Chapter 13 - THE TRUTH ABOUT THE MAN WHO HURT ME
By sunset, the entire story had changed.
Caleb Moretti wasn't innocent.
He had helped conceal the truth about the warehouse fire.
He had participated in the criminal network when he was younger.
And he had ordered men to frighten me.
But he had also spent years secretly helping Alessandro expose Vittorio.
The contradiction made me furious.
I didn't want complicated explanations.
I wanted someone to blame.
Someone who could tell me why my mother had disappeared.
Why my sister had been stolen.
Why I'd spent seven years believing everyone I loved was dead.
Dominic found me sitting alone in the hospital waiting room.
My mother was in surgery.
Lily was still missing.
And midnight was approaching.
He sat beside me.
“Emily.”
I didn't look at him.
“What?”
“You should know something.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Apparently, I don't know anything.”
He waited.
Then said, “Caleb contacted me.”
I turned.
“What did he say?”
“He wants to meet.”
“Where?”
“At the old terminal.”
I stared at him.
“That's where your father wants you.”
“I know.”
“It's a trap.”
“Probably.”
“Then don't go.”
Dominic looked at me.
“If I don't, Lily dies.”
My throat tightened.
He continued.
“I've spent years believing power meant never letting anyone see what mattered to me.”
“And now?”
He looked directly into my eyes.
“Now I have too much to lose.”
My breath caught.
“Dominic…”
He reached for my hand.
“You asked why I was helping you.”
I nodded.
“The truth is, I noticed you long before that breakfast tray fell.”
My heart began beating faster.
“I noticed how you talked to the gardeners when everyone else ignored them. How you brought extra food to the night guards. How you refused to let me replace a perfectly good Christmas tree because one branch was crooked.”
I smiled through tears.
“It was a beautiful tree.”
“It was missing half its needles.”
“It had character.”
He laughed softly.
Then his expression grew serious.
“You made that house feel less empty.”
I looked down.
“Dominic, I'm your housekeeper.”
“You're Emily.”
The way he said my name made my chest ache.
He touched my cheek.
“I'm not asking you for anything. Especially not while you're hurt and frightened.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“That when this is over, if you want to know me outside that house, I'd like the chance.”
I stared at him.
Then I leaned forward and kissed him.
It was gentle.
Brief.
But when I pulled away, his forehead rested against mine.
“Emily,” he whispered.
“Don't make promises you can't keep.”
He closed his eyes.
“I won't.”
A phone rang.
Dominic answered.
Caleb.
His voice was frantic.
“Dominic, listen carefully. Your father knows about the police.”
Dominic stood.
“How?”
“Someone told him.”
“Who?”
“I don't know. But he's moving Lily.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
Caleb hesitated.
“There's something you need to understand first.”
Dominic's voice sharpened.
“Talk.”
Caleb exhaled.
“The men who attacked Emily weren't supposed to touch her. I ordered surveillance because I thought she was carrying evidence. I was wrong to involve her, and I'll answer for it.”
I stared at the phone.
Caleb continued.
“Vittorio sent his own men after mine. He's the one who took Lily.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“Where is Alessandro?”
A pause.
Then Caleb whispered, “He's already inside the terminal.”
Dominic went still.
“Doing what?”
“Planting evidence. Setting up the final exchange.”
“What evidence?”
Caleb's answer made the room turn cold.
“Enough to send your father to prison.”
May you like
Then he added:
“But Alessandro isn't planning to survive tonight.”
