Chapter 6 - The Brother Everyone Buried Came Back for RevengeDominic did not let me out of his sight after the photograph arrived.
At first it was almost amusing.
I went to the kitchen.
Dominic appeared.
I walked into the garden.
Dominic appeared.
I tried to take a shower and found two female security officers stationed outside the bathroom.
That was where my patience ended.
I stormed into his office.
“This stops now.”
He did not look up from his computer.
“No.”
“Excellent discussion.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I cannot live with armed guards following me to the toilet.”
“You can.”
“I won’t.”
He finally looked up.
“Someone put a target on your face.”
“And suffocating me prevents that?”
“It makes you harder to kill.”
“It also makes me want to kill you.”
“That’s acceptable. I know where you are.”
I stared at him.
“You are unbelievable.”
“So I’m told.”
I walked behind his desk and closed the laptop.
That got his attention.
“You’re afraid.”
His expression hardened.
“I’m cautious.”
“You’re afraid.”
“Deanna.”
“You think Gabriel is alive.”
He stood.
The movement put us inches apart.
“Do not use my brother to win an argument.”
“I’m not.”
His jaw flexed.
“I’m trying to understand you.”
“That is unnecessary.”
“For your employee, maybe. Not your wife.”
Something changed.
Wife.
We had been married three days, and neither of us knew what the word meant yet.
I lowered my voice.
“If Gabriel is alive, we find him. If he’s dead, we find whoever is using his name. But you cannot protect me by turning this house into another prison.”
Dominic looked at me for a long moment.
Then he exhaled.
“Two guards.”
“One.”
“Two.”
“One and Marco.”
“Marco counts as four.”
“Then that’s your problem.”
We settled on Marco.
I considered it a victory.
That afternoon I received a video call from my mother.
She looked better.
Actually better.
Color had returned to her cheeks.
A specialist sat beside her.
For the first time in years, hope did not feel like something expensive I could not afford.
“You look beautiful,” she said.
“I look exhausted.”
“You look married.”
“That too.”
She studied my face.
“Has he hurt you?”
“No.”
“Has your father?”
I hesitated.
Her expression changed.
“Deanna.”
“He grabbed me.”
She closed her eyes.
“I knew it.”
“What happened between you?”
My mother remained silent.
“No more secrets.”
She finally spoke.
“Antonio was not just moving money when we were together.”
“What else?”
“People.”
My stomach tightened.
“What do you mean?”
“Women. Immigrants. Girls who came to America believing they had jobs waiting. Some were sent to clubs. Others disappeared.”
I felt sick.
“I found records.”
“Isabella said you were evidence.”
“Yes.”
“I threatened to expose him.”
“So he sent us to Brazil.”
“He intended to kill me.”
The room disappeared around me.
“What?”
“Someone warned me.”
“Who?”
My mother looked directly into the camera.
“Gabriel Unaretti.”
I stopped breathing.
“That’s impossible.”
“No. Gabriel was seventeen when he first discovered what Antonio was doing. Years later, he found me before your father’s men did. He arranged our flight.”
“Why didn’t you tell Dominic?”
“I thought Gabriel died.”
“He supposedly died three years after we left.”
My mother nodded.
“He contacted me once after that.”
My blood went cold.
“When?”
“Eight years ago.”
Gabriel had been officially dead for four years.
“What did he say?”
“That if Antonio ever contacted you, I should run.”
A noise came from behind me.
Dominic stood in the doorway.
He had heard everything.
His face had lost all color.
“Mãe,” I whispered. “I’ll call you back.”
I ended the call.
Dominic did not move.
“He was alive.”
“At least eight years ago.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“She thought contacting you would put us in danger.”
He turned away.
I reached for him.
Then stopped.
He noticed.
After a second, he held out his hand.
I took it.
That tiny gesture broke something open between us.
“My brother let me bury him.”
His voice was rough.
“Maybe he had a reason.”
“Twelve years.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
I almost snapped back.
Then I saw his face.
So I did something unexpected.
I hugged him.
Dominic froze.
Completely.
It would have been funny under different circumstances.
Then his arms slowly closed around me.
No possession.
No threat.
Just a man holding onto someone because the ground beneath him had shifted.
His face lowered into my hair.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because you look like you need it.”
“I don’t need anything.”
“Sure.”
His breath almost became a laugh.
We remained that way longer than necessary.
When we separated, neither of us mentioned it.
That evening Marco traced an old communication linked to Gabriel.
A warehouse in Brooklyn.
Dominic wanted to go alone.
I laughed in his face.
Two hours later, we entered the warehouse with eight armed men.
It appeared abandoned.
Dust.
Broken windows.
Old shipping crates.
Then a light turned on.
A man stepped from the shadows.
Dominic stopped.
I knew immediately.
Same eyes.
Same jaw.
Older.
Scarred.
But unmistakable.
Gabriel Unaretti was alive.
Dominic’s gun lowered.
“Gabriel.”
His brother smiled sadly.
“Hello, Dom.”
Dominic crossed the room.
For one second I thought he would embrace him.
Instead, he punched him.
Gabriel hit the floor.
“Fair,” Gabriel muttered.
Dominic grabbed him by the collar.
“Twelve years!”
“I know.”
“You let me bury you!”
“I know.”
“You let our mother die believing you were dead!”
Gabriel’s expression shattered.
“I know.”
Dominic released him.
The brothers stood facing each other.
Years of grief between them.
Finally Gabriel looked at me.
“So that’s Deanna.”
I stiffened.
“You know me?”
“I’ve known about you since you were seven.”
Dominic turned.
“What?”
Gabriel wiped blood from his mouth.
“I’ve been protecting her.”
“By shooting at our wedding?” I demanded.
His eyebrows rose.
“That wasn’t me.”
“The symbol—”
“Was meant to bring Dominic to me.”
“You sent the photograph?”
“Yes.”
“You threatened me.”
“No.”
My stomach dropped.
Gabriel reached into his coat slowly.
Marco raised his weapon.
Gabriel stopped.
“Relax.”
He removed a folder and tossed it onto a crate.
Inside were photographs.
Antonio meeting Vincent Carbone.
My father handing him an envelope.
Another showed Vincent outside Isabella’s apartment.
Another showed him outside the cathedral before our wedding.
“It’s Antonio,” Gabriel said.
Dominic stared at the photographs.
“He killed Isabella?”
Gabriel nodded.
“And now he wants Deanna dead.”
“Why?”
Gabriel looked at me.
“Because your marriage gave you something Isabella never had.”
“What?”
“Legal control of the Pradati voting trust if Antonio is convicted or dies.”
I stared.
“I don’t understand.”
“Isabella changed the trust six months ago. She named you.”
“Me?”
“She knew your father would bring you back if she died.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“So Antonio needs Deanna dead before the trust activates.”
Gabriel nodded.
“And there’s more.”
Of course there was.
There was always more.
“Antonio knows I’m alive now.”
Dominic looked at his brother.
“How?”
“Because yesterday he kidnapped our mother.”
Dominic went completely still.
I whispered, “Your mother is alive?”
Gabriel looked at him.
May you like
“She never died, Dom.”
And that was the moment Dominic’s entire world broke for the second time.
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