Chapter 7 - The Night Dominic Finally Broke
It was not labor.
That was the good news.
The bad news was placental irritation caused by stress and dehydration.
Dr. Price ordered immediate rest.
Real rest.
Not Norah’s definition, which apparently included sneaking into charity-gala coatrooms.
Dominic stood beside the hospital bed looking like he wanted to arrest the concept of stress.
“You’re not allowed to speak,” Norah said.
“I haven’t.”
“Your face is speaking.”
“My face has concerns.”
“Your face wants to imprison me in bed.”
“Correct.”
She rolled her eyes.
Then noticed his hands.
They were shaking.
Dominic saw her looking and shoved them into his pockets.
“Come here.”
“I’m already here.”
“Closer.”
He moved beside the bed.
Norah took his hand.
“Daniel is fine.”
Dominic looked toward the fetal monitor.
Steady heartbeat.
Strong.
Their son.
“You named him without consulting me.”
“I panicked.”
“You chose my father’s name.”
“You told me he was the only man who never walked away from you.”
Her eyes filled.
Dominic shrugged awkwardly.
“It seemed right.”
“You remembered.”
“I remember everything about you.”
Norah stared.
He immediately looked uncomfortable.
Good.
Let him suffer.
“You know that was romantic.”
“I retract it.”
“Too late.”
Dr. Price entered.
“Everything looks stable. But no more excitement.”
Norah pointed at Dominic.
“Explain ‘no more excitement’ to him.”
Dr. Price looked at him.
“No gunfights.”
“I don’t schedule them.”
“No kidnappings.”
“I object to the implication.”
“No charity espionage.”
Dominic looked at Norah.
“That one is her.”
Dr. Price sighed.
“You two are exhausting.”
They returned home the next morning.
For the first time, Dominic did not hold meetings in his office.
He stayed with Norah.
Not hovering.
Mostly.
He brought breakfast.
Wrong cereal.
She ate it anyway.
He attempted to read a pregnancy book.
He disagreed with half of it.
He read aloud that partners should encourage moderate exercise.
Then immediately objected to Norah walking downstairs.
She threw a pillow at him.
Lily loved everything.
She sat beside Norah’s stomach and talked to Daniel.
“You can have my old blocks.”
Pause.
“Not the purple ones.”
Another pause.
“Maybe two.”
Dominic watched from the doorway.
Something in his face changed.
Norah recognized grief.
“Come sit.”
He did.
Lily climbed into his lap.
For ten minutes they existed like an ordinary family.
Then Luca entered with the cloned records.
The offshore server held everything.
Medical blackmail.
Payments.
Stolen trust money.
Messages between Serrano and Carlo.
And one file labeled S.R.
Sofia Russo.
Dominic opened it.
Medication logs.
Serrano had altered Sofia’s prescriptions gradually.
Not enough to kill her quickly.
Enough to worsen her autoimmune condition.
Enough to make death look natural.
Dominic stopped reading.
Norah took the laptop.
“You don’t have to finish tonight.”
“Yes.”
“You don’t.”
“I should have known.”
Norah’s voice sharpened.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“You don’t get to do that.”
“Do what?”
“Turn someone else’s crime into your guilt.”
Dominic stood.
“I left her alone.”
“You trusted her doctor.”
“I chose business.”
“And she deserved better.”
He flinched.
Norah continued.
“You can regret that without claiming responsibility for murder.”
His eyes filled.
It startled her.
Dominic Russo did not cry.
At least nobody saw him.
Now he looked at the evidence proving the mother of his daughter had been slowly poisoned by people he permitted near her.
And something broke.
He sat.
Norah moved beside him.
Dominic covered his face with one hand.
“I wasn’t there.”
“You’re here now.”
“I can’t fix that.”
“No.”
She touched his shoulder.
“But you can stop repeating it.”
He looked at her.
Norah placed his hand over Daniel.
“Be here.”
Dominic bent his head.
For several seconds, his forehead rested against her stomach.
Then Daniel kicked him directly in the face.
Dominic jerked backward.
Norah laughed.
Lily ran in.
“What happened?”
“Your brother assaulted your father.”
Lily gasped.
Then delighted:
“Again!”
Even Dominic laughed.
That evening they gave the server records to federal prosecutors through Dominic’s attorneys.
There would be consequences.
Dominic understood.
Opening the records meant exposing some of his own businesses.
Potential investigations.
Tax scrutiny.
Old crimes.
Luca asked him privately whether he was sure.
Dominic answered:
“Yes.”
Norah overheard.
“You could lose everything.”
He looked around.
Lily drawing at the table.
Norah standing barefoot in the kitchen.
Daniel moving beneath her dress.
“Not everything.”
That night Dominic asked Norah to walk with him in the garden.
Slowly.
Doctor-approved.
He stopped beneath an old magnolia tree.
“I need to tell you something before someone else does.”
Norah’s stomach tightened.
“That sentence is never fun.”
“My organization wasn’t always what it is now.”
“I know.”
“No. You know rumors.”
He looked toward the house.
“I hurt people.”
Norah remained silent.
“Sometimes people who deserved consequences.”
His voice hardened.
“Sometimes people who probably didn’t deserve what happened.”
She appreciated the lack of excuse.
“I’m not asking you to forgive things you didn’t witness.”
“Then why tell me?”
“Because you deserve to know who Daniel’s father is.”
Norah looked at him.
“Who is he now?”
Dominic frowned.
“What?”
“I asked who Daniel’s father is.”
His expression changed.
She continued.
“Not who you were ten years ago.”
Dominic looked away.
“I don’t know.”
“Then decide.”
He met her eyes.
Norah stepped closer.
“You have months before he remembers your face. Years before he understands your name.”
She touched his chest.
“Who do you want him to meet?”
Dominic looked toward Lily’s bedroom window.
Then at Norah.
“A better man.”
“Start there.”
He kissed her.
Not desperate like the safe room.
Not frightened.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Chosen.
When they separated, Dominic whispered:
“I love you.”
Norah’s breathing stopped.
He smiled faintly.
“You don’t have to say it.”
She stared at him.
“Good.”
His smile disappeared.
Norah laughed.
Then pulled him back.
“I love you too.”
For one beautiful minute, danger did not exist.
Then every security light around the property switched on at once.
Luca’s voice came through Dominic’s phone.
“Boss. Police convoy at the gate.”
Dominic frowned.
“What?”
“They have warrants.”
Norah’s heart dropped.
“For Carlo?”
Luca answered:
“No.”
May you like
A pause.
“For you.”
