Chapter Nine.

Next morning.

Ariella hadn't slept. Neither had Dominic. He was pacing the bedroom like a man trying not to break everything in sight. His shirt was half-buttoned. His gun holstered at his side.

She sat on the edge of the bed, heart thudding as Enzo, Dominic's right-hand man, stepped inside.

"They moved him," Enzo said. "He's being held in an old textile warehouse near the docks. Guarded. Not heavily. Sloppy."

Dominic nodded once. "Get the trucks. We move in thirty."

Enzo left.

Ariella stood. "I'm going with you."

Dominic froze. "Absolutely not."

"He's my father."

"And you are mine."

She walked to him, placing her hand on his chest. "Then let me be beside you."

He grabbed her wrists. Gently, but firm. "What if something happens to you?… what if I fail to protect you, Ariella? I won't survive it."

"You think I'll survive waiting behind while you charge into gunfire?"

Their eyes locked.

And for once... he let her win.

"Fine you can come along, but you stay close to me."

" Yes."

The drive to the warehouse was tense.

Ariella sat between Dominic and Enzo in the back of a black SUV, flanked by armed guards in two others. The city passed by in a blur of concrete and fog. Dominic's hand stayed on her thigh, firm and grounding.

"You stay behind me," he said. "No matter what."

"I promise."

He looked over at her. His voice softened. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Good. Because I'm about to become someone you've never seen before."

Getting to the warehouse, The raid was fast, Precise, and Brutal.

Ariella didn't see much, just flashes of gunfire, shouted orders, the distant cry of a man begging before he was silenced. Dominic moved like a shadow. A god of war in his black shirt. Every shot was measured. Every movement lethal.

And then... it was over.

Her father was dragged from the back room, bruised but alive.

She ran to him, choking on a sob. "Dad!"

He blinked. "Ariella?"

They embraced tightly. His shirt was torn, his face swollen. But he was breathing. He was alive.

"I thought I lost you," she cried.

He held her tight. "Where have You being I've been worried, you shouldn't be here. You..."

His voice broke off when Dominic stepped beside her.

Her father's eyes darkened. "You brought him?"

Dominic's face went still.

Ariella turned. "What? You know him?"

Her father let go of her, his expression cold "You need to stay away from him, Ariella. He's not who you think..."

Dominic interrupted. "I saved your life."

Her father's jaw clenched. "And I warned my father about you years ago."

Ariella froze.

"My grandfather?" she whispered.

Dominic didn't flinch. "He and I did business. He kept secrets from your family. From you."

Her voice was barely a whisper. "What are you both talking about? What kind of secrets?"

Her father stepped forward. "Dominic's family… they funded a war on the east docks. The same war that nearly wiped out our business. Your mother's stressed over it,her heart couldn't take it."

Pain lanced through her chest.

"Wait! are you saying my mother's death..?"

"I'm saying Dominic's family led her to her death," he said, voice tight. "And now you've walked into his life."

Ariella turned to Dominic, eyes wide and wet. "Is this true?"

His voice was calm. Heavy. "My family made enemies. I've spent my life undoing their sins."

"But you never told me," she whispered.

"I was waiting until you trusted me enough not to run."

Back at the penthouse, the silence between them was suffocating.

Her father had been taken to the guest wing under heavy guard, his injuries treated by Dominic's personal medic. But Ariella hadn't said a word since they left the warehouse.

She stood by the window, arms wrapped around herself, wearing only one of Dominic's black shirts. He watched her from across the room, leaning against the wall like a man facing execution.

Finally, she spoke.

"You let me fall for you. Knowing your family helped destroy mine."

Dominic crossed the room.

"I didn't know Ariella. I fell first."

Her voice cracked. "That doesn't make this easier."

"No. But it makes it real"

She turned to face him. "Then why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't want you to look at me the way you're looking at me now."

A tear slipped down her cheek. "Like I don't know you?"

He reached for her, slowly, giving her the chance to pull away.

She did.

He paused, eyes becoming dim..

"I wanted to protect you from the past," he said."

She looked away.

"I'm angry, hurt" she whispered. "But I still feel safest here."

"I'm not leaving," he said. "No matter how angry you get. You belong to me, Ariella. And I will spend every day earning that." He embraced her, she let him.

That night, she couldn't sleep.

The pain, The confusion, and fear. It all tangled in her chest.

So when she woke up and found Dominic's side of the bed empty, she followed the faint sound of piano drifting through the halls.

He was in the music room. Shirtless. Sitting at the grand black piano in darkness, playing something soft and broken.

She stood at the door for a while, just listening.

Then she stepped inside.

He looked up when she neared. "Can't sleep?"

She shook her head. "You?"

"No."

She sat beside him on the bench. "You play beautifully."

His fingers paused. "My mother taught me."

"I didn't know you had a soft side."

He smiled, sad. "I hide it well, didn't I ?"

She nooded.

She reached out, placing her hand over his. "Don't hide it from me." She said softly.

And for the first time since they came back from the warehouse, something inside her settled.

Because even if their pasts were soaked in pain and blood…

There had a chance to change the future, together.