Chapter 3 - THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
Laura stared at the photograph.
She had met Marco's father only once.
Or at least, she thought she had.
Twelve years earlier, Antonio Romano had supposedly died during a violent dispute between rival families.
Dominic rarely spoke about his uncle.
Marco had been twenty-two when he buried him.
Laura remembered seeing an old photograph in the Romano family library.
Antonio standing beside Dominic's late father.
Two handsome men in dark suits.
Both smiling.
Now Marco was standing beside her hospital bed, trembling as he studied the face of a man who should have been buried more than a decade earlier.
“Are you certain?” Laura whispered.
Marco nodded.
“My father had that watch specially made.”
He pointed toward the black dial.
“See the little gold mark near the number seven?”
Laura leaned closer.
“It looks like a scratch.”
“It's not. It's an engraved letter M. My mother gave it to him for their twentieth anniversary.”
“Maybe someone inherited it.”
Marco shook his head.
“Look at the scar beside his ear.”
Laura enlarged the picture.
There it was.
A thin white line running from the man's temple toward his jaw.
“My father got that when I was ten,” Marco said. “We were fishing off Key Biscayne. He slipped on the boat.”
His voice broke.
“I remember because I thought he'd fallen into the water. He laughed when I started crying.”
Laura lowered the phone.
“Then why would Dominic tell you he was dead?”
Marco looked toward the window.
For the first time since Laura had known him, he seemed afraid of the answer.
“I don't know.”
A nurse entered to check Laura's blood pressure.
Marco immediately stepped away from the bed.
They waited until she finished.
Then Laura reached for his hand.
“Whatever this means, we need to be careful.”
Marco nodded.
“Don't show this photograph to anyone.”
“Not even Dominic?”
“Especially not Dominic.”
Laura studied him.
“Do you think your cousin knew?”
Marco didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
By eight that morning, Laura's contractions had eased.
The doctors continued monitoring her and the baby.
Outside, reporters had gathered near the hospital after news of the mansion attack leaked.
Television stations described it as an attempted assassination.
Several outlets reported that Dominic Romano had heroically rescued Elena Varela.
A photograph of them leaving the mansion through a secured passage appeared online.
Dominic's arm was wrapped around Elena.
Her head rested against his shoulder.
Below it, one headline read:
ROMANO RISKS LIFE TO SAVE RUMORED MISTRESS.
Laura stared at the image.
Then looked down at her pregnant stomach.
Her baby moved beneath her hand.
“Your father was brave last night,” she whispered.
A tear slipped down her cheek.
“Just not for us.”
When Marco returned, he carried two cups of coffee and a small brown envelope.
“I went back to the estate.”
Laura stiffened.
“Did you give Dominic my ring?”
Marco nodded.
“What did he say?”
“Nothing.”
She looked away.
“Of course.”
“Laura, he looked…”
Marco stopped.
“Like what?”
“Like someone had knocked the breath out of him.”
She didn't feel satisfaction.
Only exhaustion.
Marco placed the envelope beside her.
“I also checked the security employee roster.”
“And?”
“There was no employee matching the man in your photograph.”
Laura frowned.
“How could he enter a mansion with that much security?”
“He wasn't listed as a guest either.”
“Maybe he used a fake name.”
“That's what I thought.”
Marco reached inside his jacket.
He removed a narrow strip of paper.
“The entrance scanners were damaged during the attack. But the service corridor has a separate access system.”
He showed her a printed access log.
One entry had been circled.
11:39 P.M. — OVERRIDE ACCESS — D. ROMANO
Laura stared.
“Dominic let him in?”
“The credential belongs to Dominic.”
“Could someone have stolen it?”
“Possibly.”
Marco's expression darkened.
“But the override requires a physical security token.”
Laura remembered something.
“Dominic carries one on his key ring.”
Marco nodded.
“And the only spare is locked inside his private study.”
The same study Elena had entered shortly before the shooting.
Laura felt cold.
“Marco, what exactly was in that black leather case?”
He rubbed his forehead.
“I don't know.”
“Dominic said financial records.”
“Dominic tells people what he thinks they need to know.”
“Even you?”
Marco smiled bitterly.
“Especially me.”
He looked at the photograph again.
“My father taught Dominic everything about this organization. After Uncle Vincent died, Dad helped him keep the family together.”
“And then he supposedly died.”
“Three weeks before Dominic took complete control.”
Laura considered that.
“Maybe Antonio didn't disappear because an enemy killed him.”
Marco looked at her.
“Maybe he disappeared because someone wanted him out of the way.”
Neither spoke.
At noon, Dominic arrived at the hospital.
Laura knew because the atmosphere outside her room changed.
Footsteps.
Quiet voices.
Security guards shifting positions.
Then Marco stepped into the hallway.
Through the partially open door, Laura heard Dominic speak.
“Why didn't you tell me she was having contractions?”
“Because the doctors were treating her,” Marco replied.
“She's my wife.”
“Then maybe you should start acting like her husband.”
Silence.
Laura closed her eyes.
She had never heard Marco speak to Dominic that way.
“You're forgetting who you're talking to,” Dominic said.
“No. I'm finally remembering who you are.”
The door opened.
Dominic entered alone.
He looked different in daylight.
His dark hair was disordered.
He had changed clothes, but the cut on his cheek remained.
In his hand was the velvet pouch.
“Marco gave me this.”
Laura said nothing.
Dominic removed her wedding ring.
He turned it slowly between his fingers.
“Seven years,” he murmured.
Laura looked at the ceiling.
“Seven years should have taught you what a marriage needs.”
“I never betrayed you with Elena.”
“Maybe not in the way people think.”
His eyes lifted.
“What does that mean?”
“You let her become more important than the truth between us.”
Dominic sat beside the bed.
“Elena's life was in immediate danger.”
“So was mine.”
“I know.”
“No. You know now.”
He took the blow without arguing.
Then he said something unexpected.
“You were right about one thing.”
Laura turned.
“I made a choice.”
She held her breath.
“I chose to prevent Salazar from getting information that could expose everyone connected to me.”
“Even your family?”
Dominic's eyes darkened.
“Especially my family.”
Laura studied his face.
“Are you saying the attack wasn't really about Elena?”
Dominic hesitated.
Then quietly answered, “It started long before Elena came to Miami.”
A terrible thought crossed Laura's mind.
“Did it start with Antonio?”
Dominic went motionless.
Laura immediately regretted revealing what she knew.
“Who told you that name?” he asked.
“Marco talks about his father sometimes.”
Dominic leaned forward.
“Laura, listen carefully. If anyone approaches you claiming to know something about Antonio Romano, you stay away from them.”
“Why?”
“Because there are things about that man you don't understand.”
“Then explain them.”
Dominic looked toward the door.
“I can't. Not here.”
She laughed without humor.
“There it is again.”
He stood.
“I'm trying to protect you.”
“From what, Dominic?”
His expression changed.
“From the consequences of a mistake I made twelve years ago.”
Before Laura could respond, Marco entered.
His face was pale.
“Dominic, we have a problem.”
Dominic turned.
“What?”
Marco held up an evidence photograph investigators had recovered from the mansion.
It showed a shattered security camera.
Behind it, partly concealed inside the wall, was a small recording device.
“Whoever installed this was listening to the private wing,” Marco said.
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
Then Marco added, “The recording system wasn't new.”
“How old?”
Marco looked directly at his cousin.
“Twelve years.”
Dominic slowly sat down.
Laura watched his expression collapse.
May you like
And then he whispered the sentence that changed everything.
“My uncle wasn't supposed to survive that night.”
