Chapter 4 - The Safehouse
The impact sent our Mercedes spinning violently across the wet highway.
Julian fought the steering wheel, grinding the car against a concrete divider to forcefully regain control.
Sparks flew in a brilliant arc as we tore away from the armored truck, leaving it stalled in the intersection.
"Hold on!" Julian yelled, cutting the headlights and plunging us into the darkness of an abandoned industrial park.
We navigated the shadows until Julian pulled into a hidden underground bunker.
The heavy steel doors closed behind us, sealing out the nightmare of the city.
I stumbled out of the car, my legs finally giving way under the blood loss.
Elena caught me, her surprising strength holding me upright as we moved into a sterile, brightly lit medical room.
Julian laid Aria on a plush sofa in the corner, turning on a cartoon on a tablet to distract her.
"I have medical supplies," Julian said, throwing a surgical kit onto the metal table.
Elena worked quickly, her hands covered in my blood as she cleaned and stitched the wound.
I watched her face, the fierce concentration that I had missed every single day for five years.
"Why didn't you tell me about her?" I asked, my voice barely a raspy whisper.
Elena tied off the final stitch and met my gaze with a hardened stare.
"Your father came to me the day after the doctors lied to us," she said, her voice shaking with old rage.
"He knew I was pregnant."
I clenched my fists, the betrayal burning hotter than the gunshot wound.
"He told me that if I did not sign the divorce papers and disappear, he would kill the baby to ensure Vincenzo’s son inherited the empire," she confessed.
Julian stepped forward, wiping his hands with a towel.
"I found her hiding in Europe," Julian added, his tone strictly professional.
"The marriage is a fake, Dominic. It was the only way to give them my legal protection."
A strange wave of relief washed over me, immediately replaced by a murderous fury toward my family.
"I will kill Vincenzo and my father myself," I vowed, trying to stand.
Julian pushed me firmly back down onto the medical bed.
"Your father is already dead, Dominic," Julian revealed coldly.
I froze.
"Vincenzo poisoned him last night to take control of the commission, and he has just put a ten-million-dollar bounty on your head."
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Julian turned on the bunker’s surveillance monitors, revealing a terrifying sight.
Dozens of armed mercenaries were already surrounding the safehouse doors.
