His Rose in the Dark

Chapter Three – The Debt That Binds Us

DOMINIC'S BEDROOM – UNDER SIEGE

The commotion outside was like a battlefield—gunfire cutting through quiet, glass breaking and men yelling. But all of that paled in comparison to the tempest raging within me.

I looked at the man in the doorway.

He hadn't changed much. Same black hair, same jawline as mine. His eyes—haunted, furious—fixed on Dominic like they'd spent years waiting to pull the trigger.

"Luca," I whispered.

He blinked.

"Rose?"

Dominic moved next to me "You know him?"

I moved forward carefully, blood pounding in my head.

"He's my brother"

Luca's hand trembled.

"You're alive" he breathed like the words were bitter on his tongue "They told me you'd died."

"I was" I replied. "And you...i buried your name."

His gaze darted to Dominic.

"You're in his employ?"

I moved my head back and forth. "It isn't that straightforward."

"Isn't it?" he growled. "This man murdered our father."

“No,” Dominic said, calm and deadly, gun still in hand. “I killed a traitor.”

“He was protecting us!” Luca screamed. “He died for you!”

“Your father was building his own empire behind my back. Laundering through Valhalla. Selling weapons to enemies of the syndicate. He knew the rules—he broke them.”

“You don’t get to rewrite history,” Luca snarled.

“And you don’t get to walk into my house with a gun and expect to walk out.”

The tension in the room could’ve shattered bones.

I stepped between them. “Stop. Both of you.”

Dominic’s jaw ticked. “Move, Rose.”

“No. If you shoot him, you’ll lose me.”

He paused. Just long enough.

Luca used it.

He turned and ran.

Dominic cursed, bolted after him.

“Don’t kill him!” I screamed.

But neither of them listened.

DOMINIC’S PRIVATE STAIRWELL – MOMENTS LATER

I chased the sound of feet pounding down marble. Gunshots echoed through the hall. I turned a corner just in time to see Dominic tackle Luca at the edge of the stairwell.

They crashed through the railing.

Down one level.

Two.

I heard the impact before I saw it.

I raced down after them, heart threatening to explode.

When I reached the floor, Dominic was on top of Luca, pinning him down. One hand around his throat and the other holding the gun inches from his skull.

“Give me one reason not to end you” Dominic growled.

Luca coughed and blood trailed from his mouth “Because i’m not here for you. I’m here for her.”

They both looked at me.

“What?” I breathed.

“She doesn’t know,” Luca said, eyes wild. “She doesn’t know the truth.”

Dominic’s grip didn’t loosen. “What truth?”

Luca laughed. “The real reason you bought her. Tell her, Boss. Tell her what this really is.”

I stepped closer. “Dominic?”

He said nothing.

He looked at me and that silence told me everything.

LATER – ROSE’S ROOM

I slammed the door behind me.

Dominic didn’t follow. He wouldn’t. Not tonight.

I dropped the flash drive on the desk and stared at it like it might explode.

What am i doing here?

Supposed to destroy him. Instead, i was defending him. Sleeping under his roof. Letting him touch pieces of me i'd buried years ago.

And now Luca was back.

Alive.

Twisted by grief and rage.

And Dominic?

He was hiding something again. I saw it in his eyes.

A secret.

One I wasn’t sure I could forgive.

DOMINIC’S PRIVATE BAR – SAME NIGHT

Matteo poured him a drink in silence.

“He’s her brother,” Dominic said quietly.

“I saw,” Matteo replied.

“She doesn’t know the whole truth.”

“She’s going to.”

Dominic downed the drink.

“She thinks she was bought at that auction because of luck. Desperation.”

Matteo said nothing.

“She doesn’t know I made that auction happen.”

Matteo’s brows rose.

“You fixed it?”

Dominic nodded. “She was never up for sale, not really. I made sure she’d land in front of me.”

“Why?”

Dominic stared at the glass. His voice low.

“Because i owed her father a debt.”

Back in my room, the flash drive finally opened.

Video files. Dozens.

One stood out.

Dated two days before my father died.

I clicked play.

The screen flickered.

My father sat in a chair, beaten and bruised.

And standing behind him, gun in hand… was Dominic.

My heart shattered in slow motion.

And then i heard it—his voice.

“Marco, this is your last chance. Tell me the truth about the girl.”

“She doesn’t know” my father rasped. “Please… just protect her”

“I will,” Dominic said.

The video cut.

My hands shook.

Dominic didn’t just know who i was.

He’d been there when my father died.

He’d promised to protect me.

But from what?

DOMINIC’S PENTHOUSE – ROSE’S ROOM

The screen was still flickering with my dad's last words.

"She doesn't know. Please, just protect her"

And Dominic's voice was so low and cold.

"I will"

But why?

Why would the man who had him killed promise to protect him?

My chest hurt. My breath hitched between sobs I did not want him to hear.

I did not even realize that the door was open until I felt him standing behind me.

"You watched it," Dominic whispered.

I didn't turn.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I whispered.

He exhaled. “Because i knew what it would do to you.”

“You mean make me see the truth?”

He stepped closer. “No. I mean shatter every piece of peace you’ve built.”

I turned, eyes burning. “Peace? You kidnapped my life. You chained me to your world like some possession.”

“I saved you Rose.”

“You bought me.”

He didn’t flinch. “Yes. Because I had to control the situation before someone else used you as a weapon against me.”

“And what am I now?” I snapped. “Collateral? A favor you owe a dead man?”

Dominic looked at me—no mask, no lies. Just grief. Regret. Fury. All tangled in his gaze.

“I didn’t kill your father,” he said, voice quiet.

“But you were there.”

He nodded. “Yes. I held the gun. I gave him ten minutes to tell me the truth.”

“What truth?”

His jaw clenched. “That you weren’t his daughter.”

Silence swallowed the room.

I stared at him like he’d spoken in a language i couldn’t understand “What are you talking about?”

Dominic stepped forward. “Marco Varela adopted you when you were five. The girl who survived the Cartel m******e. The one who was never supposed to live.”

“No,” I whispered.

“He told me the truth before he died. He wasn’t protecting you because of blood. He was protecting you because of what your real father did.”

“Lies.”

“I didn’t believe it either,” Dominic said. “Until I found this.”

He reached into his coat, pulled out a photo.

A man with my eyes.

A bloodied suit. Cold, sharp smile.

And Dominic beside him—fifteen years younger, gun in hand, barely more than a boy.

"Who is he?" I asked, my voice breaking.

"Your real father" he said. "Gabriel Mendez. The Butcher of Baja"

LATER – DOMINIC'S STUDY

I stared at the photo like it might rewrite itself if i blinked hard enough.

Gabriel Mendez.

A name I'd only ever heard whispered by ghosts.

He was a myth. A monster. The man mothers warned their sons about.

And I was his daughter?

"You're lying," I said.

Dominic sat across from me, bruised knuckles, blood-smeared shirt from the fight with Luca earlier.

"I wish I was."

"Why tell me now?"

"Because Luca's going to find out soon. And when he does, he'll hate you for it."

"He's my brother."

"He was Marco's son," Dominic said softly. "You're not."

MEANWHILE – LUCA'S SAFEHOUSE

Luca paced, shaking hands.

He hadn't even realized Matteo had followed him until the door slammed shut behind them.

“You have five minutes,” Matteo said. “Before Dominic sends someone worse.”

Luca glared. “He killed my father.”

“No. He protected your sister.”

“That’s not his sister!”

Matteo raised a brow. “No. She’s something far more dangerous.”

He tossed a folder on the table.

Luca opened it.

His face paled.

“Where did you get this?”

“Dominic’s vault,” Matteo said. “You think he doesn’t know who she is?”

“Gabriel Mendez,” Luca whispered. “That can’t be real.”

“It is. And she doesn’t know what she’s capable of.”

BACK AT THE PENTHOUSE – ROSE’S ROOM

I stared out the window trying to process it all.

Dominic leaned against the doorframe and her arms crossed.

“I didn’t want to tell you this way.”

I wiped my eyes “You had years to tell me. Why now?”

“Because i thought i could keep you safe by keeping you close. But i can’t protect you from what’s inside you”

I turned, my voice raw “And what’s that, Dominic? Tell me what i am”

“You’re the heir to a legacy soaked in blood.”

I laughed bitterly “And what are you? My savior?”

He walked up to me, cupped my jaw with a hand that had killed men.

“I don’t know what i am around you” he said. “But i know i’d rather burn this empire than lose you to it”

The security alarm blared.

Dominic grabbed his gun instantly.

A guard burst through the door. “Boss—we have a breach. The east wing. It’s your brother.”

Dominic’s face darkened. “Enzo?”

“Yes. And he’s not alone. He has Luca with him.”

My breath caught.

Dominic looked at me, eyes hard. “They’re not here to negotiate.”

I stepped back, heart pounding.

“Then what are they here for?” I asked.

The guard hesitated.

“They’re here for her.”