Chapter 4 - The Dead Brother
Dominic did not speak.
The voice laughed softly.
“You always were terrible at reunions.”
Norah watched every trace of emotion disappear from Dominic’s face.
“Julian.”
“Six years, and you still recognize me.”
“Where are you?”
“Close.”
Dominic’s grip tightened around the phone.
“You threatened a pregnant woman.”
“I warned you about a liability.”
“She has nothing to do with this.”
“Neither did I when Father decided you were worth more alive than me.”
The call ended.
Dominic remained motionless.
Norah had expected rage.
Instead, she saw grief.
Old grief.
The kind that had hardened into architecture inside him.
“Your brother is alive.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know?”
“No.”
Dominic looked almost offended by the question.
Then he told her everything.
Julian had been the charismatic son.
Dominic had been the difficult one.
Their father, Alessandro Rossy, built his legitimate fortune in shipping, real estate, private security, and construction while maintaining connections nobody discussed at dinner.
Julian loved the money.
Dominic hated the family machinery but was better at running it.
Their father eventually chose Dominic.
Three weeks later, Julian’s car went through a guardrail.
The body was badly burned.
Dental records confirmed his identity.
Dominic had carried the coffin.
“You think he faked his death?”
“I think somebody helped him.”
“Who?”
Dominic looked toward the ballroom below.
“My uncle.”
Vittorio Rossy arrived at breakfast.
He was 67, silver-haired, impeccably dressed and furious that Dominic had summoned him.
Then he saw Norah.
His expression changed.
Only slightly.
But she caught it.
Recognition.
“Who is this?”
Dominic watched him.
“You tell me.”
Vittorio smiled.
“I don’t interrogate waitresses before coffee.”
Norah hated him immediately.
Dominic slid the photograph of the threat across the table.
Vittorio read it.
His face remained calm.
Too calm.
“Congratulations,” he said.
Dominic stood.
“Choose your next sentence carefully.”
Vittorio lifted his hands.
“Your father wanted an heir. Apparently he has one.”
Norah’s stomach tightened.
“How did you know?”
Vittorio looked at her.
“Know what?”
“That I’m pregnant.”
Silence.
Dominic moved around the table.
Vittorio's smile disappeared.
Then gunfire erupted outside.
Security alarms screamed.
Dominic grabbed Norah and pulled her to the floor.
Windows exploded inward.
Men shouted.
Guards returned fire.
Vittorio crawled behind a marble column.
Dominic covered Norah with his body while fragments of glass rained over them.
For the first time, Norah understood something important.
Whatever Dominic Rossy was—
he was willing to die before letting a bullet reach her.
The attack lasted 43 seconds.
When it ended, 2 guards were wounded.
One attacker was dead.
Another escaped.
Vittorio had vanished.
But he left his phone behind.
And inside that phone was a message received 7 minutes before the shooting.
GET OUT BEFORE WE BEGIN.
Dominic stared at it.
Norah whispered, “Your uncle knew.”
“Yes.”
“But is he working with Julian?”
Dominic looked toward the broken windows.
“We’re going to find out.”
His security chief approached.
“There’s more.”
He held up a small evidence bag.
Inside was an old photograph.
Norah took it.
A young woman stood beside Alessandro Rossy.
She had auburn hair.
Green eyes.
A familiar smile.
Norah’s knees almost buckled.
“That’s my mother.”
Dominic turned sharply.
“What?”
Norah stared at the woman who had died when she was 10.
“Why does your father have a photograph of my mother?”
Dominic said nothing.
On the back were handwritten words.
Eileen Gallagher — 1998. Keep her safe. No matter the cost.
Norah looked at Dominic.
May you like
Suddenly her pregnancy was no longer the oldest secret connecting their families.
Not even close.
