Chapter 4
Dominic did not raise his voice.
That made him more frightening.
He looked at Julian the way winter looks at a candle.
“You sold her photo while she was bleeding?”
Julian backed into the wall.
“I didn’t know who she was.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“You knew enough to sell.”
Marco took Julian by the collar and dragged him away before Dominic could do something Leo should never see.
Leo pressed his face into my side.
I kept my good arm around him.
Dominic noticed.
He noticed everything.
We moved through the kitchen, past overturned trays and terrified staff, down a narrow stairwell behind the wine cellar.
Every step sent pain through my back.
I tried not to show it.
Failed.
Dominic’s hand hovered near my elbow.
“Let me help.”
“I can walk.”
“That was not my question.”
“I don’t want to owe you.”
He stopped so abruptly I nearly hit him.
“After tonight, Elena, I owe you a debt no one can repay.”
The name Elena sounded different in his mouth now.
Like he was forcing himself not to say Valentina.
At the bottom of the stairs, a steel door opened into a tunnel.
Of course there was a tunnel.
Mob restaurants apparently came with secret exits.
I would have laughed if breathing didn’t hurt.
A black SUV waited in an underground garage.
Leo climbed in first.
I followed, wincing.
Dominic sat across from us.
Marco drove.
No one spoke until we were moving.
Then I asked, “Where are we going?”
“Somewhere safe.”
“I’ve heard that before.”
Dominic’s eyes met mine.
“From David?”
My blood turned cold.
“How do you know that name?”
“Marco ran your background after we saw the tattoo.”
I stared at him.
“You investigated me while I was being stitched?”
“Yes.”
“At least lie.”
“No.”
I hated that.
I hated that honesty from dangerous men could feel more respectful than sweetness from cowards.
“What did you find?”
His jaw tightened.
“Enough to know he hurt you.”
I looked away.
“David hurt everyone near him. I was just convenient.”
“He stole from you.”
“Among other things.”
“He is still in the city.”
My head snapped back.
“No.”
Dominic watched me carefully.
“You didn’t know.”
“I haven’t seen him in a year.”
“He has debts.”
“Of course he does.”
“To Bellandi.”
The SUV seemed to shrink around me.
My ex.
The Bellandis.
The leak.
The tattoo.
My life was not suddenly connected to theirs.
It had already been tangled.
I just hadn’t seen the net.
“Did David know who I was?”
Dominic’s silence answered before he did.
“We don’t know.”
“Don’t do that.”
“What?”
“Protect me from an ugly answer.”
His eyes softened again, barely.
“We don’t know. But we will.”
The safe house was not a house.
It was a fortress hidden behind stone walls north of the city.
Cameras.
Gates.
Guards.
Tall windows with no warmth.
Inside, everything was quiet marble and old money.
Leo took my hand as we entered.
“Don’t be scared,” he whispered. “It’s nicer in the kitchen.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
A woman with silver hair rushed into the foyer.
She froze when she saw me.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
“Madonna santa.”
Dominic’s voice lowered.
“Rosa.”
The woman came closer slowly, tears filling her eyes.
I felt suddenly naked under her stare.
“She has your mother’s face,” Rosa whispered.
I stepped back.
Leo held my hand tighter.
Dominic spoke gently.
“Rosa raised me. She also cared for Valentina.”
My stomach twisted.
Rosa reached toward me, then stopped herself.
“May I?”
I didn’t know what she was asking.
To touch my face?
My hand?
The ghost she saw instead of me?
I nodded because I could not bear her eyes.
Her fingers brushed my cheek.
Then she began to cry.
“I searched every church,” she whispered. “Every shelter. Every hospital.”
Something inside me cracked.
“You looked?”
She covered her mouth.
“Every day until your mother died. After that, every week. I never stopped.”
All my anger stumbled.
Not gone.
But confused.
Because a child left behind can survive by believing no one searched.
It hurts less than imagining they searched and still couldn’t find you.
Dominic watched me from a few steps away.
Not pushing.
Not claiming.
Just waiting.
I hated him less for that.
Then Marco entered, holding a phone.
“Boss. We found David.”
My hands went cold.
Dominic’s expression changed.
“Where?”
May you like
Marco looked at me.
“Bellandi warehouse.”
