Chapter 7 - THE BROTHER WHO WANTED EVERYTHING
Nathaniel was waiting at the airport when they arrived.
Not physically.
On a screen.
Every television in the private terminal suddenly displayed his face.
Clara stopped.
Nathaniel looked directly into the camera.
“Dominic.”
Dominic's expression became stone.
Nathaniel smiled.
“You finally found the ledger.”
Clara's stomach tightened.
Nathaniel continued.
“Congratulations.”
“You're finished.”
“No.”
Nathaniel laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
The screen changed.
A photograph appeared.
Elias.
Taken that morning.
Clara gasped.
Nathaniel's voice became quieter.
“You have the ledger. I have the child.”
Dominic stepped toward the screen.
“If you touch him—”
“Don't threaten me.”
Nathaniel smiled.
“I'm your brother.”
The screen went black.
Clara looked at Dominic.
“What do we do?”
Dominic didn't answer immediately.
Then he said:
“We don't play his game.”
He called the one person Nathaniel feared.
Federal prosecutor Elena Torres.
For years, Torres had investigated the Harrington network.
Dominic had avoided her.
Now he gave her everything.
The ledger.
The recordings.
The financial documents.
And his own testimony.
It was the most dangerous decision he had ever made.
Because it meant surrendering his empire.
His legitimate companies.
His criminal operations.
Everything.
Clara understood.
“You're giving it all away.”
“I'm buying our freedom.”
“What about you?”
Dominic looked at Elias.
“I'm tired of being the man everyone fears.”
The investigation exploded.
News outlets reported corruption.
Arrests began.
Politicians resigned.
Nathaniel's accounts were frozen.
Victoria was arrested at the airport.
Evelyn surrendered after learning the ledger was already in federal hands.
But Nathaniel disappeared.
For three weeks, there was no sign of him.
Then Clara received a letter.
No threat.
No symbol.
Only one sentence.
Ask Dominic what happened in Palermo.
Clara confronted him.
He finally told her.
Nine years earlier, before he found her, Dominic had been negotiating with a Sicilian shipping syndicate.
Nathaniel had tried to have Dominic killed.
But Dominic survived.
The reason Nathaniel had wanted him dead was simple.
Dominic had discovered that Nathaniel was moving stolen medical equipment through the ports.
The same equipment Clara's father had investigated.
Everything connected.
The night Clara was abandoned.
The night Dominic found her.
The missing equipment.
The ledger.
Nathaniel.
All of it.
Except one thing.
Why had Nathaniel been so certain Clara would die?
Dominic discovered the answer in an old security report.
Nathaniel's men had been watching Clara that night.
They had been instructed to confirm her death.
But when Dominic found her, their surveillance team had fled.
Nathaniel didn't know Dominic had rescued her.
For nine years, he believed Clara was dead.
Until the first letter.
Someone had informed him.
May you like
Someone inside Dominic's organization.
And that person had one final secret.
