Chapter 8 - THE LAST BETRAYAL
Marco did not move.
Dominic stared at the man who had stood beside him for eighteen years.
“Tell me he's lying.”
Marco's face answered first.
Mara held Grace tighter.
“Marco?”
“I gave him the route.”
Dominic crossed the chapel.
“Why?”
“To stop the crash.”
Silence.
Marco looked at Gideon.
“I discovered the plan two days earlier. I fed Gideon a false route.”
“But Mara changed roads,” Dominic said.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Mara remembered.
“A tree had fallen across Harbor Road.”
Marco nodded.
“Gideon had men watching both.”
Dominic's anger shifted.
“You knew there was a threat and said nothing.”
“I didn't know Mara was pregnant.”
“You knew someone planned to attack my wife.”
“Your estranged wife, who had spent eight months refusing protection.”
Mara flinched.
Marco immediately regretted it.
Dominic stepped closer.
“You don't get to make that distinction.”
“No.”
Marco lowered his gun.
“I don't.”
Gideon laughed.
“Look at you. Every loyal man eventually disappoints you.”
Dominic ignored him.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Marco looked ashamed.
“Because I didn't know who inside the organization I could trust.”
“You could trust me.”
“Could I?”
The question landed hard.
“You were spending every night with Celeste. You dismissed Mara's warnings. Gideon approved half your security briefings.”
Marco's voice cracked.
“I was trying to protect you from your own blind spots.”
Dominic said nothing.
Because there was truth in it.
Police entered moments later.
Gideon was arrested on charges tied to kidnapping, attempted murder, financial fraud, and conspiracy.
But the victory felt incomplete.
Back at Saint Mercy's, Grace developed respiratory distress.
Her oxygen saturation dropped.
Hannah ordered everyone out.
Mara stood behind the glass, shaking.
Dominic came beside her.
“She survived a crash, kidnapping, and explosion.”
Mara wiped her face.
“She weighs four pounds, Dominic. She doesn't know she's supposed to be tough.”
“No.”
He looked through the glass.
“She shouldn't have to be.”
Mara turned toward him.
That was the entire tragedy in one sentence.
They had both grown up believing survival was character.
That pain made people worthy.
That love was proven by how much suffering someone tolerated.
Their daughter deserved something different.
Dominic reached for Mara's hand, then stopped before touching her.
A question.
Mara noticed.
Eight months ago, he would have taken her hand because she was his wife.
Now he waited.
She slipped her fingers into his.
Grace stabilized before dawn.
At sunrise, Dominic made three decisions.
He suspended every illegal Vascari operation.
He turned the financial records against Gideon over to federal investigators through attorneys.
And he signed documents restoring Lucia's inherited ownership.
Marco stared at the papers.
“You realize what this means?”
“Yes.”
“You'll lose half your power.”
Dominic looked through the NICU glass at Mara holding Grace.
“Good.”
Marco smiled faintly.
“You finally figured it out.”
“What?”
“You were never afraid of losing power.”
Dominic looked at him.
“You were afraid there'd be nothing underneath it.”
Later that morning, Celeste asked to see Mara.
Dominic objected.
Mara agreed.
Celeste entered in a wheelchair.
For a moment, the two women simply looked at each other.
Celeste spoke first.
“I hated you.”
“I know.”
“No. You don't.”
She swallowed.
“I hated that he loved you even when he was angry with you.”
Mara's expression did not change.
“He had a strange way of showing it.”
Celeste laughed bitterly.
“Yes.”
Then tears appeared.
“I helped Gideon watch you.”
“I know.”
“I gave him information.”
“I know.”
“I didn't know he would hurt you.”
Mara studied her.
“That doesn't erase what you did.”
“I know.”
“Why are you here?”
Celeste removed something from her pocket.
Mara's wedding ring.
“Gideon took it from your apartment months ago. He kept it as proof he could reach you.”
Mara stared.
Celeste placed it on the table.
“I thought if you disappeared, Dominic would finally choose me.”
“And did he?”
Celeste looked toward the glass, where Dominic stood holding Grace.
“No.”
She wheeled herself toward the door.
Then stopped.
“He didn't choose you either, Mara.”
Mara frowned.
Celeste looked back.
“Not then.”
Her eyes shifted toward Dominic.
“But I think he's trying to now.”
After she left, Mara picked up the ring.
She did not put it on.
Dominic noticed.
May you like
He said nothing.
That silence, finally, was the right kind.
