Chapter 13 - THE LAST CROSS
Dominic struck Martin’s wrist.
The pistol fired into the ceiling.
Layla pulled Samuel’s incubator backward while nurses rushed Elias out through another door.
Martin fought like a man who knew prison would be worse than death.
He drove Dominic against the wall and reached for a surgical blade.
Dominic caught his arm.
Martin smiled.
“You are becoming your father.”
“No.”
Dominic twisted the knife away.
“I am ending what he started.”
He could have killed Martin.
Everyone in the room knew it.
Instead, Dominic stepped back.
Federal agents entered and forced Martin to the floor.
Layla watched Dominic choose restraint.
It changed something between them.
Martin’s arrest completed the destruction of the Cross organization.
The investigation spread across three states.
Properties were seized.
Companies were closed.
Officials resigned.
Vivienne’s carefully planned wedding became the evidence that buried her family.
Dominic faced investigations of his own.
Samuel’s files proved the Gallow empire had profited from Marcus’s crimes.
Dominic met with federal prosecutors voluntarily.
He surrendered illegal shipping operations, closed the private docks, and provided records against men who once considered him untouchable.
Vincent warned him that cooperation would create enemies.
“I already have enemies,” Dominic said.
“You will lose half your fortune.”
“Then I will survive with the other half.”
“What about the organization?”
“It ends with me.”
That decision divided the Gallow family.
Some men left.
Others threatened rebellion.
Dominic refused to change course.
He sold several companies and placed the legitimate businesses under independent management.
A fund was created for families harmed by Marcus Gallow and Charles Cross.
Layla remained cautious.
“You cannot erase everything with money.”
“I know.”
“You cannot expect forgiveness.”
“I do not.”
“Then why are you doing it?”
Dominic looked through the neonatal glass at the twins.
“Because they should inherit my name without inheriting my sins.”
Weeks later, Samuel and Elias were strong enough to leave the hospital.
Dominic prepared a guarded house for Layla.
She refused to move in.
“I will not become another person living inside your kingdom.”
“What do you want?”
“My own home.”
“You will have it.”
“My own money.”
“Yes.”
“And no armed men inside unless I agree.”
Dominic hesitated.
Layla raised an eyebrow.
He nodded.
For the first time, the billionaire mafia boss accepted conditions he had not written.
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But freedom did not mean danger had disappeared.
On the night Layla brought the twins home, someone left a shattered crystal glass on her doorstep.
