Chapter 6
The DA’s name was Sarah Chen.
She was in her late 30s, sharp, no-nonsense, with a scar across her left eyebrow and a reputation for putting away men twice her size. She didn’t flinch when Dominic walked into her office. Didn’t stare at Lila’s belly. Just gestured for us to sit down, slid a recorder across the table, and said, “Tell me everything.”
So we did.
I went first.
Told her about the engagement. About my father’s debts. About the party. About cutting Lila’s hair. About Dominic’s reveal. About my father disowning me. About the list.
I didn’t leave anything out.
Didn’t make myself look better. Didn’t make excuses. Just told the truth. All of it.
It took almost two hours.
When I was done, my throat was dry. My hands were shaking.
Dominic went next.
Told her about the Rizzo operations. The legitimate businesses. the illegal ones. The bribes. The payoffs. The men my father had hired to threaten Lila. The men who’d attacked him outside the grocery store.
He gave her his own files.
Boxes of them. Bank records. Meeting transcripts. Audio recordings. Everything he’d collected over the years, waiting for the right moment to get out for good.
Lila went last.
Told her about growing up with Dominic. About her mom’s cancer. About being brought to the penthouse to be kept safe. About the party. About the hair. About the men who’d followed her home from the grocery store, yelling threats from their car.
When she was done talking, there were tears in her eyes.
DA Chen didn’t say anything for a long time.
She flipped through my notebook. Looked through Dominic’s files. Tapped her pen against the table.
“This is enough,” she said finally. “Enough to take down your father. Enough to take down half the city council. Enough to put the worst of the Rizzo operations away for good.”
She looked at Dominic.
“In exchange for your testimony, you get immunity for everything you’ve done. Full witness protection for you, Lila, and the baby. New names. New home. Anywhere you want.”
Dominic shook his head.
“No,” he said.
Lila put her hand on his arm.
“Dominic—”
“I’m not running,” he said. “I spent my whole life running from something. From the projects. From my father’s reputation. From the life I was born into. I’m not running anymore. This is my city. Lila’s city. Our son’s city. We’re staying. We’re going to build something good here. Something real. No more bribes. No more violence. Just legitimate businesses. Jobs for the neighborhood. A future for our kid.”
DA Chen stared at him.
“You know if you stay, there will be people coming after you,” she said. “Your father’s old associates. Your father’s enemies. Elara’s father. None of them are going to go quietly.”
“I know,” Dominic said. “Let them come. I’m not scared anymore. I have something worth fighting for now.”
DA Chen looked at all three of us.
Nodded.
“Okay,” she said. “We do it your way. But you have protection. 24/7. Until every last one of them is behind bars.”
We left her office an hour later.
The air felt different.
Lighter.
Like a weight I’d been carrying my whole life had been lifted just a little bit.
We stopped for pizza on the way home.
Sat in a booth by the window, eating greasy slices, laughing when Lila got sauce on her sweatshirt. For a second, everything felt normal. Like we were just three regular people, no secrets, no threats, no pasts hanging over our heads.
It didn’t last.
We got home at 4:00.
The front door was wide open.
The screen hanging off its hinges.
Dominic told us to stay in the car.
Pulled a gun from the glove compartment, got out, and walked slowly up the steps. I grabbed Lila’s hand, held it tight, my heart hammering so hard I could hear it in my ears.
A minute later, Dominic came back out.
His face was white.
“They were here,” he said. “Went through the whole house. Took the baby’s swing set. Left a note on the fridge.”
He held up a piece of paper.
Scrawled in black marker.
Bring the girl to the docks at midnight. Or the baby dies.
My blood ran cold.
My father.
He knew we’d gone to the DA. He knew we were going to put him away. And he was going to take Lila before we could.
Lila started shaking.
Her hand flew to her belly.
“He’s not going to get me,” she whispered. “He’s not going to take my baby.”
Dominic pulled out his phone.
Called Tony. Called the other men who were still loyal to him. Told them to get to the house, bring everything they had.
I stood there.
Watching them make plans.
Watching Lila cry, Dominic holding her, promising he’d never let anything happen to her.
And I knew.
I knew exactly what I had to do.
My father didn’t want Lila.
Not really.
He wanted me.
He wanted to trade me to Dominic. To say, Look, I brought you the girl you were supposed to marry. Now call off the DA. Give me my money back. Let me walk away.
He thought I was still his pawn.
He thought I’d still do whatever he said.
He was wrong.
That night, at 11:00, I snuck out of the house.
Took Dominic’s old pickup. Drove toward the docks.
I left a note on the kitchen table.
Don’t follow me. I know what I’m doing. This ends tonight.
I had a plan.
It was stupid. It was dangerous. It was probably going to get me killed.
May you like
But it was the only way to make sure Lila and the baby were safe.
The only way to finally pay back what I owed.
