Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN HE HAD BURIED IN HIS HEART
The first man through the door never made it past the threshold.
Marcus fired once.
The intruder fell backward.
Evelyn screamed.
The boys clung to her legs.
Dominic didn't look away from the doorway.
More shadows moved beyond it.
“East corridor!” Marcus shouted.
Gunfire erupted.
The mansion exploded into chaos.
For years, Dominic had been feared because of his empire.
His businesses stretched across Chicago, Detroit, and parts of the East Coast.
Some were legitimate.
Some were not.
People called him a crime boss.
A king.
A monster.
But Dominic had never cared about the names.
Names were for people who needed to explain fear.
He had always understood one simple rule.
If someone came for what belonged to him, they had already made their final mistake.
He pushed his chair forward.
“Get them out.”
Marcus looked at him.
“Sir?”
“Take Evelyn and the boys to the safe room.”
Evelyn immediately shook her head.
“No.”
Dominic looked at her.
“No?”
“I am not leaving you.”
His eyes hardened.
“You've spent three years leaving me.”
The words hit her.
He saw it.
But there was no time to regret them.
A bullet struck the wall above their heads.
Dominic turned sharply.
“Move!”
Marcus grabbed Evelyn's arm.
She pulled away.
“Dominic!”
“Go!”
One of the boys started crying.
The other looked at Dominic.
Not crying.
Just staring.
His eyes were the same silver-gray eyes Dominic remembered from a woman who had once promised never to leave him.
Dominic felt the world shift again.
“Eli,” Evelyn whispered.
The boy wouldn't move.
Dominic looked at him.
“Go with your mother.”
The little boy stared at him.
“Are you Daddy?”
Dominic froze.
Even in the middle of gunfire, the question destroyed him.
He swallowed.
“I might be.”
Eli considered this.
Then he nodded.
“Okay.”
He reached for Evelyn's hand.
Dominic almost laughed.
Three years old.
And already braver than most men Dominic had known.
Marcus moved them toward the hidden passage.
Dominic turned toward the door.
A man entered.
Dominic recognized him immediately.
Caleb Voss.
Formerly one of Victor Vale's most trusted men.
Now supposedly dead.
Dominic stared at him.
Caleb smiled.
“Hello, Dominic.”
The room went silent.
Dominic's fingers tightened.
“You died.”
“So did your father.”
Caleb glanced toward the hallway.
“Funny how death seems to be temporary for people who know the right secrets.”
Dominic's voice dropped.
“What do you want?”
Caleb smiled.
“Your sons.”
Dominic's entire expression changed.
Behind him, Evelyn stopped.
Caleb continued.
“Your father had plans for those boys.”
“My father is dead.”
“His plans aren't.”
Dominic felt something cold settle inside his chest.
“What plans?”
Caleb raised his gun.
“You should ask your beloved.”
Dominic glanced toward Evelyn.
She had gone pale.
Caleb fired.
Dominic moved.
His chair shot sideways.
The bullet struck the wall.
Marcus fired back.
Caleb disappeared behind the doorway.
“Go!” Dominic shouted.
This time Evelyn obeyed.
She pulled the boys into the hidden passage.
Dominic followed.
The secret corridor had been built decades earlier.
His father had used it to move weapons, money, and people through the mansion without being seen.
Dominic hated the place.
He had spent half his childhood hiding there while his father conducted business above him.
Now, three years after his father's death, he was using the same passage to protect his own children.
The thought almost broke him.
They reached the safe room.
Marcus entered first.
Evelyn followed with the boys.
Dominic came last.
The steel door closed behind them.
For a moment, no one spoke.
The safe room was reinforced with concrete and steel.
The walls were thick enough to stop most bullets.
The boys sat on the floor.
Evelyn crouched beside them.
Dominic watched her.
She looked exhausted.
There were dark circles beneath her eyes.
Her hands were shaking.
He remembered those hands.
He remembered holding them on the night she told him she loved him.
He remembered waking up after the accident and asking for her.
No one had answered.
Not his doctors.
Not his family.
Not his lawyers.
No one.
He had spent months believing she had left him because he was no longer the man she wanted.
And now she was telling him his father had stolen her.
Dominic's voice was cold.
“Tell me everything.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“There are men outside.”
“Marcus can handle them.”
“Your father—”
“Is dead.”
“His people aren't.”
Dominic rolled closer.
“Then start with the beginning.”
Evelyn looked down at the boys.
“Three years ago, I found out I was pregnant.”
Dominic said nothing.
“I didn't know there were two babies at first.”
His eyes moved toward the boys.
“Twins.”
“Yes.”
“You were going to tell me.”
“I was.”
“Why didn't you?”
“Because your father found out first.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“How?”
“I don't know. Maybe someone at the clinic told him. Maybe he had someone following me.”
She rubbed her hands together.
“I was leaving your apartment when two men grabbed me.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“They took you?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“To an old property your father owned outside the city.”
Dominic's eyes darkened.
“How long?”
“Four days.”
He stared at her.
“What?”
“They kept me there for four days.”
Evelyn's voice trembled.
“They told me you had been killed.”
Dominic felt his hands go cold.
“By whom?”
“Your father.”
He looked away.
His father had always been ruthless.
But even Dominic had never imagined—
“What did he want?”
“He wanted me to disappear.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew I was pregnant with your children.”
Dominic stared at her.
“Why would he care?”
Evelyn laughed bitterly.
“Because your father didn't believe you were his true heir.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“He had no other children.”
“He had a plan.”
“What plan?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“He wanted you to marry Sophia.”
Dominic's face went still.
Sophia Laurent.
The daughter of a powerful family.
His father had pushed that marriage for years.
Dominic had refused.
Because he loved Evelyn.
“Your father believed that if you married Sophia, her family would strengthen the empire.”
Dominic laughed coldly.
“He was dead before that could happen.”
“He didn't know you would refuse.”
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
“He believed if you had children with me, the Laurent family would lose their chance to control your empire.”
Dominic stared at her.
“So he wanted me to marry Sophia.”
“Yes.”
“And you were in the way.”
“Yes.”
“What did he do?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“He offered me money.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“I refused.”
“Then?”
“He threatened you.”
Dominic went silent.
“He said if I stayed with you, he would destroy you.”
“You should have told me.”
“I tried.”
“Did you?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Yes.”
His anger faltered.
“The night you were driving to meet me, I called you.”
Dominic remembered.
He had seen her name on his phone.
He had been about to answer.
Then the truck appeared.
The crash.
The darkness.
The hospital.
Evelyn continued.
“I left you a message.”
Dominic's eyes sharpened.
“What message?”
“I told you I was pregnant.”
He stared at her.
“I never heard it.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Your father deleted it.”
Dominic's face went blank.
For a moment, he could hear nothing.
Not the voices.
Not the distant gunfire.
Not the breathing in the room.
His father had deleted her message.
Had he known about the crash?
Had he known Dominic might die?
The questions came too quickly.
Evelyn looked at him.
“Dominic?”
He reached for his phone.
“Marcus.”
Marcus turned.
“Sir?”
“Find every phone record from the night of the accident.”
Marcus nodded.
“I'll get it.”
“And find out whether my father had contact with the hospital.”
Marcus's expression changed.
“You think—”
“I don't think.”
Dominic looked toward the steel door.
“I know someone lied to me.”
A small voice interrupted.
“Daddy?”
Dominic looked down.
Eli was standing in front of him.
The boy had stopped crying.
He held the stuffed rabbit in one hand.
Dominic stared at him.
“What?”
Eli pointed toward Dominic's legs.
“Does it hurt?”
The question was simple.
But no one had asked him that in years.
People asked whether he could walk.
Whether he needed help.
Whether he was comfortable.
No one asked if it hurt.
Dominic looked at his legs.
“Sometimes.”
Eli nodded seriously.
“My tummy hurts when I eat too much cake.”
Dominic stared at him.
Then, unexpectedly, he laughed.
It was a small sound.
Rough.
Unused.
Evelyn looked at him.
She had not heard him laugh in three years.
Dominic realized that.
The laughter disappeared.
Eli climbed onto the side of his chair.
“Can I sit?”
Dominic froze.
“Your mother decides.”
Evelyn looked at him.
Then at Eli.
“You can sit beside him.”
Eli climbed carefully onto the chair.
Dominic's body went rigid.
The boy leaned against his arm.
Warm.
Small.
Alive.
Dominic stared at the top of his head.
Something inside him hurt worse than his legs had ever hurt.
He slowly placed one hand on Eli's back.
The boy relaxed.
No fear.
No hesitation.
As if Dominic had always been there.
As if three years had not been stolen.
Noah approached more slowly.
He looked at Dominic.
Then at his brother.
Then climbed onto the other side.
Dominic's breath caught.
Two boys.
One on each side.
Both carrying his blood.
He looked at Evelyn.
She was crying silently.
Dominic hated that.
He hated the tears.
He hated the years.
He hated his father.
He hated himself for believing she had abandoned him.
Then the safe room door shook.
Everyone froze.
A voice came from outside.
“Dominic!”
Caleb Voss.
Dominic's arms tightened around the boys.
Caleb shouted again.
“You should ask Evelyn what happened to the third child!”
Evelyn went completely still.
Dominic looked at her.
“What did he mean?”
She said nothing.
The door shook again.
Caleb laughed.
“Ask her, Dominic!”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“Evelyn.”
Her face collapsed.
“Dominic…”
“What third child?”
The boys looked between them.
Evelyn's lips trembled.
“I lost the baby.”
Dominic stared at her.
“What?”
“I was pregnant with twins.”
“You said—”
“I thought I was.”
She closed her eyes.
“I was pregnant with three.”
The room disappeared.
Dominic stared at her.
“Three?”
“One didn't survive.”
He couldn't speak.
Evelyn pressed one hand to her mouth.
“I was seven months pregnant when they took me.”
Dominic's face turned white.
“Seven months?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Her eyes met his.
“Your father wanted the third baby.”
Dominic felt something inside him turn to ice.
“Why?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Outside, Caleb began laughing.
Then he said the words that changed everything.
“Because the third child wasn't dead.”
Evelyn's face went white.
Dominic stared at the door.
Caleb's voice continued.
“Your father took the baby.”
Dominic's hand tightened around Eli.
May you like
Noah pressed against his side.
And for the first time in three years, Dominic Vale understood that the two children standing beside him might not be the only children his father had stolen.
