Chapter 3 - The Traitor Stole My Husband’s Brother and Used His Mistress to Break Our Marriage—But Luca’s Final Secret Forced Dominic to Choose Between His Empire and the TruthDominic wanted to leave for Vermont immediately.
Victoria stopped him.
“Think.”
“My brother is alive.”
“Possibly.”
“You saw the photograph.”
“I saw a photograph.”
“It's Matteo.”
“I believe it is.”
“Then I'm going.”
“And if Luca expects that?”
Dominic stopped.
Victoria pointed toward the map.
“Everything Luca has done depends on controlling your reaction.”
Mercer Street.
Elena.
The cemetery.
Even Victoria.
“He knows you.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“Apparently better than I know myself.”
“That self-pity is useless.”
Gabriel almost coughed.
Dominic glared at him.
Victoria continued.
“If Matteo has survived twelve years, another hour spent planning will not kill him.”
“You don't know that.”
“No.”
Her voice softened.
“But charging into a location Luca may control could kill both of you.”
Dominic looked at her.
For years, Victoria had been the only person who could speak to him this way.
He had once valued it.
Then resented it.
Then betrayed it.
Now he listened.
“What do you suggest?”
“We verify the facility.”
Nathan nodded.
“I already have someone doing it.”
Dominic exhaled.
“Fine.”
Victoria returned to the files.
That was when Nathan received confirmation.
Matteo Moretti had been living under the name Matthew Raines.
Private neurological facility.
Severe memory impairment recorded after traumatic injury.
Fees paid through a foundation controlled by Luca.
Dominic sat down.
For twelve years he had visited an empty grave.
He had blamed himself.
Matteo had called him the night before the explosion.
Dominic had been busy.
They argued.
Matteo said he needed to show Dominic something important.
Dominic told him it could wait.
Then Matteo supposedly died.
It had never stopped haunting him.
Victoria knew.
She had spent hundreds of nights waking to find Dominic standing at the bedroom window.
He rarely spoke Matteo's name.
Now she understood why.
“What did he want to show you?” she asked.
Dominic stared at the photograph.
“I don't know.”
“Think.”
“He said Luca was lying.”
Everyone went silent.
“About what?”
“He wouldn't tell me on the phone.”
Dominic's face changed.
“I told him to stop being dramatic.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“Dominic.”
“I dismissed him.”
“You didn't know.”
His eyes lifted.
It was the first comfort she had offered since leaving.
Small.
But real.
Dominic nodded.
“No. But I should have listened.”
Victoria understood exactly what he meant.
He had failed to listen to Matteo.
Then years later failed to listen to Victoria.
A pattern.
Perhaps he finally saw it.
They reached Vermont after dark.
Federal agents entered first.
No Luca.
No armed guards.
Just frightened medical staff and falsified records.
Matteo was found in a private room overlooking a frozen lake.
Dominic entered alone.
Victoria watched from the doorway.
Matteo had aged.
His once-black hair was streaked with gray.
A scar crossed his left temple.
He looked at Dominic without recognition.
Dominic stopped several feet away.
“Matteo.”
No response.
Dominic's eyes filled.
“It's Dom.”
Matteo frowned.
Then something shifted.
“Dom?”
Dominic's knees nearly gave out.
He crossed the room.
Matteo lifted a trembling hand.
Touched his brother's face.
“You got old.”
Dominic laughed and sobbed simultaneously.
“So did you.”
“I thought you were dead.”
Dominic froze.
Matteo whispered:
“Luca said you were dead.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
Then embraced him.
Victoria turned away.
Some moments did not belong to witnesses.
Matteo remembered fragments.
Luca stealing money.
Adrian Voss discovering it.
Dominic's father refusing to believe the accusations.
Matteo collecting evidence.
The car explosion.
Waking somewhere underground.
Luca telling him Dominic had been killed.
Then years of medication.
Confusion.
Institutions.
False names.
But one memory remained sharp.
A ledger.
“The black book,” Matteo said.
Dominic leaned forward.
“What black book?”
“Your father.”
“What about him?”
“He knew eventually.”
“Knew what?”
“Luca.”
Dominic stared.
“Our father knew Luca was stealing?”
Matteo nodded.
“He confronted him.”
“When?”
“Before my accident.”
“What happened?”
Matteo's face twisted.
“He was scared.”
Dominic almost laughed.
Their father, Vittorio Moretti, had frightened everyone.
“He was never scared.”
“He was scared of what Luca had become.”
Matteo looked at Victoria.
“Your father helped him.”
“My father?”
“Charles.”
Victoria moved closer.
“What did they do?”
“Made copies.”
“Of?”
“Everything.”
“Where?”
Matteo closed his eyes.
“Home.”
“The Moretti estate?”
“No.”
He pointed toward Victoria.
“Her home.”
Victoria's heart jumped.
“Oakridge?”
Matteo shook his head.
“The house.”
“The main estate?”
He nodded.
“Behind the woman.”
“What woman?”
Matteo struggled.
“The painting.”
Victoria understood first.
Dominic's grandmother.
A huge oil portrait hung in the dining room.
The same room where Dominic brought Elena.
Victoria looked at him.
“The ledger has been in our dining room.”
For fifteen years.
They returned before dawn.
Dominic removed the portrait.
Behind it was a recessed compartment.
Inside sat a black leather ledger.
Nathan opened it.
Everything was there.
Bribes.
Murders.
Shell corporations.
Adrian Voss.
The attempt on Charles Hart.
Matteo.
Mercer Street.
Luca had built an empire inside Dominic's empire.
Then one page changed everything.
Dominic read it.
A transfer authorized by Vittorio Moretti.
Five million dollars.
To Luca.
“What is this?”
Nathan examined the date.
“Two weeks after Adrian disappeared.”
Victoria looked at Dominic.
His face turned gray.
“My father paid him.”
Matteo had been right.
Vittorio discovered Luca's crimes.
But instead of exposing him, he paid him to keep quiet.
To protect the Moretti name.
That decision gave Luca power.
Dominic stared at the ledger.
“My father knew.”
“Yes,” Nathan said.
“He protected Luca.”
“Yes.”
“And because he did, Luca kept going.”
No one answered.
Dominic sat down.
The Moretti code.
Family above everything.
Never expose blood.
Never cooperate with outsiders.
Never bring shame upon the name.
It had allowed Luca to survive.
Dominic looked at Victoria.
“If I give this to federal investigators, they will dismantle everything.”
“Possibly.”
“Moretti Holdings could collapse.”
“Yes.”
“Hundreds of employees.”
“Which is why the legitimate divisions need to be separated first.”
Dominic stared.
She had already considered it.
Of course she had.
“You'd help?”
“I own thirty-seven percent.”
Not because I love you.
Not because I'm your wife.
Business.
Boundaries.
Dominic nodded.
“What do you want?”
“The criminal operations closed.”
His eyes widened.
“All of them.”
“Victoria—”
“All.”
“That could expose people.”
“Good.”
“Some of those people are family.”
Victoria stared.
And Dominic heard himself.
Family.
The same excuse his father used.
He looked down.
Then nodded.
“All.”
Gabriel stared at him.
“Boss.”
Dominic looked at the black ledger.
“No more.”
“What?”
“No more protecting the name at the expense of everyone beneath it.”
He stood.
“Separate legitimate assets. Preserve payroll where possible. Freeze Luca's accounts.”
Gabriel nodded slowly.
“And the ledger?”
Dominic picked it up.
“I deliver it myself.”
Luca called before he could.
“You found Matteo.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“Yes.”
“Touching reunion?”
“Where are you?”
Luca laughed.
“You always were impatient.”
“You kept my brother prisoner for twelve years.”
“I kept him alive.”
“You tried to kill him.”
“Semantics.”
Dominic's hand tightened.
Victoria touched his wrist.
Not affection.
A warning.
Don't let him control you.
Dominic exhaled.
“What do you want?”
“The ledger.”
“No.”
“Then Elena dies.”
Victoria stiffened.
Luca continued.
“She became inconvenient.”
“Where?”
“Mercer Street.”
Dominic looked at Victoria.
Luca laughed.
“Bring the ledger at midnight.”
“You won't get it.”
“Then bring Victoria.”
Dominic's face changed.
“No.”
Luca chuckled.
“There he is.”
“What?”
“The husband.”
Dominic went silent.
“You humiliated her. Betrayed her. Replaced her.”
Luca's voice became cruel.
“And now suddenly you remember how much you love her because somebody else wants to take her away.”
Victoria watched Dominic.
This was designed to provoke him.
Instead Dominic said:
“You're right about one thing.”
Luca stopped.
“I betrayed her.”
Victoria's eyes widened.
“I did that.”
Dominic continued.
“You introduced Elena. You manipulated circumstances. You fed me lies.”
His voice hardened.
“But you didn't make me sleep with her.”
Silence.
“I did that.”
Victoria stopped breathing.
“And I will answer for it whether Victoria ever forgives me or not.”
Luca had no response.
Dominic smiled without humor.
“You can't use my shame against me anymore.”
Then he ended the call.
Victoria stared.
“That was surprisingly mature.”
“Therapy by organized crime.”
She almost smiled.
“Don't become proud.”
“Wouldn't dream of it.”
At midnight, Mercer Street looked abandoned.
Victoria came anyway.
Dominic hated it.
But he no longer ordered her.
“You're certain?”
“Yes.”
“I strongly dislike this.”
“Noted.”
“I would prefer you remain with Nathan.”
“No.”
“Also noted.”
Gabriel muttered, “Progress.”
Dominic glared.
The plan was simple.
The ledger Luca would receive was a copy.
Federal tactical teams surrounded the area.
Victoria carried the briefcase.
Dominic stayed hidden.
Luca emerged.
Elena was with him.
Bruised.
Hands bound.
Gun pressed against her side.
Victoria walked forward.
Luca smiled.
“The famous Victoria.”
“You've known me fifteen years.”
“Not well enough.”
“No.”
She stopped.
“That was your mistake.”
“Give me the ledger.”
“Release Elena.”
Luca laughed.
“She slept with your husband.”
“Yes.”
“And you're rescuing her?”
“No.”
Victoria looked at Elena.
“I'm refusing to let you decide who deserves to live.”
Elena began crying.
Luca sneered.
“Always righteous.”
“No.”
Victoria's eyes became cold.
“Just tired of men like you confusing power with ownership.”
Luca grabbed Elena harder.
“Ledger.”
Victoria dropped the case.
It opened.
Empty.
Luca's expression changed.
Floodlights exploded on.
Police vehicles sealed the street.
Luca dragged Elena backward.
His gun rose.
Then another voice spoke.
“Enough.”
Matteo stepped from behind an armored vehicle.
Luca froze.
For the first time, genuine terror appeared.
“You.”
Matteo smiled weakly.
“Disappointed?”
That second of hesitation was enough.
Elena twisted.
Gabriel fired into the pavement near Luca's foot.
Officers moved.
Luca hit the ground.
The gun slid away.
Dominic emerged.
Luca looked up.
Blood at his lip.
“Kill me.”
Dominic stared.
“You'd like that.”
“You're a Moretti.”
“Yes.”
“Then act like one.”
Dominic thought of his father.
Of Adrian Voss.
Of Matteo's stolen years.
Of Victoria placing her ring beside his scotch.
Then he stepped back.
“No.”
Luca laughed.
“Coward.”
“Maybe.”
Dominic looked toward the police.
“But I'm done protecting the family name from consequences.”
Luca's smile vanished.
Officers dragged him away.
Elena collapsed.
Victoria caught her before she hit the pavement.
Elena looked at her.
“Why?”
Victoria knew what she meant.
“Because what you did to me doesn't give me permission to become him.”
Elena cried.
“I am sorry.”
“I know.”
“Will you ever forgive me?”
Victoria looked toward Dominic.
He stood several yards away.
He did not approach.
He understood this moment wasn't his.
“I don't know.”
Elena nodded.
Victoria helped paramedics place her on a stretcher.
Then she walked toward Dominic.
“It’s finished.”
He looked at her.
“Luca is.”
Victoria understood.
“Our marriage isn't something you repair because the villain has been arrested.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
He reached into his pocket.
The wedding ring.
Still there.
But he did not offer it.
Instead he said:
“I am giving the ledger to federal investigators tomorrow.”
“All of it?”
“All.”
“Even what implicates you?”
“Yes.”
Victoria studied him.
“That may cost you everything.”
Dominic looked at the police car carrying Luca away.
“No.”
His eyes returned to her.
“I already learned what losing everything feels like.”
Victoria's throat tightened.
But she did not reach for him.
Not yet.
Because the war against Luca had lasted weeks.
The damage Dominic caused their marriage had taken years.
If he wanted another chance, he would have to learn that redemption was not one heroic decision.
May you like
It was what a person chose after the crisis ended—
when nobody was watching.
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