Chapter 17 - Dominic Comes Home
Dominic entered the estate surrounded by police vehicles and attorneys.
He had not been arrested.
Not yet.
His lawyers claimed the evidence had been misinterpreted.
The accounts were legitimate.
The medical payments were authorized.
The messages lacked context.
Dominic walked into the study as if it still belonged to him.
“You always needed someone else to save you.”
Luca looked at him.
“My father.”
“Your mother.”
“Your doctors.”
Dominic glanced toward the window where Maya stood outside with Elena.
“And now a child.”
Luca’s hands tightened.
“Leave her out of this.”
Dominic smiled.
“There he is.”
“Who?”
“The Luca I remember.”
For years Dominic had wanted anger.
Angry men made mistakes.
Luca recognized the trap.
He did not take it.
“Why twelve years?”
Dominic’s smile disappeared.
“You were supposed to be out for six months.”
“So Vale said.”
“Your father wanted time to restructure everything.”
“And then?”
“You woke up angry.”
Dominic laughed bitterly.
“You started asking questions from that chair.”
“You realized you liked my chair.”
“I realized the family finally listened to me.”
There it was.
Not money alone.
Not inheritance.
Dominic had spent his entire life standing beside Luca.
The poisoning gave him the one thing he could never win honestly.
Importance.
“You could have stopped.”
“So could you.”
“I was being poisoned.”
“You still had the name.”
Dominic leaned closer.
“Even sitting down, you were still Luca Costello.”
Luca understood then.
Dominic had not kept him paralyzed because Luca was weak.
He had kept him paralyzed because even weakened, Luca remained a threat.
Rebecca stood behind the partially open door recording everything with investigators listening remotely.
Dominic did not know.
Luca asked one final question.
“What about Elena?”
Dominic’s eyes flicked toward the window.
“That was your father’s mistake.”
“And Maya?”
Dominic’s mouth curled.
“She was the insurance policy none of us needed.”
Luca went still.
Dominic realized too late what he had admitted.
The study doors opened.
Two investigators entered.
Dominic turned toward Rebecca.
His face changed.
May you like
For the first time in twelve years, Luca watched his cousin understand what helplessness felt like.
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