Chapter 7 - The Betrayal Inside the HouseFay laughed when Carmine told her.
Not because it was funny.
Because the alternative was impossible.
“Mrs. Gable?”
Carmine did not smile.
They stood in Dominic’s office.
Dominic sat behind his desk.
His face had become unreadable.
On the desk lay photographs.
Bank transfers.
Phone records.
Security logs.
Fay picked up one page.
She did not understand half of it.
But she understood the name.
Margaret Gable.
“No.”
Carmine leaned against the wall.
“I checked three times.”
“She made payments to the men who attacked the convoy.”
“No.”
“Fay.”
“She’s been here twenty years.”
“Twenty-three.”
Dominic’s voice was empty.
“She worked for my father.”
Fay looked at him.
That explained his expression.
Mrs. Gable was not merely an employee.
She had known Dominic as a child.
Had probably packed his lunches.
Cleaned his scraped knees.
Watched him grow into the man sitting behind the desk.
“Where is she?”
“In her room.”
“Does she know?”
“No.”
Dominic opened a drawer.
Removed a pistol.
Fay’s stomach tightened.
“Dominic.”
He checked the magazine.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“This does not concern you.”
“They shot at me.”
His eyes flashed.
“Exactly.”
Fay stepped between him and the door.
“What are you going to do?”
“Move.”
“No.”
“Fay.”
“Are you going to kill her?”
Silence.
That was an answer.
Fay did not move.
Dominic’s voice became dangerous.
“She ordered men to fire into a vehicle containing you.”
“And you.”
“I don’t care about me.”
“I do.”
That stopped him.
Fay pointed toward the gun.
“If you walk upstairs angry, you’ll never know why.”
“I know why.”
“No.”
“You know what she did.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
Carmine cleared his throat.
“The kid has a point.”
Dominic glared at him.
Carmine shrugged.
“I’m just saying.”
Dominic looked back at Fay.
Then placed the gun on the desk.
“Bring her.”
Mrs. Gable entered five minutes later.
She knew immediately.
Perhaps it was the documents.
Perhaps Dominic’s expression.
Perhaps guilt recognized the room before evidence did.
She stopped.
Carmine closed the door behind her.
Dominic held up the bank transfer.
“Tell me it isn’t yours.”
Mrs. Gable looked at it.
Then sat down.
Fay’s stomach dropped.
“Margaret.”
Dominic rarely used her first name.
“Tell me.”
Mrs. Gable looked at him.
“I can’t.”
Dominic’s face hardened.
“Why?”
She did not answer.
Dominic struck the desk.
“WHY?”
Fay flinched.
Mrs. Gable did not.
Instead, tears appeared in the older woman’s eyes.
“My son.”
Silence.
Dominic stared.
“What?”
“Daniel.”
Mrs. Gable’s hands trembled.
“You remember him.”
Dominic’s expression shifted.
Fay looked between them.
Mrs. Gable continued.
“He worked for your father.”
“Collections.”
“Security.”
“Whatever ugly thing needed doing.”
Dominic nodded slowly.
“He disappeared twelve years ago.”
“No.”
Mrs. Gable’s voice broke.
“He didn’t disappear.”
She looked directly at Dominic.
“Your father killed him.”
The room became completely still.
Dominic’s face drained of color.
Mrs. Gable continued.
“Daniel wanted out.”
“He had met a girl.”
“They were expecting a baby.”
“He told your father he was leaving.”
“Your father told him nobody left.”
Fay felt sick.
“I spent twelve years believing my son abandoned me.”
“Then Leo found me after your accident.”
“He had records.”
“Photographs.”
“Your father ordered Daniel taken to Warehouse Nine.”
Mrs. Gable’s voice cracked.
“He never came out.”
Dominic looked down.
“My father told me Daniel stole money.”
“He lied.”
“Yes.”
Mrs. Gable wiped her eyes.
“Leo showed me proof.”
“He told me you knew.”
Dominic looked up sharply.
“I was nineteen.”
“He said you were there.”
“I wasn’t.”
“He showed me a photograph.”
Carmine stepped forward.
“What photograph?”
Mrs. Gable reached into her pocket.
Removed a worn picture.
Placed it on the desk.
Dominic picked it up.
A younger Dominic stood beside his father outside a warehouse.
A date had been printed in the corner.
Dominic stared.
“That was my birthday.”
He looked at Carmine.
“We were at Warehouse Seven.”
“Not Nine.”
Carmine took the photograph.
“Background’s wrong.”
He pointed.
“This is composite work.”
“Look at the shadow.”
Mrs. Gable closed her eyes.
Leo had lied.
Even after death, Leo was still destroying them.
Dominic looked at Mrs. Gable.
“You tried to kill me because of a photograph.”
“I wanted you dead.”
Her honesty was brutal.
“Then why Fay?”
Mrs. Gable’s face collapsed.
“She wasn’t supposed to be there.”
Fay froze.
“The hospital appointment was changed.”
“You were supposed to leave at ten.”
“The shooters were told you would be alone except for Carmine.”
Mrs. Gable looked at Fay.
“When I saw you leave at eight-forty…”
Her voice broke.
“I called them.”
“I tried to stop it.”
“But they were already in position.”
Fay felt suddenly cold.
Dominic’s hand moved toward the gun.
Fay caught it.
“Don’t.”
“She nearly killed you.”
“I know.”
Mrs. Gable stood.
“I deserve whatever happens.”
“No.”
Fay looked at her.
“You don’t get to make it that easy.”
Mrs. Gable stared.
“You lived in this house for twenty-three years.”
“You watched Dominic become like his father.”
“Then you watched him try to become something else.”
“And instead of asking him the truth, you believed Leo.”
Tears ran down Mrs. Gable’s face.
“I hated him.”
“I know.”
“I wanted someone to pay.”
“I know.”
Fay’s voice softened.
“But killing Dominic would not bring Daniel back.”
Mrs. Gable covered her mouth.
Dominic looked toward the window.
For a long time, nobody spoke.
Then he picked up the gun.
Removed the magazine.
Placed both on the desk.
“Carmine.”
“Yes.”
“Take Margaret to the guest house.”
“Two guards.”
“No phone.”
Mrs. Gable looked surprised.
Dominic continued.
“Find everything we have on Daniel Gable.”
“Warehouse records.”
“My father’s books.”
“Everything.”
Carmine nodded.
Mrs. Gable stared at Dominic.
“You’re not going to kill me?”
Dominic looked at her.
“Six months ago?”
“Yes.”
His expression was cold.
“I would have.”
Then his eyes moved toward Fay.
“But six months ago I was becoming my father.”
He looked back at Mrs. Gable.
“I’m done inheriting dead men’s sins.”
Mrs. Gable began crying.
Carmine led her away.
When the door closed, Dominic’s composure broke.
His hands shook.
Fay approached.
“My father murdered her son.”
“You didn’t.”
“I worked for him.”
“You were nineteen.”
“I became him.”
“No.”
Fay knelt.
“You learned from him.”
“There’s a difference.”
Dominic looked at her.
“What if there isn’t?”
“Then make one.”
Three days later, they found Daniel Gable.
Not alive.
But not where Leo had claimed.
His remains had been buried beneath an abandoned construction site owned by Dominic’s father.
Alongside him were four other men.
Dominic turned everything over to an attorney.
Not the police directly.
Not yet.
But enough evidence was placed in protected hands that the truth could no longer disappear.
Mrs. Gable received her son’s remains.
Dominic paid for the funeral.
She tried to refuse.
He told her it was not charity.
Fay almost laughed when she heard.
After the funeral, Mrs. Gable resigned.
Dominic accepted.
At the front gates, she hugged Fay.
Then she approached Dominic.
“I don’t expect forgiveness.”
Dominic looked at her.
“You won’t get it today.”
Mrs. Gable nodded.
“Maybe not ever.”
“No.”
“But I understand why you hated me.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“That’s more than I deserve.”
Dominic shook his head.
“No.”
“That’s what my father taught everyone.”
“That we get what we deserve.”
“Pain for pain.”
“Blood for blood.”
He looked toward Fay.
“I don’t believe that anymore.”
Mrs. Gable left.
That night, Dominic could not sleep.
Fay found him in the therapy room at two in the morning.
He was trying to stand between parallel bars.
His arms trembled violently.
“Dominic.”
He ignored her.
He pushed.
His knees remained locked in braces.
His upper body rose.
For three seconds, he was upright.
Then his arms failed.
Fay rushed forward.
Dominic collapsed against her.
They both fell onto the mat.
Fay landed beneath him.
“Ow.”
“Sorry.”
“You’re heavy.”
“I’ve been told.”
They lay there.
Dominic laughed.
Then Fay laughed.
Soon neither could stop.
It was ridiculous.
Two damaged people lying on a gym floor at two in the morning laughing after a week filled with attempted murder and buried bodies.
Eventually, Dominic became quiet.
“I stood.”
“For three seconds.”
“Four.”
“Three and a half.”
“Cruel woman.”
Fay touched his face.
“You stood.”
Dominic looked at her.
Then kissed her.
This kiss was different.
Not tentative.
Not afraid.
Fay wrapped her arms around him.
Dominic pulled her closer.
For the first time, neither of them stopped.
Later, with Fay curled against his chest on the therapy mat, Dominic stared at the ceiling.
“I’m getting out.”
Fay lifted her head.
“Out of what?”
“The organization.”
She stared.
Dominic continued.
“Not tomorrow.”
“I can’t simply disappear.”
“Too many people depend on me.”
“But I’m converting everything legitimate.”
“Shipping.”
“Construction.”
“Security.”
“Property.”
“No more collections.”
“No more street crews.”
“No more blood.”
Fay searched his face.
“Why?”
Dominic looked at her.
“Because someday I want to give you my name.”
Her breath caught.
“And I don’t want it to be a threat.”
Fay said nothing.
She simply kissed him again.
May you like
Neither of them knew that someone outside the estate had already learned about Dominic’s plan.
And the old world had no intention of letting him leave peacefully.
