Page 74 of Claimed By the Enemy

“Good. Maybe that’ll keep you safe.”

He hangs up before I can ask more questions, leaving me alone with my fear and the growing certainty that whatever’s coming, it’s coming fast.

I think about Uncle Enzo’s ultimatum. About the promise I made to destroy Dom to save his life. About the impossibility of keeping everyone safe when the very act of protection requires betrayal.

And for the first time since this nightmare began, I consider a third option.

What if I tell Dom everything? What if I trust him to find a solution I can’t see? What if, instead of trying to protect everyone alone, I let him help me figure out how to save us all?

The idea terrifies me. Uncle Enzo has been my anchor for sixteen years, the one constant in a world that took everything else away. Betraying his trust feels like cutting off my own arm.

But watching Dom walk away this morning, seeing the hurt and confusion in his eyes when I lied to him again, feels like dying slowly from the inside out.

Maybe it’s time to stop lying. Maybe it’s time to trust the man I love with the truth, even if that truth has the power to destroy us both.

Maybe it’s time to choose love over loyalty, and hope that somehow, it’s enough.

By evening, I’ve made my decision.

Dom returns home looking exhausted and troubled, his tie loosened and his hair disheveled like he’s been running his hands through it all day.

“Bad day?” I ask as he drops his briefcase by the door.

“Complicated day.” He looks at me carefully. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I need to tell you something important.”

“Oh?”

“Tomorrow. At your office. There are things you need to know, and I…” I take a deep breath, steadying myself. “I can’t keep lying to you. Not anymore.”

Something shifts in Dom’s expression. Relief, maybe. Or hope.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. It’s time you knew the truth about everything.”

“Everything?”

“Everything.”

Dom crosses the room and pulls me into his arms, holding me tight against his chest. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. You might not like what I have to tell you.”

“Sophie.” He tilts my chin up, forcing me to meet his eyes. “Whatever it is, we’ll handle it together.”

“Promise me something.”

“Anything.”

“Promise me that no matter what I tell you, you’ll remember that I love you. That everything I’ve done, every choice I’ve made, has been because I love you.”

“I promise.”

“Even the lies?”

“Even the lies.”