Page 33 of Dangerous Secrets

For now, I will warm up and try not to overthink. I'm worried about Rome, but he's a big boy. Hopefully with my warning he is on his toes now and won't be caught off guard by Mickey's new hitmen, because I know he will need more than one to do the same job I could have done alone.

21

ROME

Idrive to Dominic's house, mesmerized by the moon rising above the horizon and casting a golden hue around me. The surreal feeling overwhelms me as I drive toward my father's deathbed, like I'm caught in a dream. He's really dying now. It's time to say goodbye. No more watching him suffer and be in pain.

I park the car and take a deep breath before walking up to the door. I pause for a moment, feeling the weight of what's about to happen pressing down on my chest. The change of leadership already happened. Dominic took over months ago, but this makes it all the more real. We are on our own now, leading our family and our business how we decide. I can't fathom him not being here anymore.

I knock softly and enter. The house has an eerie silence to it. My footsteps echo down the hallway as I approach the room where my brothers are gathered. They've been waiting for me, but I had to clear my head. When I enter, Dad is lying in his bed, eyes closed and breathing shallowly. His skin is pale and almost translucent, like a ghostly figure from beyond this world.

The room is still and silent apart from the sound of his labored breathing. I approach slowly, my heart heavy with emotion, as if it might burst open at any moment. I reach out to touch him one last time. He looks so peaceful now, like he's finally found some solace after all these years of pain and suffering.

I take a step back and look around the room. My brothers are all there, standing in solidarity, tears clouding a few of their eyes. Ambivalence reverberates through me as I realize how much Dad meant to us all. In his last moments, we are here together as a family, remembering him and honoring his life. It's painful and yet somehow cathartic to know death comes as the end to all of our suffering, a divine gateway to a better ending that none of us can see, but all of us believe in.

"He's fading..." Brewster checks on the machines as my brothers hover closer than they have in weeks. I should be out hunting Bianca down, but I would never miss Dad's final moments for that.

Dominic steps forward and speaks softly. "Dad, it's time for us to say goodbye. We'll always remember you and the legacy you created here. Your strength and courage will live on in each of us." He takes an uncharacteristically shaky breath before continuing, "We love you and we'll miss you." His pain is felt by us all.

I stand there, feeling my throat tighten as I fight back anger at death itself. Dad was our leader for so many years and now he's leaving us. I watch my brothers say their final goodbyes to our father, I can't help but feel a sense of emptiness. I know that our lives will never be the same again, but I also know that our father's legacy will live on through us and the business that he built from the ground up.

I take a step closer to my father's bedside, reaching out to hold his frail and bony hand. His skin is cold to the touch, a reminder that death is imminent. I close my eyes, trying to imagine what he must be feeling in these final moments, wondering if he's scared or if he's at peace with what's to come. The whir and click of the machines are a strange comfort, but in moments Brewster will shut them off and his suffering will be over.

"It's time, boys." The old vet reaches for the machines and my brothers step aside. Dominic nods his consent and I take a step back from Dad's bedside.

As the machines beep their final warning, Brewster shuts them off one by one. The silence in the room is deafening as we wait for Dad's final breath. It feels like an eternity before we hear the last raspy exhale leave his body, signaling his passing.

My heart feels like it's been ripped from my chest as I watch my father slip away from this world. I'm not sure how long we stand there in silence before Brewster finally speaks up. "I'm sorry for your loss. Your father was a fighter to the very end."

I nod, barely able to speak through the lump in my throat. "Thank you, Brewster. We appreciate everything you've done for us."

My brothers and I stand there for a few moments longer, each lost in our own thoughts and grief. It's only when the nurse comes in to prepare Dad's body for the funeral home that we finally start to move.

As we make our way out of the room, I can feel Dominic's gaze on me. We both know that there's something that needs to be discussed. I follow him as he leads me to a private corner of his home. "Rome, we need to talk about," Dominic starts, his voice low. He’s only going to hound me about Bianca again and this time, he is the only leader I have. There is no higher authority I can speak with to appeal his decision.

“Dom, I—”

“Bring her in, Rome.”

“Dominic, I understand that you have a job to do, but you don’t understand the situation at all. I know she didn’t shoot Matty.” As if Dad dying wasn’t enough, after the day I’ve had, and knowing what I have to do, I don’t need this lecture too. They want an assassin dead, not the woman who belongs to me, and I can’t reconcile how they are one in the same.

“She killed at least thirty men. That should be enough for you to understand she’s a threat.”

“Not to me,” I snarl, watching him out of the corner of my eye. I know she’ll never kill me or hurt me more than she has. That was a warning, and from L’ombra it was a gentle nudge. She’s had a thousand opportunities to take me out and she hasn’t. Likely, she was tasked with taking out the entire family, and that, too, has gone undone. Which means she has a reason, because any assassin trained and paid to do a job that they don’t complete does so for good reason, especially when the head of the Italian mob is the one pulling strings.

“Rome—”

“She warned me, Dom.” I look him square in the eye with determination. “She wasn’t here to kill me. If she was, she’d have pulled the trigger on me and probably on you too.” I take a deep breath and strengthen my resolve. I won’t kill her or even bring her in until I’ve spoken to her. “She gave me a warning that they are out for all of us, that we should watch Dad’s funeral. There’s a chance they will make an attempt that day.”

Dominic’s eyes narrow and seem to grow darker, blackness swirling in them. He knows I’m right. If Bianca warned us about their plot, she isn’t an immediate threat, but Mickey Giordano is—a huge one with a huge budget. We can cut the head off the snake a million times but until we root it out and find where it gains its strength, a new head will always grow back.

“I have to speak to her, find out what she knows.” I button my suit coat and turn to go but Dominic stops me.

“Bring her in, Rome.” He punctuates his words, pausing after each of them to make sure I understand.

“I’ll bring her in, but you’re not laying a finger on her, not until I’ve had my questions answered.” I stand with my back to him, jaw set. I’m the only one who could bring her in. She is literally a shadow. Now that we know who she is, she will vanish into the darkness, or disappear in the first morning light. She is aptly named; that much is certain. No one else will ever find her again.

A clap of thunder rumbles the house and the skies open up again for the second time tonight. It’s like the angels weep for my family, or perhaps they’re rejoicing in joy that Dad has come home. The weather matches our somber mood as I walk away from Dominic, not even responding to his orders.

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