Chapter 7 - THE SON HE NEVER KNEW
Dominic had faced federal agents with guns pointed at his chest and never hesitated.
But he stood outside his father’s abandoned estate for nearly a full minute before opening the door.
Norah understood why.
Inside waited a son he had never known existed.
And the woman who had given birth to him.
“Want me to go first?” she asked.
Dominic looked at her.
“That’s insulting.”
“You’re nervous.”
“I don’t get nervous.”
“You’ve adjusted your cuff three times.”
He stopped touching it.
“Stay behind me.”
“Of course.”
“You won’t.”
“No.”
Despite everything, he smiled.
They entered.
The estate smelled of dust and old wood.
A man stood near the fireplace.
Twenty-six.
Tall.
Dark hair.
Gray eyes.
Dominic’s eyes.
Norah knew before anyone spoke.
Julian.
Beside him stood a woman in her mid-forties.
Camille Arden.
She looked at Dominic and began crying.
“Dom.”
Dominic froze.
He hadn’t heard that voice in twenty-six years.
“Camille.”
Julian’s face hardened.
“Don’t.”
Camille wiped her eyes.
“He didn’t know.”
Julian looked at Dominic.
“Didn’t know what?”
“That you existed.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“I didn’t.”
Julian laughed bitterly.
“Convenient.”
Norah spoke.
“He found out today.”
Julian looked at her.
“You’re Norah.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For kidnapping me?”
“That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“It very much happened.”
“I paid Pierce to scare you.”
“That is not better.”
“I know.”
Dominic’s voice hardened.
“Why her?”
Julian looked at him.
“Because she’s the only person you protect more carefully than your money.”
Norah’s pulse skipped.
Dominic ignored that part.
“You could have contacted me.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
Dominic frowned.
Julian pulled out his phone.
“I sent messages through your private security office.”
Everyone looked toward Mateo.
His face changed.
“I never received them.”
Julian laughed.
“Exactly.”
Norah felt the pieces shifting again.
“Someone intercepted them.”
Julian nodded.
“Someone who didn’t want Dominic knowing I existed.”
“Who?”
Camille answered.
“His uncle.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
“Sebastian?”
His father’s younger brother.
A man who had retired from the organization years ago.
A man Dominic visited every Sunday.
Camille’s eyes filled with fear.
“Sebastian knew about Julian from the beginning.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“Why?”
“Because he helped your father take him.”
The room went silent.
Julian continued.
“He also helped hide Elena.”
Dominic stared.
“You know where she is?”
Julian nodded.
“Yes.”
“Take me to her.”
“No.”
“Julian.”
“She doesn’t trust you.”
“I’m her brother.”
“You’re also Castile.”
The words cut.
Norah stepped between them.
“Then let her decide.”
Julian looked at her.
“You really trust him?”
“Yes.”
Dominic turned slightly.
Norah met his eyes.
She meant it.
Julian saw that.
Something in his expression softened.
Then Camille reached into her purse.
“There’s something else.”
She removed an old cassette recorder.
“Your father recorded meetings.”
Dominic frowned.
“Why?”
“Blackmail.”
She placed the recorder on the table.
“The last tape was made the night Elena disappeared.”
Dominic pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then his father’s voice.
And another man.
Sebastian.
Dominic’s father said:
“If Dominic ever finds out the boy is his, we lose control of him.”
Sebastian answered:
“Then make sure he never finds out.”
A pause.
Then Sebastian said something worse.
“And if Norah Hastings ever gets close to him, we remove her too.”
Norah stopped breathing.
May you like
The tape was twenty-six years old.
She had been five.
