CHAPTER 4 — The Price of Redemption
CHAPTER 4 — The Price of Redemption
Marco backed away slowly.
"You idiots..."
No one moved.
Twenty-three captains stood perfectly still.
Every pair of eyes remained fixed on Dominic.
Not Marco.
Dominic turned around at last.
His expression showed no triumph.
Only disappointment.
"You should leave," he said quietly.
Vincent shook his head.
"We swore loyalty to you."
"I released you."
"No."
Another captain stepped forward.
"We swore loyalty to the man."
"Not the chair."
Marco suddenly pulled a concealed pistol from inside his jacket.
"You think this is over?"
He grabbed the nearest lieutenant and shoved him aside.
The gun swung wildly.
Several men reached for their weapons.
Dominic raised one hand.
"No one fires."
Marco laughed.
"You've gone soft."
He aimed directly at Dominic's chest.
"You always loved dying for people."
Dominic didn't flinch.
"If killing me gives you peace..."
"Do it."
Marco's finger tightened on the trigger.
Then—
A small voice echoed from the warehouse entrance.
"Mom...that's him!"
Every head snapped toward the doorway.
Grace stood there, breathless.
Beside her—
Noah.
Grace's face turned white the instant she saw the gun.
"Noah, stay behind me!"
But it was too late.
Marco had seen the boy.
He looked into Noah's storm-gray eyes.
Then back at Dominic.
"So..."
A cruel grin spread across his bruised face.
"The heir."
Dominic's blood turned cold.
"No."
Marco laughed.
"Now I know exactly how to hurt you."
He swung the pistol away from Dominic—
And aimed at Noah.
Everything happened in less than a second.
Grace screamed.
Dominic lunged forward.
The gun fired.
BANG!
The warehouse exploded into chaos.
Noah cried out.
Grace dropped to her knees.
"NOAH!"
For one horrifying heartbeat...
Everyone believed the child had been shot.
Then Dominic collapsed.
Blood spread rapidly across his shoulder.
He had thrown himself between the bullet and his son.
Noah stared in shock.
The scary man...
Had protected him.
Without thinking.
Without hesitation.
Marco tried to fire again.
He never got the chance.
Vincent tackled him from behind.
Other captains swarmed him.
The pistol slid across the concrete floor.
Within seconds, Marco was pinned face-first to the ground.
He screamed curses.
No one listened.
Grace rushed to Dominic.
Blood soaked through his black coat.
She pressed both hands against the wound.
"Stay with me!"
Dominic winced.
"I'm fine."
"You are absolutely not fine!"
Noah stood frozen only a few feet away.
His small hands trembled.
He had never seen anyone shot.
Especially not because of him.
Dominic slowly looked toward the frightened boy.
"It's okay."
Noah's voice shook.
"You got hurt..."
Dominic forced a weak smile.
"I've had worse."
The boy took one cautious step closer.
"Why did you do that?"
The warehouse fell silent.
Every hardened criminal listened.
Dominic looked directly into Noah's eyes.
Because he could no longer hide the truth.
"Because..."
His voice broke.
"...that's what fathers are supposed to do."
Grace closed her eyes.
The words hung in the air.
Noah blinked.
"What?"
Dominic swallowed hard.
"I'm your father."
Silence.
Complete silence.
The seven-year-old simply stared.
Then looked at Grace.
She nodded slowly, tears streaming down her face.
"He's telling the truth."
Noah looked back at Dominic.
At the blood.
At the pain.
At the man who had stepped in front of a bullet without hesitation.
He walked closer.
Very slowly.
Then asked the question Dominic had feared more than any enemy.
"If you're my dad..."
Another pause.
"...why didn't you come before?"
Dominic couldn't lie.
"I believed something that wasn't true."
"You didn't want me?"
"I wanted you."
His eyes filled with tears.
"I just didn't know you existed."
Noah thought quietly for several seconds.
Children often understood hearts better than adults.
Finally...
He stepped forward.
Wrapped his little arms carefully around Dominic's uninjured side.
And whispered,
"You were late."
Dominic broke completely.
Holding his son for the very first time, he cried openly, surrounded by the very men who had once feared showing even the smallest sign of weakness.
Across the warehouse floor, Marco Bellini watched in stunned silence.
He had spent seven years destroying a family.
Yet in a single embrace...
Everything he had stolen had begun to return.
But as police sirens wailed in the distance—called anonymously by someone inside the organization—Marco smiled one last time.
Because there was one final secret...
One final betrayal...
That neither Dominic nor Grace knew.
May you like
And when that secret surfaced, it wouldn't just threaten their reunion.
It would put Noah's life in danger once again.
