Chapter 2 - VIVIEN CALLED DOMINIC’S WIFE BY A NAME HE HAD NEVER HEARD BEFORE
“I was afraid your wife wouldn’t stop.”
Beatrice’s words remained suspended in the ruined drawing room.
Dominic stared at his housekeeper.
Then at Norah.
Then at Vivien trembling beside the sofa.
The entire world seemed to reorganize itself around those nine words.
Dominic had spent eight years knowing Norah Gallow.
Six years loving her.
Three years married to her.
He knew which side of the bed she preferred.
Knew she drank tea too hot and coffee too sweet.
Knew she restored paintings with classical music playing quietly in the background.
Knew she avoided crowded restaurants.
Knew thunderstorms kept her awake.
Knew she froze whenever men argued loudly.
But apparently he did not know what happened when someone came at his wife with a knife.
Norah rose slowly from the leather chair.
Vivien whimpered.
“Don’t.”
Norah stopped immediately.
That mattered.
No lunge.
No rage.
No desire to continue.
She looked toward Dominic.
“She needs a doctor.”
Vivien laughed shakily.
“You broke two of my ribs.”
“I think one.”
Norah replied.
“You hit the table on the second fall.”
Leo looked at Dominic.
Dominic almost wanted to ask if everyone had secretly entered another universe.
Instead, he turned toward Beatrice.
“What happened?”
Beatrice touched the swelling beside her eye.
“Miss Vivien arrived just after four.”
“How did she get through the gate?”
“I don’t know.”
“The guard opened it.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“Which guard?”
“Marcus.”
Leo was already pulling out his phone.
Beatrice continued.
“She said she needed to speak with Mrs. Gallow privately.”
“I told her Mr. Gallow wasn’t home and she could wait.”
“She said it had nothing to do with you.”
Norah gave a humorless little laugh.
“That part was true.”
Dominic looked toward her.
“What did she want?”
Norah did not answer.
Vivien did.
“She wanted what her family stole.”
Norah’s face changed.
Dominic noticed.
Vivien smiled through blood on her lip.
There was satisfaction in it now.
Pain had not erased cruelty completely.
“Go ahead.”
Vivien whispered.
“Tell him.”
Norah stared at her.
“Tell your husband who he married.”
Dominic’s pulse slowed.
Dangerously.
“Vivien.”
He said.
“Be careful.”
She laughed.
“Still protecting her?”
Her eyes went to Norah.
“You poor bastard.”
“You really don’t know.”
Norah closed her eyes.
Dominic looked at his wife.
“What don’t I know?”
For the first time since he kicked open the doors, fear entered Norah’s expression.
Not fear of Vivien.
Fear of him.
That hurt more than he expected.
“Dominic.”
“What?”
“I need Vivien treated first.”
“No.”
His answer came too sharply.
Norah flinched.
Dominic saw it.
Regretted it immediately.
He lowered his voice.
“No.”
“We deal with everybody’s injuries.”
“But you do not postpone this.”
Norah’s jaw tightened.
Fair.
She had secrets.
He had anger.
Neither gave him ownership over her timing.
Still, a woman had entered his house with a knife and called his wife by a past he did not know existed.
He needed enough truth to keep everyone alive.
Leo returned.
“Ambulance is two minutes out.”
“Marcus isn’t answering.”
“Find him.”
“Already happening.”
Dominic looked toward the knife.
“Whose?”
Vivien answered.
“Mine.”
Norah said nothing.
“You brought a knife into my house.”
Dominic said.
Vivien laughed again.
“I was afraid of her.”
“And yet you came.”
That silenced her.
Norah looked toward Beatrice.
“She hit Beatrice when Beatrice reached for the phone.”
Beatrice nodded.
“Mrs. Gallow told her to leave.”
“Miss Vivien started shouting.”
“Then…”
The housekeeper looked toward Norah.
“I heard a different voice.”
Dominic frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Beatrice’s eyes filled.
“Mrs. Gallow’s.”
“She told me to go.”
“Not screamed.”
“Just…”
Beatrice shivered.
“She sounded like someone who knew exactly what was about to happen.”
Norah looked down at her scraped knuckles.
Dominic thought of the woman who apologized to flowers.
Then Beatrice said:
“Miss Vivien pulled the knife.”
“I ran for the kitchen phone.”
“She hit me.”
“Mrs. Gallow stepped between us.”
“What happened next?”
Dominic asked.
Beatrice looked at him.
“I don’t know.”
“What?”
“I called you.”
“Then I hid.”
“I heard furniture breaking.”
“I heard Miss Vivien screaming.”
“I heard Mrs. Gallow tell her three times to stay down.”
Three times.
Dominic looked toward Vivien.
“She didn’t.”
Norah said.
Vivien’s face twisted.
“You enjoyed it.”
“No.”
“Liar.”
Norah’s voice remained quiet.
“I hated every second.”
“That is why I stopped when you stopped reaching for the knife.”
Sirens sounded outside.
Vivien’s eyes closed.
Then she said something softly.
“Ask her about Saint Agnes.”
Norah stopped breathing.
Dominic noticed.
“What is Saint Agnes?”
Nobody answered.
Vivien opened her eyes.
“Ask her what happened in the basement.”
Norah went white.
Dominic’s stomach turned.
Then Vivien smiled.
“Ask Nora Bellini how many men she left bleeding on the floor before she disappeared.”
The room went silent.
Dominic stared at his wife.
Norah Bellini.
Not Gallow.
Not Reed, her maiden name.
Bellini.
The surname struck something old in Dominic’s memory.
Not a person.
A story.
A name his father once used in conversations that stopped whenever Dominic entered the room.
Bellini.
A family accused of stealing millions from several criminal organizations fifteen years earlier.
Samuel Bellini.
Accountant.
Fixer.
Traitor.
Dead.
His wife dead.
One son missing.
A daughter supposedly killed in a fire.
Dominic looked at Norah.
“No.”
Norah’s eyes filled.
“Dominic.”
“You’re Nora Bellini?”
She did not answer quickly enough.
That was answer enough.
Leo whispered:
“Jesus.”
Vivien began laughing.
Then winced from the pain.
“You married Samuel Bellini’s daughter.”
Dominic lowered his gun completely.
Not because he felt safe.
Because suddenly the weapon felt childish compared with the secret standing in front of him.
Norah spoke.
“My name is Norah.”
“Now.”
Vivien said.
Norah ignored her.
“My mother called me Norah.”
“My birth certificate says Nora.”
“I added the h after…”
She stopped.
“After what?”
Dominic asked.
Norah’s eyes moved toward the shattered glass.
“After my family died.”
The paramedics entered.
Dominic stepped aside mechanically.
They examined Vivien first.
Norah refused treatment until Beatrice was seen.
That, at least, felt like the woman he knew.
Or maybe the problem was that Dominic had assumed only one version could be real.
Gentle Norah.
Dangerous Nora.
Perhaps they had always been the same woman.
Vivien was moved onto a stretcher.
Before paramedics carried her out, she caught Dominic’s sleeve.
Her fingers were cold.
“You think I came here because of some old family feud?”
Dominic looked down.
“Why did you come?”
Vivien’s eyes shifted toward Norah.
“Because my father found out she was alive.”
Norah became still.
“And?”
Dominic asked.
Vivien swallowed.
“He says the Bellini ledger survived the fire.”
Leo’s face changed.
Dominic had heard that story too.
A ledger supposedly containing payments, murders, judges, police, politicians, and accounts linking criminal families across three states.
Most people believed it never existed.
Vivien whispered:
“My father thinks Norah has it.”
“I don’t.”
Norah said.
Vivien laughed bitterly.
“Then you’re about to get a lot of people killed over something you don’t have.”
The paramedics carried her away.
Dominic waited until they were gone.
Then he turned.
Beatrice had been taken toward the kitchen for examination.
Leo stepped into the hallway to coordinate security.
For the first time, Dominic and Norah were alone.
Broken room.
Rain.
Blood.
Fifteen years of missing history.
Dominic looked at his wife.
“Were you ever going to tell me?”
Norah’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“I know.”
“Did you know who I was when we met?”
Pain crossed her face.
“Yes.”
That hurt worse.
Dominic stepped backward.
Norah did not follow.
Good.
He needed space.
“You knew my family name.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my father.”
“Not personally.”
“You knew what the Gallows were.”
“Yes.”
“And you married me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She almost laughed through tears.
“Because I loved you.”
Dominic stared.
“That would be easier to believe if you had not hidden the fact that my family may have been connected to yours.”
Norah went pale.
“Your father didn’t kill my family.”
Dominic became still.
“You know that?”
“I know enough.”
“Then tell me.”
She looked toward the doorway.
“No.”
His anger returned.
“Norah.”
“Not here.”
“This room is full of blood because somebody came looking for your past.”
“That is exactly why not here.”
Her voice sharpened.
For the first time he heard steel without violence.
“There may be somebody inside your security team helping Vivien.”
“Marcus opened the gate.”
“The cameras went down for six minutes.”
“You do not know who is listening.”
Dominic stared.
She was right.
He hated that.
Norah lowered her voice.
“I will tell you everything.”
“Not the version that protects me.”
“Not the version that makes me look innocent.”
“Everything.”
“When?”
“When Leo confirms this house is secure.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Why should I trust you?”
The words hurt them both.
Norah’s eyes filled.
She nodded once.
“You shouldn’t.”
His chest tightened.
Then:
“Not automatically.”
She continued.
“You should check what I tell you.”
“Ask questions.”
“Look at evidence.”
“Be angry.”
“But don’t trust me because I’m your wife.”
“Trust what survives examination.”
Dominic said nothing.
That was not the answer of someone begging to preserve a lie.
Leo returned six minutes later.
His face had gone hard.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“Marcus didn’t open the gate.”
Dominic frowned.
“The access log uses his code.”
“His code, yes.”
“But Marcus is in the guardhouse.”
“Unconscious.”
“Same as the man at the main drive?”
“No.”
Leo’s voice dropped.
“He is the man at the main drive.”
Dominic’s pulse changed.
“So who opened the gate?”
Leo held out a tablet.
The estate security system showed an administrator override.
One level above Marcus.
Only six people had access.
Dominic.
Leo.
The security chief.
Two senior guards.
And Dominic’s uncle, Rafael Gallow.
Norah saw the name.
Every bit of color left her face.
Dominic turned.
“You know Rafael.”
It was not a question.
Norah whispered:
“Yes.”
“How?”
She stared at him.
May you like
Then said the sentence that opened another door inside the past.
“Because he was at Saint Agnes the night my family died.”
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