at her small apartment.
She opened the door.
And when she saw him…
she started crying.
Not from fear.
From exhaustion.
“You finally found me.”
Dominic froze.
“What does that mean?”
Ruth stepped aside.
“Come in.”
Inside the apartment was something unexpected.
Pictures.
Hundreds of them.
Claire.
Noah.
Employees from the Sterling Room.
Ruth had been watching over them for years.
Protecting them.
Dominic lowered his weapon.
“You knew?”
Ruth nodded.
“I knew Victor was dangerous.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
She looked away.
“Because the last person who tried disappeared.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
“Who?”
Ruth walked to a drawer.
Pulled out a document.
And handed it to him.
Dominic read the name.
Then stopped.
Because the missing person was…
Antonio Holmes.
“No.”
Ruth looked at him.
“Your brother didn’t die the night of the attack.”
Dominic’s breathing stopped.
“What?”
She whispered:
“Someone wanted you to believe that.”
The room went silent.
Because everything Dominic believed for years had been built on one assumption.
Antonio was dead.
But if Antonio was alive…
then where had he been?
And why had he allowed Dominic to believe he was gone?
Ruth opened another file.
Inside was a recent photograph.
A man standing outside a hospital in another country.
Older.
Thinner.
But unmistakable.
Antonio Holmes.
Alive.
Dominic stared at the picture.
His entire world shifted.
His brother.
The betrayal.
Victor.
The missing baby.
Everything connected.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A voice came through.
A voice he had not heard in three years.
“Gabriel?”
Dominic froze.
Because only one person called him that.
Only one person knew his real name before the empire.
Antonio.
His brother.
Alive.
The voice continued:
“You need to stop looking for the person who betrayed us.”
A pause.
“Because the person who started this war is someone neither of us ever suspected.”
Dominic gripped the phone.
“Where are you?”
Silence.
Then:
“Protect Douglas.”
A pause.
“And protect Claire.”
The line went dead.
Dominic stood motionless.
For years, he believed revenge would bring peace.
But now he understood.
The real war had never been about power.
It had never been about money.
It had never been about the restaurant.
It was about a secret Antonio died trying to protect.
A secret involving Douglas.
A secret involving Claire.
And a secret powerful enough that someone was willing to destroy an entire family to keep it hidden.
The next morning, Dominic received one final message.
A photograph.
Claire.
Walking alone outside the Sterling Room.
Taken from a distance.
Below it were five words.
NEXT TIME, I WON’T MISS.
Dominic stared at the image.
His expression became cold.
Because whoever was behind this had made one mistake.
They threatened Claire.
And Dominic Moretti had one rule.
He could lose money.
He could lose power.
He could lose everything.
But he would never allow someone to hurt the person who taught him there was still something worth protecting.
The hunt had changed.
This was no longer revenge.
This was war.
And this time…
Dominic was coming for everyone involved.