Page 99 of Claimed By the Enemy

Riccardo’s face goes pale. “You can’t prove any of that.”

“Actually, we can. You see, while you were focused on keeping Dom and Sophie at each other’s throats, we’ve been investigating. Following money trails, tracking shipping manifests, interviewing very interesting people who were eager to share information in exchange for immunity.”

“Impossible.”

“Your mistake, Riccardo, was thinking that hatred would always be stronger than love. That family loyalty would always trump the desire for truth.”

Uncle Enzo steps closer, his weapon trained on Riccardo’s chest.

“But you underestimated my niece. You underestimated her capacity for love, for forgiveness, for seeing past the lies you fed both our families.”

“Sophie is a naive child.”

“Sophie is the future. The proof that our families can build something better than the poison you’ve been spreading.”

“Our families?” Riccardo’s voice rises with hysteria. “You think you’re family? You think mixing Moretti blood with Bellini filth creates something worth preserving?”

“I think,” Uncle Enzo says quietly, “that love is stronger than hatred. And that the child Sophie and Dom are going to have represents hope for something better.”

“Over my dead body.”

“If necessary.”

Riccardo’s gun swings toward Uncle Enzo, but I’m already moving. Sixteen years of rage, of grief, of believing lies about the man who raised me, fuels my charge across the room.

I hit Riccardo like a freight train, driving him into the expensive art covering his walls. The gun goes off, the bullet burying itself in the ceiling as we crash to the floor.

“You killed them,” I snarl, my hands around his throat. “You killed my parents. You killed Sophie’s parents. You destroyed everything good in both our families.”

“They… deserved… to die,” Riccardo gasps. “Weak… contaminated…”

“They were innocent.”

“No one… is innocent…”

“Dom.” Uncle Enzo’s voice cuts through my rage. “That’s enough.”

I look up to find three guns trained on Riccardo, Uncle Enzo’s men having secured the scene while I was lost in fury.

“He confessed,” Uncle Enzo continues. “We have everything we need.”

“He tried to kill Sophie.”

“And he failed. Because love is stronger than hatred, Domenico. Because Sophie chose you over revenge, just like you’re choosing justice over murder.”

I look down at Riccardo, this man who raised me, who poisoned my mind with lies, who would have killed my wife and child without hesitation.

And I choose to be better than him.

I release his throat and stand up, my hands shaking with adrenaline and rage.

“It’s over,” I say.

“Yes,” Uncle Enzo agrees. “It’s over.”

The police arrive twenty minutes later, led by a federal prosecutor who’s been investigating Riccardo’s organization for months. They have warrants, evidence, and a recording that will put him away for multiple life sentences.

Uncle Enzo and I watch from across the street as they lead Riccardo out in handcuffs. He looks smaller somehow, diminished by the weight of his exposed crimes.