Collateral Hearts

Chapter 7: Shattered Illusions

When the past resurfaces, the future shatters.

The night air was thick with tension as Dominic and Elena moved through the shadows of the safehouse. The note she had received sat on the table, a silent threat lingering between them. Luca had left to gather more information, but the weight of the message pressed down on them both.

Elena's hands curled into fists. "This isn’t just about the bank anymore. If my father was involved, then—"

"Then this goes deeper than we thought," Dominic finished, his voice controlled but sharp. "And if they know about you, they know about us."

Elena swallowed hard. There was no turning back now.

Elena’s POV

The drive to the abandoned warehouse was silent, save for the distant hum of the city beyond. Dominic had insisted on taking me somewhere ‘secure’—but the tension in his shoulders told me he didn’t believe in safe anymore.

I gripped the leather seat as he parked and killed the engine. "Why here?"

"Because we need answers. And someone in there has them."

The warehouse was dimly lit, the air heavy with dust and secrecy. A lone figure sat tied to a chair in the center of the room, his face bloodied but defiant. Dominic stepped forward, his voice calm but dangerous. "Who sent the message? Who knows about Elena’s father?"

The man spat blood onto the floor. "You think you can rewrite your family’s legacy, Veronesi? You’re a fool."

Dominic’s jaw tightened. "And you’re running out of time."

My heart pounded as I watched Dominic, the way his fingers flexed, the quiet fury in his stance. He wasn’t just the man I had been forced to work with—he was a man who carried the weight of a war I was only beginning to understand.

Dominic’s POV

Elena wasn’t supposed to be here.

She wasn’t supposed to see this side of him—the part that had been carved from years of blood, power, and survival. But when the bastard mentioned her father, something in her shifted. She wasn’t just here because she had no choice anymore. She was here because she needed the truth.

And Dominic would make damn sure she got it.

"Your father," Dominic pressed, stepping closer, "was he working for Moretti? Or against him?"

The man’s laughter was brittle. "You really don’t know, do you? Poor Dominic, trying to escape the shadows. The truth is worse than you think."

Elena tensed beside him, her breath unsteady. Dominic clenched his fists. He wasn’t going to get the answers like this.

He turned to Luca. "Make him talk."

Luca nodded, stepping forward, but Elena grabbed Dominic’s arm, her fingers burning against his skin. "Stop."

He looked down at her, his pulse erratic. "Elena—"

"If we’re going to do this, I need to know I’m not trading one monster for another."

Her eyes searched his, and something inside him fractured.

Damn it.

He took a breath, then nodded. "Fine. But if he doesn’t start talking, I won’t stop next time."

Elena’s POV

I should be afraid of him.

Of the way his voice turned cold when he gave orders. Of the way he stood in the shadows like he belonged there.

But fear wasn’t what I felt.

I felt something else. Something dangerous.

The man in the chair finally coughed out words that sent a chill down my spine. "Your father wasn’t just involved, sweetheart. He was one of them."

The world tilted.

My father—a man I barely remembered, a man I had spent my whole life believing was a victim—wasn’t innocent.

He was part of the crime.

Dominic’s hand was suddenly on my back, grounding me, steadying me. "Elena—"

"I need a minute."

I turned away, my mind racing. Everything I thought I knew was a lie. And the only person who could help me unravel it was standing beside me, a man who had his own war to fight.

I looked at Dominic then, really looked at him. Maybe he wasn’t my enemy after all.

Maybe he was the only person I could trust.

But trust had a cost.

And I wasn’t sure if I was ready to pay it.