Chapter 7 - Secrets Unveiled In The Penthouse
The Truth About Mark's DeathThe Moretti penthouse occupied the top three floors of a glass skyscraper overlooking Central Park. It was a fortress of marble, steel, and floor-to-ceiling windows, guarded by private security teams and state-of-the-art biometric locks.
Dante carried a sleeping Lily upstairs to a guest suite outfitted with pink floral sheets and stuffed animals that looked like they had been purchased by an assistant in a blind panic at FAO Schwarz within the last two hours.
I stood in the center of the minimalist living room, my arms crossed tightly over my chest, glaring at Dominic as he poured two glasses of amber scotch. He offered me one; I shook my head.
"Why are you doing this, Dominic?" I asked, my voice cracking under the weight of exhaustion and fear. "You don't know me. You don't owe us anything."
Dominic walked over, setting the glass down on a marble coffee table. He stopped inches from me. Close enough that I could smell the expensive blend of cedarwood and rain on his skin.
"Three years ago, Mark Miller died in a hit-and-run on 11th Avenue," Dominic said quietly.
My breath caught in my throat. The room spun. "How... how do you know my husband's name?"
"Mark was an accountant for one of my front companies," Dominic said, his eyes filled with a heavy, shadowed grief. "He tried to quit when he realized what was happening. The men who hit him weren't driving a random car, Elena. It was a Valenti hit. They thought he was leaking financial records to the feds."
Tears spilled over my eyelashes, hot and fast. For three years, the police had told me Mark's death was a tragic accident. A hit-and-run by an unknown driver who was never caught.
"You... you knew?" I choked out, my fists balling at my sides as I struck his chest in blind fury. "You knew who killed my husband, and you let me raise our daughter alone? You let me break my back in an ER while the monsters who murdered Mark walked free?"
Dominic didn't flinch. He let me hit him, taking the blows against his solid chest without moving an inch. When my energy finally gave out and I slumped against him, sobbing hysterically, his strong arms wrapped around me, pulling me flush against his body.
May you like
"I was hunting them," Dominic whispered fiercely against my hair. "Every single man involved in Mark's death has been dealt with over the past three years. The Valenti family is down to its last breath. But I couldn't approach you, Elena. If the Valentis knew I cared about you, they would have used you to destroy me."
He pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead. "Until tonight. When Lily walked into that restaurant and chose me... the game changed. I'm not hiding anymore. And I'm not letting you go."
