The words hung in the air, a death sentence for my past and a storm cloud over my future. I just stared at him, at this powerful man on his knees before me, and felt the world I thought I knew crumble to dust.

“Look at me, Dominic.”

He did. His dark eyes, usually so full of fire and command, were shattered. Raw. I saw the truth in them, and it was so much worse than any lie.

My parents. Murdered. Because of me. Because of him.

A sound tore from my throat, something between a sob and a ...