Chapter 7 - THE MAN INSIDE THE HOUSE
For several seconds, no one moved.
Dominic stared at Marcus, the man who had guarded his family for eleven years. Marcus had stood beside him during funerals, business disputes, and assassination attempts. He had taken bullets meant for Dominic and spent nights sleeping outside Antonio's room after the old man suffered a medical emergency.
Now he held a gun inside the farmhouse where Dominic had finally found his mother.
“Put it down,” Dominic said.
Marcus did not move.
“Sir, you need to listen to me.”
“Put the gun down first.”
Marcus slowly lowered the weapon and placed it on the table.
Catherine watched him with growing dread.
“Are you Samuel Reed's son?”
Marcus nodded.
“My father was a physician. He treated Antonio after the poisoning. He also helped Catherine escape the clinic.”
Dominic felt anger rise in his chest.
“You knew my mother was alive.”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Eleven years.”
Dominic stepped toward him.
“You stood beside me at her funeral.”
“I was ordered to.”
“You watched me grieve.”
Marcus's face tightened.
“I was twenty-six years old. Victor threatened to kill my father if I revealed the truth.”
“Where is your father now?”
“Dead.”
“Did Victor kill him?”
Marcus looked away.
“I believe so.”
Dominic wanted to strike him, but Catherine intervened.
“Stop.”
He turned toward her.
“Mom, he lied to us.”
“So did I.”
The words silenced him.
Catherine stepped closer.
“I allowed you to believe I was dead because I thought it was the only way to keep you alive. Marcus made the same choice. That doesn't make it right, but it means he was afraid.”
Dominic looked at the man who had guarded him for more than a decade.
“Why didn't you tell me when you became my head of security?”
“Because Victor still controlled the family finances, and he had people everywhere. I thought I could protect you by staying close.”
“And the documents?”
Marcus swallowed.
“My father gave them to me before he died. I hid them because I believed Victor would kill anyone who tried to expose him.”
“Where are they?”
Marcus looked toward the farmhouse's back door.
“Not here.”
Outside, Victor's men were beginning to spread around the property.
Dominic checked his watch.
“We have minutes before they come through the doors.”
Marcus nodded.
“There's a storm cellar beneath the kitchen. It leads to an old drainage tunnel that opens near the road.”
Catherine shook her head.
“I'm not leaving again.”
Dominic took her hand.
“You're not going back into hiding. But we need to get you somewhere safe until Victor is arrested.”
Catherine looked at him for a long moment.
Then she nodded.
Marcus led them down the narrow stairs into the cellar. Rachel followed, carrying the small metal case she had found among Rose's belongings.
The tunnel was damp and nearly pitch-black. Dominic kept one hand on his mother's shoulder while Marcus guided them through the narrow passage.
Halfway to the exit, a sound echoed behind them.
A door slamming.
Then footsteps.
Victor's men had found the entrance.
“Move!” Marcus shouted.
They ran.
The tunnel opened into a wooded area behind the property. Dominic's vehicles waited beyond a line of trees, but the road was blocked by two black SUVs.
Marcus drew his weapon.
“Get Catherine into the car.”
Dominic hesitated.
“I'm not leaving you.”
“Then we all get captured.”
A gunshot struck the tree beside them.
Rachel screamed.
Dominic pulled his mother behind a stone wall while Marcus returned fire. The security officers who had accompanied them emerged from the trees and engaged Victor's men.
The confrontation lasted less than a minute.
When the shooting stopped, one of Victor's vehicles had crashed into a ditch. The remaining attackers fled toward the road.
Marcus stood beside the wall, breathing hard.
Blood darkened his shirt.
Dominic rushed toward him.
“Where are you hit?”
“Shoulder.”
“Can you move?”
Marcus nodded.
Dominic helped him to the car.
As they drove away, Catherine held her son's hand.
“Your father needs to know I'm alive.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Dad has spent twenty years believing you're dead.”
“Then he deserves the truth.”
Dominic thought of Antonio's tears when he saw Rose's key.
He wondered whether his father had spent those years grieving Catherine or protecting a secret that had become too dangerous to reveal.
***
Back at the mansion, Marcus was treated by a private physician.
Dominic remained in the library with Catherine, Rachel, and Vanessa.
The old family photographs on the mantel seemed to watch them.
Catherine studied one of herself and Antonio on their wedding day.
“He looks so young,” she whispered.
Dominic stood beside her.
“He never stopped loving you.”
She looked at him.
“Love doesn't excuse what he allowed to happen.”
“No.”
“Do you believe he knew I was alive?”
Dominic hesitated.
“I don't know.”
Catherine lowered her eyes.
“Then we need to ask him.”
Antonio was brought into the library shortly afterward.
When he saw Catherine, his hands began to tremble.
For several seconds, he could not speak.
Then he whispered, “My love.”
Catherine approached him.
“You let me disappear.”
Antonio began crying.
“I thought you were dead.”
“You knew I survived the crash.”
His face crumpled.
“I knew you had been taken. I didn't know where you were.”
“You could have searched.”
“I did.”
“Not hard enough.”
Antonio bowed his head.
Catherine stood before him, her hands clenched at her sides.
“I spent twenty years believing you had chosen the family over me.”
“I chose fear.”
“And Dominic?”
Antonio looked at his son.
“I failed him, too.”
Catherine finally took his hand.
“I don't know if I can forgive you.”
Antonio nodded.
“You don't have to.”
They remained together in silence.
For the first time, the Moretti family was no longer divided by a lie. But the truth had not healed the damage. It had only revealed how much remained broken.
Dominic turned toward Marcus, who stood near the door with his arm in a sling.
“You said your father left you documents.”
Marcus nodded.
“I have them.”
“Where?”
“In a safety deposit box under my mother's maiden name.”
“Can you retrieve them?”
“Yes.”
Marcus hesitated.
“But there's something you should know first. My father didn't just document Antonio's poisoning. He found evidence that Victor had been altering Catherine's medical records for years.”
Catherine went pale.
“Why?”
Marcus looked at her.
“Because Victor wanted to convince everyone you were mentally unstable.”
Dominic felt cold.
“He was trying to make her disappearance permanent.”
Marcus nodded.
“And he succeeded.”
Rachel opened the metal case she had carried from the farmhouse.
Inside lay a small cassette tape and a handwritten note.
The note was addressed to Dominic.
If you have found Catherine, then Victor has lost control of the story. But there is one final truth you must learn.
The man who ordered the crash was not Victor.
Dominic stared at the words.
He turned the page over.
On the back, Rose had written a single name.
ANTONIO MORETTI.
Dominic looked at his father.
Antonio's face had gone completely white.
May you like
And Catherine whispered, “No. That's not possible.”
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