Chapter 10 - Secrets in the Bloodline
They kicked through the reinforced doors of the upper office.
Thomas Russo was on his knees behind the desk, hands raised in the air, trembling so hard his teeth were chattering.
Arthur Vance stood near the safe, holding a heavy .357 Magnum with both hands, his face red with exhaustion and sheer panic.
“Stay back!” Arthur screamed, pointing the gun wildly between Dominic and Nora. “I built this city! You two are nothing! You think you can take everything from me?”
Dominic didn't even raise his weapon. He simply walked forward, the aura of authority radiating from him making Arthur look small and pathetic.
“You broke the code, Arthur,” Dominic said. “You brought the war to my home. You targeted my family.”
“Your family?” Arthur laughed hysterically, his eyes fixing on Nora. “You fool! You don’t even know who she is! Look at her! You think it was an accident she ended up in Florence three years ago?”
Dominic paused, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Arthur spat on the floor. “Six years ago, before she retired, Cipher-9 was hired by the syndicate board to assassinate your father! She was the one who pulled the trigger on old Lorenzo Gallo!”
The room went dead silent.
Thomas Russo stopped breathing.
Dominic slowly turned his head to look at Nora.
Nora stood completely still. Her hands didn't shake. Her eyes met Dominic’s with unwavering honesty.
“Is it true?” Dominic asked, his voice dead and devoid of emotion.
Nora took a deep breath. “Six years ago, I was given a contract on Lorenzo Gallo. The dossier claimed he was a rogue warlord trafficking weapons to terror cells. When I arrived in New York to execute the hit, I found out the intelligence was fabricated by Arthur Vance to eliminate his primary rival.”
Nora stepped toward Arthur, her eyes burning with pure venom.
“I aborted the mission. I refused to pull the trigger on your father, Dominic. And when I refused, Arthur Vance sold my black-ops unit’s coordinates to an enemy strike team in Prague. My entire team was slaughtered because I spared your father’s life.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened. The missing pieces of the puzzle fell into place with devastating clarity.
Nora hadn’t hunted Dominic.
She had protected the Gallo bloodline from the very beginning.
“You lied to my father, Arthur,” Dominic whispered, turning back to the old syndicate boss. “You had him killed two years later with a car bomb, and you tried to blame a ghost.”
Arthur’s hands shook uncontrollably. He tried to pull the trigger of the Magnum.
A single gunshot echoed through the office.
Arthur dropped his weapon, clutching his shattered wrist with a shriek of agony.
May you like
Nora lowered her smoking pistol.
“He’s all yours, Dominic.”
