Chapter-7

KATARINA COLLINS

The night had passed in a blur of tears and anguish, leaving me hollow and drained. My eyes were swollen, my throat raw from crying out my daughter's name. Jane was gone—taken by that monster—and I had been powerless to stop it.

James, Sofia, Sheena, her husband Christian, Amber, and Josh had stayed with me through the night. Their presence should have been comforting, but all I felt was anger.

"This is your fault," I had screamed at them, my voice trembling with grief. "She sacrificed herself for all of you!"

To their credit, none of them argued. Instead, they apologized repeatedly, their faces etched with guilt. Deep down, I knew it wasn't their fault. If it weren't for James and Sofia, we would never have escaped Rosario's clutches in the first place. Jake would still be trapped in that dangerous world, and Jane… Jane would have never met Dominic. 

"What are you thinking?" Jake asked, as he sat in front of me with an exhausted sigh.

"I need to make a call," I said quietly, wiping away the tears that threatened to spill again.

"To who?"

I hesitated, knowing how he would react. Finally, I looked at him. "Her boyfriend. Dominic."

Jake's frown deepened. "Dominic who?"

"Dominic D'Amico," I said, watching his face carefully.

It took a moment for the name to sink in, and when it did, his eyes widened in disbelief. "You mean the Dominic D'Amico? The mafia boss?"

"Yes," I said simply.

His shock quickly turned to anger. "What the hell, Mom? You knew Jane was involved with someone like him and didn't say anything? How could you let this happen?"

"Jake, calm down," I said, my tone firm. "I know what I'm doing."

"Do you?" he shot back. "We ran from that world, Mom. We fought so hard to get away from people like Rosario, and now you're turning to another mafia boss for help?"

"Dominic is nothing like Rosario," I said sharply. "He loves Jane. He'll protect her. I trust him."

"You don't know that!" Jake shouted, standing up and pacing the room. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because I've met him," I said, my voice softening. "And because I saw the way he looks at her, talks about her. He'll move heaven and earth to bring her back."

Jake opened his mouth to argue, but I held up a hand to stop him. "Not another word. I'm calling him."

I scrolled through my phone, found his number, and pressed call. My heart pounded as the line rang.

"Mrs. Collins," Dominic's voice came through, calm but laced with tension.

"Rosario took Jane," I said, my voice breaking. "Please, Dominic. You have to save her."

There was a beat of silence, and then he erupted. "WHAT?"

I told him everything—the deal, the way Jane had been taken. He listened without interrupting, but I could hear his ragged breathing on the other end.

"This is my fault," he muttered, almost to himself.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

He hesitated, then said, "Your husband… he died because of me. When Jane found out, she broke up with me."

My blood ran cold as his words sank in. The world seemed to tilt, and for a moment, I couldn't breathe.

"What… what are you saying, Dominic?"

"I'm saying," he said quietly, "I shouldn't have left her alone and now she doesn't want me. I don't know what is going to happen, but I won't stop until she's safe."

The call ended with a beep, leaving me frozen and lost. My mind ran a mile per second, showing me all the possible outcomes. 

But as much as I knew my daughter, one thing was clear. That was, now she wouldn't agree to come with Dominic even if her life was at stake. 

In her eyes, her father was an hero and it was all because of me. It was all my fault.

JAKE

I stared at Mom, trying to gauge what that man was telling her that had turned her pale as a ghost.

I had half a mind to snatch the phone and ask him what the hell was going on but I restrained myself. 

My little sister was out there with Rosario and I couldn't do anything about it. I felt useless and pathetic as fuck.

As soon as she ended the call, I asked,

"Mom. What's going on? What did he say? He won't help, right? I knew it. They are all the same."

I kept talking while she just stared at the floor, her expression totally blank.

"Mom? Mom…MOM!!"

Her body jolted a little before she looked up with a horrified look.

"What happened? Just tell me, Mom."

"Your father…he…he…"

"What about Dad?" I probed, losing my patience every second. 

"He wasn't a good man, you know that, right?"

I frowned but nodded nonetheless.

It was not like that. He was good to us. We were happy as a family and he loved us so much. But everything changed after he was laid off from the manufacturing plant of D'Amicos, because of the recession. Jane was 13 and I was 21.

I saw him turning into a different man, whom I couldn't recognise anymore. He was cold and inconsiderate, specifically towards Jane and I didn't like it one bit.

"He didn't die in police firing."

Mom's voice pulled me out of my thoughts and I looked at her with a deeper frown.

"What?"

"He died in that mafia gang war between the Salvatores and the D'Amicos."

I knew that. The gang war did happen but police reached the spot and killed many of the made men, most of whom belonged to the Salvatores. Dad was one of them.

I stayed silent and waited for her to continue.

"Dominic was the one who shot him. Police came later after the war was over and the D'Amicos had left the spot."

My heart raced and my head spun as I let new information sink in. I couldn't utter a word.

"Jane got to know about it yesterday and broke up with Dominic. Now, I don't know if she'd be willing to take his help anymore." 

She did right by breaking up with him. I was proud of her. Our father was a good man. He was stressed because of his job, and the pressure of feeding a family of four. That didn't make him a bad person.

She did right by breaking up with our father's killer. 

"Don't worry, Mom. Jane's brother is still alive. I'll bring her back. We don't need that murderer to help us."

Mom shook her head vigorously and grabbed my hand.

"No. No no. Don't say that. You can't go there. I can't lose my son after losing my daughter. You can't handle Rosario alone."

"Mom, I don't care. I'll get Jane back to you even if I'll have to lose my life in the process."

"Don't say that. No. You aren't going anywhere." She held my face in her hands as tears streamed down her face.

"I need both my kids with me. We need Dominic and please, don't hate him."

"How can you say that, Mom? He is our father's killer. How can you not hate him?" Mom was confusing me. She had eloped with Dad, cut all ties with her family for him.

They were so in love. So why was she not furious about his killer? 

"You don't know many things, Jake. But I know."

"So what? What can be the reason that you don't hate the man who killed your husband, for whom you left your whole family?"

"Shut up, Jake. Just forget about it. I shouldn't have said anything. You aren't going anywhere. Dominic will handle everything."

"Mom!"

"No!" she shouted at me before leaving the room.

I ran my fingers through my hair, feeling frustrated to the core. I couldn't fathom Mom's reaction to this new piece of information. 

No matter how much I wanted to go to Chicago and bring Jane back, I couldn't leave without Mom's permission. I knew she'd follow me there if I left.