Chapter 3
Dominic tried to grab the document from my hand.
I stepped back.
For once, my body moved before fear could stop it.
His eyes flashed.
“Give me that.”
Rocco moved between us.
“You still reach for things that aren’t yours.”
Dominic pointed at me.
“She’s staff. She has no right touching family papers.”
Rocco turned slightly.
“She has every right if I give it to her.”
I clutched the deed against my chest.
The whole club watched.
Men who had ignored me for months suddenly looked afraid to meet my eyes.
Dominic had treated everyone beneath him like furniture.
He called cooks stupid.
He called cleaners replaceable.
He called me a charity case because I worked double shifts to pay my mother’s medical bills.
I had swallowed it all because I needed the job.
Now the man he feared most had seen him do it.
Dominic lowered his voice.
“Uncle, come upstairs. We should talk privately.”
“No.”
“This is family business.”
Rocco looked around the room.
“You made cruelty public. So truth can be public too.”
Dominic’s face reddened.
Then he smiled again.
A colder smile.
“You think you can just return? After what happened?”
Rocco’s eyes sharpened.
“What happened?”
Dominic leaned closer.
“You ran. You left us to clean up the scandal.”
Rocco’s hand tightened around the wheelchair.
“I was in a hospital for eleven months.”
“That’s not what Grandfather said.”
At that, Rocco went still.
The room shifted again.
Something old had entered the air.
Something buried.
Rocco stared at Dominic.
“My brother told you I ran?”
Dominic hesitated.
Then said, “Everyone knows you abandoned the family.”
Rocco gave a bitter laugh.
“No. Someone tried to kill me.”
The silence after that was heavy.
Then Rocco looked at me.
“Maeve, do you still have those coins?”
I opened my palm.
Seven coins.
Wet.
Small.
May you like
Rocco nodded.
“Good. Keep them safe. They are the first honest money this club has seen tonight.”
