Three months later, Russo Holdings looked different.
Dominic had sold seven companies.
Closed four others.
Fired thirty-two employees connected to Patrick's network.
And hired a compliance department so aggressive that Chloe privately referred to them as the Vatican.
She no longer worked as Dominic's assistant.
Technically.
Her new title was Director of Strategic Operations.
She had her own office.
Her own staff.
And, after several arguments, her own security plan that she had personally approved.
Dominic hated the compromise.
Chloe considered this evidence that it was excellent.
Their relationship remained private.
Mostly.
Jessica figured it out in fourteen seconds.
“You're sleeping with Russo.”
Chloe nearly inhaled her coffee.
“What?”
Jessica leaned over Chloe's desk.
“You smiled when he walked past.”
“I smile at people.”
“No, you don't.”
“I absolutely do.”
“You smile politely. That was different.”
Chloe lowered her voice.
“Jessica.”
“Oh my God.”
Jessica's eyes widened.
“You are.”
“Please stop talking.”
Jessica sat down.
“How is he?”
“Jessica.”
“Does he wear a suit to bed?”
Chloe covered her face.
Their fragile normality lasted until Thursday.
At eleven seventeen, Chloe received a package.
No return address.
Inside was a photograph.
Dominic and Chloe leaving a restaurant.
A red X crossed Dominic's face.
On the back:
YOUR FATHER'S DEBTS DON'T DISAPPEAR.
Chloe called Dominic immediately.
He was in her office in less than one minute.
Marco followed.
“Who delivered it?”
“Courier.”
“Name?”
“Fake.”
Dominic stared at the photo.
His expression returned to the terrifying stillness Chloe remembered from the alley.
“Patrick?”
Marco shook his head.
“Impossible. Every communication is monitored.”
“Then who?”
Marco looked grim.
“We missed someone.”
Dominic turned toward Chloe.
“You're leaving.”
She folded her arms.
“Try again.”
“Chloe.”
“We've discussed this.”
“Someone sent a death threat.”
“Yes.”
“Against me.”
“Yes.”
“So why am I leaving?”
“Because you're in the photograph.”
“So are you.”
Dominic stared.
Marco quietly backed toward the door.
Chloe pointed at him.
“Don't you dare.”
Marco stopped.
“I was just…”
“Stay.”
Dominic's eyebrow rose.
“You're ordering my security chief?”
“He likes me better.”
Marco coughed.
Dominic glared.
Chloe sighed.
“We handle this together.”
Dominic looked at the photograph.
Finally he nodded.
“Together.”
The investigation led somewhere no one expected.
Not to Patrick.
Not to Elena.
Not to an old rival organization.
To Teresa.
Chloe refused to believe it.
“Impossible.”
Marco placed bank records on the table.
“Payments from Vittorio Russo's network to an account linked to Teresa's son.”
Dominic's face went pale.
“Samuel?”
“Yes.”
Teresa had worked for the Russo family for thirty years.
Samuel was her only child.
He had disappeared five years earlier.
Everyone believed he had moved west after gambling debts.
He hadn't.
Marco found him in Milwaukee.
Under another name.
When they confronted Teresa, she cried.
Not because she had betrayed them.
Because she had spent five years protecting Dominic from the truth.
“Your father threatened Samuel,” she told him.
They sat inside Dominic's penthouse.
Teresa's hands shook around a cup of tea.
“He forced him to move money.”
Dominic's voice was quiet.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Samuel begged me.”
“And the photograph?”
“Not him.”
“Then who?”
Teresa looked at Dominic.
“Your uncle.”
Dominic froze.
“Patrick's father?”
“Carlo never died.”
The room went silent.
Officially, Carlo Russo had died six years earlier in Italy.
According to Teresa, Vittorio had staged his brother's death after their partnership collapsed.
Carlo had lived secretly in Europe.
Now his son was imprisoned.
His brother's empire was dismantled.
And he had returned.
“He wants revenge,” Teresa whispered.
Dominic leaned back.
“So Patrick wasn't the end.”
“No.”
Chloe looked at Dominic.
“Where is Carlo?”
Teresa began crying harder.
“I don't know.”
Then the penthouse lights died.
Dominic moved instantly.
“Down!”
A bullet shattered the window.
Chloe hit the floor.
Marco returned fire.
Security alarms screamed.
Teresa cried out.
Dominic pulled Chloe behind a marble column.
“Are you hit?”
“No.”
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“For once in your life—”
“Don't finish that sentence.”
Despite the danger, Dominic stared at her in disbelief.
Then Marco shouted.
“Roof access!”
Dominic ran.
Chloe stayed with Teresa.
Exactly three minutes later, silence fell.
Then Chloe heard a shot.
One.
Final.
She ran toward the stairwell.
“Chloe!” Marco shouted.
But she was already climbing.
The rooftop door stood open.
Rain swept across the concrete.
Dominic stood near the edge.
Opposite him was an elderly man holding a gun.
Carlo Russo.
“You destroyed our family,” Carlo shouted.
Dominic's shirt was torn.
Blood marked his shoulder.
“You destroyed it before I was old enough to understand it.”
“You handed everything to the government!”
“I ended what should've ended decades ago.”
Carlo raised the gun.
Chloe's breath caught.
Dominic saw her.
His face changed.
“Chloe, get down!”
Carlo turned.
Dominic moved.
The gun fired.
Chloe screamed.
Dominic tackled Carlo.
The weapon skidded away.
Marco and security rushed onto the roof.
They restrained Carlo.
Chloe ran toward Dominic.
Blood covered his shirt.
“No.”
Her hands shook.
“Dominic.”
“I'm fine.”
“You're bleeding.”
“Shoulder.”
“That's not fine!”
He looked at her.
And smiled.
“You came after me.”
“Of course I did.”
“You're terrible at following instructions.”
Tears blurred her vision.
“I learned from my boss.”
Dominic laughed.
Then winced.
Chloe wrapped her arms around him carefully.
Police sirens rose below.
Carlo Russo was taken into custody.
The last hidden architect of Vittorio's empire finally stepped into daylight.
There would be investigations.
Trials.
Headlines.
Consequences.
But for the first time, there were no secrets left inside the Russo family.
Dominic stood on the rooftop while paramedics bandaged his shoulder.
Chloe stayed beside him.
The rain finally began to stop.
And somewhere beyond the clouds, dawn was coming.
---