Chapter 7 - THE SECRET SON
I stared at the DNA test, my hands shaking violently.
“Dominic,” I whispered, my voice cracking.
He turned around, the pearl rosary clutched in his hand. “What is it?”
I held out the folder.
Dominic took it. He read the birth certificate, then his eyes fell on the DNA results.
The color drained entirely from his face. The powerful, unflappable man looked as though the floor had just dropped beneath him.
“A son?” Dominic breathed, his voice barely audible. “She had a son?”
“Did you know?” I asked, my heart aching for him.
“No,” Dominic swore, looking at me with wide, desperate eyes. “Olivia, I swear to God, I didn't know. Ten years ago, Madeline and I dated briefly before she went to Europe. We broke up. When she came back last year, she never mentioned a child.”
He looked back at the paper. “Where is he? Where is my son?”
I looked at the folder. Tucked behind the DNA test was a series of boarding school receipts.
“She sent him away,” I said, reading the invoices. “St. Jude’s Academy in upstate New York. She’s been paying his tuition from the foundation accounts.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened. A terrifying fury ignited in his dark eyes.
Madeline hadn't just stolen his money. She had stolen ten years of his child’s life. She had hidden his son to ensure she could manipulate him without complications.
“I’m going to kill her,” Dominic whispered, his voice vibrating with absolute rage.
Before he could move, Dominic’s burner phone rang.
He answered it, putting it on speaker.
“Marcus, tell me you have them.”
“Boss,” Marcus’s voice was heavy. “The feds hit the pier. They arrested twenty Romano men. But Vincent and Madeline never showed up.”
Dominic froze. “Where are they?”
“They were tipped off. But Boss... I tracked Madeline’s phone. They aren't running.”
“Where are they?” Dominic demanded again.
Marcus paused.
“They are at the penthouse. Your penthouse. Where you hid Olivia’s mother and the kid.”
My heart stopped completely.
“No,” I gasped, terror seizing my throat.
“I’m ten minutes away, Boss,” Marcus said.
“Do not engage without me!” Dominic roared, hanging up the phone.
We ran out of the office and threw ourselves into the car.
Dominic drove with a reckless, terrifying speed. The streets of Chicago blurred into streaks of light. I prayed silently, clutching the deed to the church in my trembling hands. Please let my mother be okay. Please let Leo be safe.
When we reached the penthouse building, Dominic didn't bother with stealth. We ran through the lobby, Dominic flashing his weapon to freeze the terrified night concierge, and jumped into the private elevator.
The ride to the top floor felt like an eternity.
The elevator doors pinged open.
The heavy steel doors of the penthouse were blown open, the lock destroyed by a breaching charge.
Dominic pushed me behind him and stepped inside, his gun raised.
The living room was empty. The velvet sofa where Leo had been sleeping was overturned.
“Mom!” I screamed, unable to stay quiet.
“Olivia! We’re in here!”
I recognized my mother’s voice coming from the kitchen.
We rushed in.
My mother was sitting on the floor, holding a terrified Leo in her arms. She was bruised, but alive.
I fell to my knees and hugged them both, sobbing in relief.
“They left,” my mother cried, holding me tight. “Vincent said he didn't need us anymore. He just came to leave a message.”
She pointed to the marble kitchen island.
Resting in the center of the pristine white marble was a child’s drawing.
It was a picture of a little boy holding hands with a stick figure.
Dominic walked over and picked it up.
Written across the top, in Madeline’s elegant handwriting, were five words.
“I brought him to Chicago.”
Dominic’s hand began to shake.
Vincent and Madeline had kidnapped Dominic’s ten-year-old son.
“They want a trade,” Dominic realized, his voice dead flat. “The offshore ledger and safe passage out of the city, in exchange for the boy.”
“Where do they want to meet?” I asked, standing up.
Dominic turned the drawing over.
May you like
Written on the back was a single location.
St. Andrew’s Church. 5:00 AM. Come alone.
