CHAPTER 5 — The Enemy Within
CHAPTER 5 — The Enemy Within
The sound of approaching police sirens echoed across the frozen warehouse district.
Red and blue lights reflected off the snow-covered pavement.
Vincent looked toward the windows.
"They're here."
Dominic didn't move.
He was still sitting on the concrete floor, one hand pressed against his bleeding shoulder while Noah refused to let go of him.
For the first time in his life...
Dominic Russo didn't care about escaping.
His attention remained on the little boy who had quietly fallen asleep against his side after crying himself exhausted.
Grace knelt beside them.
"We have to go to a hospital."
Dominic shook his head.
"Not yet."
She stared at him in disbelief.
"You've been shot."
"I know."
"No, Dominic—you don't."
Her voice cracked with frustration.
"If that bullet was two inches lower—"
"I know."
Grace fell silent.
Because she could see it in his eyes.
He wasn't ignoring the pain.
He simply believed he deserved it.
Across the warehouse, Marco Bellini laughed.
Even with his hands restrained behind his back, he looked strangely confident.
"You still don't understand."
Dominic slowly lifted his head.
"What?"
Marco smiled.
"You think I acted alone?"
The room became silent.
Dominic stood despite the burning pain in his shoulder.
"What did you say?"
Marco looked around at the captains.
"You've all been asking the wrong question."
Vincent frowned.
"There were others?"
Marco laughed louder.
"I was never the mastermind."
A chill swept through the warehouse.
Dominic stepped closer.
"Who?"
Marco's grin widened.
"The man your father trusted more than anyone."
Dominic's expression hardened.
"Impossible."
"No."
Marco leaned forward.
"He never died."
Every heartbeat in the room seemed to stop.
Dominic's father had once ruled the Russo organization.
His most trusted adviser had supposedly been killed during a gang war twenty years earlier.
Everyone believed it.
Everyone...
Except Marco.
"He faked his death."
Dominic whispered,
"Alessandro Romano..."
Marco nodded.
"The real puppet master."
Grace watched Dominic's face lose all color.
She knew that name.
Dominic had spoken of Alessandro years ago.
He had been like an uncle.
The man who taught him strategy.
The man who helped raise him after his mother's death.
The man Dominic mourned.
"He used me," Marco admitted.
"He used all of us."
"Why?"
Marco's smile faded.
"Because he never wanted you to become stronger than your father."
Dominic's fists clenched.
"So he destroyed my family."
Marco nodded slowly.
"He said love would always be your greatest weakness."
"And he was right."
Just then...
A ringing phone shattered the silence.
It came from Marco's jacket.
Everyone froze.
Marco's smile returned.
"Answer it."
Vincent removed the phone and handed it to Dominic.
The caller ID displayed only one word.
Unknown.
Dominic answered.
"This is Dominic."
Several seconds of silence followed.
Then an older man's calm voice echoed through the speaker.
"I wondered how long it would take."
Dominic's blood froze.
He recognized the voice instantly.
Not from memory.
From nightmares.
"Alessandro..."
The man chuckled softly.
"So you do remember me."
"You should be dead."
"I've been very busy instead."
Dominic glanced at Marco.
"You ruined my life."
"No."
The voice remained eerily calm.
"You ruined it yourself."
"You chose to believe lies."
"You chose pride."
"I merely showed you the path."
Dominic's breathing grew heavier.
"What do you want?"
A pause.
Then—
"The boy."
Grace's heart nearly stopped.
Dominic's entire body stiffened.
"You stay away from my son."
"He carries Russo blood."
Another pause.
"He also carries something much more valuable."
Dominic frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
The line went dead.
Everyone stood frozen.
Noah slowly woke up.
Rubbing his eyes, he looked around in confusion.
"Mom?"
Grace immediately hugged him.
"It's okay."
But it wasn't.
Not even close.
Two Days Later
Dominic refused to return to his penthouse.
Instead...
He rented the small house directly across the street from Grace.
The neighborhood was stunned.
The richest man in Chicago was suddenly shoveling snow from a tiny driveway.
Children watched from their windows.
Neighbors whispered.
No one recognized the feared mafia boss beneath the knit cap and old winter jacket.
Except Noah.
Every morning, the boy peeked through the curtains.
"The scary man is outside again."
Grace smiled despite herself.
"He's clearing Mrs. Wilson's sidewalk."
"Why?"
"So she doesn't slip."
Noah frowned.
"That's weird."
"It is."
By the third morning...
Noah walked outside carrying two mugs of hot chocolate.
He awkwardly handed one to Dominic.
"My mom says you forgot gloves."
Dominic accepted it carefully.
"Thank you."
Noah shrugged.
"You still smile funny."
Dominic laughed.
It was the first genuine laugh he'd had in years.
Noah stared.
"There it is!"
"What?"
"The smile."
"It looks better."
Dominic looked at his son.
"You think so?"
Noah nodded seriously.
"Scary people shouldn't smile like robots."
Grace watched everything through the kitchen window.
Her heart softened despite every promise she'd made herself.
People could change.
But could they change enough?
That evening...
Vincent arrived with urgent news.
"We found Alessandro."
Dominic immediately stood.
"Where?"
Vincent hesitated.
"At St. Catherine Children's Hospital."
Grace frowned.
"What would he be doing there?"
Vincent slowly placed a thin medical file onto the table.
"We don't know."
Dominic opened it.
His expression changed instantly.
Every page contained Noah's medical records.
Blood tests.
Birth records.
Genetic reports.
Grace gasped.
"How did he get these?"
Vincent answered quietly.
"He paid someone inside the hospital."
Dominic flipped to the last page.
Then froze.
There, highlighted in red, were three words.
Rare Genetic Marker.
He looked at Grace.
"Did any doctor ever mention this?"
Grace nodded slowly.
"When Noah was born."
"What did they say?"
"They called him...special."
Dominic frowned.
"Special how?"
Before Grace could answer—
The front window shattered.
CRASH!
A smoke grenade rolled across the living room floor.
Noah screamed.
The lights went out.
Masked men burst through the back door.
"Take the boy!"
Dominic roared.
"GET DOWN!"
Gunfire erupted through the tiny house.
Glass exploded.
Furniture splintered.
Grace grabbed Noah and threw herself behind the couch.
Dominic tackled the first attacker before the man reached them.
The living room became a battlefield.
Within seconds...
The Christmas photographs hanging on the wall crashed to the floor.
One frame broke open.
A picture slid across the hardwood floor.
It was Dominic holding Grace on their wedding day.
Noah saw it.
His eyes widened.
He looked from the photograph...
To Dominic...
May you like
Then whispered,
"That really is my dad..."
