Chapter 5 - Dominic Chose Maya In Front Of His Entire Family
The old apartment had been sealed for twenty years.
Maya stood outside it with Dominic.
The door was covered in dust.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“No.”
“Good.”
She looked at him.
“Why good?”
“Because certainty makes people careless.”
She smiled faintly.
“You always talk like that?”
“Yes.”
“That must be exhausting.”
“It is.”
They entered.
The apartment smelled like old wood.
Maya remembered everything.
The kitchen table.
The cracked window.
The bakery downstairs.
Her mother's blue cup.
She walked to the bedroom.
The closet was almost empty.
Then she saw it.
A small wooden chest.
She opened it.
Inside lay the blue coat.
Maya touched the embroidery.
Her fingers found a loose thread.
She pulled.
The lining opened.
Inside was a hidden compartment.
Dominic stared.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
She removed a small envelope.
Inside was a key.
And a photograph.
Her mother standing with Dominic's father.
On the back was written:
If Maya ever finds this, protect her from both sides.
Dominic read it twice.
“Both sides?”
Maya looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
Before he could answer, footsteps sounded downstairs.
Someone had entered.
Dominic drew his gun.
“Stay behind me.”
The footsteps approached.
Then a voice.
“Maya?”
She froze.
Her father's voice.
But her father had been dead for eight years.
She moved toward the stairs.
Dominic grabbed her arm.
“Wait.”
The voice came again.
“Maya, it's me.”
She knew then.
A recording.
Someone had planted it.
A gunshot blasted through the ceiling.
Wood splintered.
Dominic pushed Maya down.
His men returned fire.
The attackers fled.
When the room was secure, Maya found another envelope.
This one contained a letter from Elena.
My darling girl,
If you're reading this, I failed to protect you.
I need you to understand one thing.
None of this was your fault.
The men who came after me wanted information about the Russo family.
I refused to give it.
They threatened you.
So I hid the final ledger inside the one place they would never think to look.
Your clothes.
The key opens a box at St. Vincent's.
Do not trust anyone from the Russo family except the man who will choose you without asking what you can give him.
Maya looked up.
Dominic had gone very still.
“That's you,” she whispered.
He looked at her.
“Maybe.”
The key led them to an old chapel.
Inside was a stone box.
The ledger was there.
But before they could open it, Dominic received an invitation.
A Russo family dinner.
Every major member would attend.
Maya looked at him.
“They know.”
“Yes.”
“What do they want?”
“Me to prove I'm loyal.”
“To them?”
“Yes.”
“And if you're not?”
“They kill me.”
Maya swallowed.
Then held up the ledger.
“Then let's see who is loyal to whom.”
The dinner took place at the Russo estate.
Maya entered beside Dominic.
Every conversation stopped.
Women looked at her dress.
Men looked at her shoes.
Someone whispered.
“That's the waitress.”
Maya heard.
She kept walking.
Dominic placed his hand at her back.
His mother, Teresa Russo, stood at the head of the table.
She studied Maya.
“So this is her.”
Dominic said nothing.
Teresa looked at him.
“You brought an employee.”
“She isn't my employee.”
Maya glanced at him.
He continued.
“She is my future.”
Silence.
Maya's heart slammed against her ribs.
Teresa's expression hardened.
“You cannot be serious.”
“I am.”
His uncle Marco appeared on the balcony.
Maya froze.
Dominic stepped in front of her.
Marco laughed.
“So the waitress is the weakness.”
Dominic's voice was cold.
“No.”
He held Maya's hand.
“She is the reason I will burn this entire house down before I let you touch her.”
No one moved.
Then Maya stepped forward.
“You want the ledger?”
Marco nodded.
“I have it.”
A murmur swept the room.
Maya raised the ledger.
“But before anyone gets it, I want the truth.”
She looked at the family.
“Who ordered my mother's death?”
Silence.
Then Teresa began crying.
Maya stared.
“You know.”
Teresa nodded.
“It was not your mother they wanted.”
“What?”
“They wanted your father.”
Maya's head spun.
“My father?”
Teresa looked at Dominic.
“Your father and Elena were working together.”
“For what?”
“To expose Marco.”
Marco laughed.
“Lies.”
Maya turned.
“You killed her.”
Marco raised a gun.
Dominic moved.
But another gunshot sounded first.
Marco dropped.
Someone behind Maya had fired.
Maya turned.
Teresa held the weapon.
May you like
She looked at her son.
“Now we finish what your father started.”
Related Stories
