Chapter 3 - The Price of Dominic Romano’s Protection
My mother survived the surgery.
Those five words should have fixed everything.
For several hours, they almost did.
I sat beside her hospital bed after midnight, watching machines blink softly in the darkened room. Her face looked smaller against the pillow, her silvering brown hair tucked beneath a surgical cap.
The doctor told me the procedure had gone better than expected.
I cried in the hallway afterward.
Not gracefully.
Not quietly.
I folded against the wall and cried until my body hurt.
Dominic waited twenty feet away.
He didn’t touch me.
He didn’t offer meaningless reassurance.
He simply waited.
When I could breathe again, he handed me a clean handkerchief.
“Do billionaires still carry these?” I asked weakly.
“I’m not a billionaire.”
“What are you?”
He considered.
“Comfortable.”
I laughed despite myself.
That was my first mistake.
Because laughter made Dominic Romano feel less dangerous.
And I couldn’t afford to forget what he was.
At 2:17 a.m., we sat in the hospital cafeteria.
I had terrible coffee.
Dominic had nothing.
“You said Daniel was waiting for me,” I said.
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“One of my people reviewed the hotel cameras.”
“Your people.”
“I employ security.”
“Is that what we’re calling them?”
A faint smile touched his mouth.
“Tonight.”
I wrapped both hands around my coffee.
“Tell me.”
“Carter entered the hotel forty minutes before you did.”
“That’s impossible. He texted me after I arrived.”
“He lied.”
That part wasn’t surprising.
“What was he doing?”
“Watching the ballroom.”
“Why?”
“That’s what I want to know.”
I shook my head.
“He’s obsessed with me. That’s all.”
Dominic’s expression said he disagreed.
“You blocked him?”
“Two months ago.”
“He continued contacting you?”
“Yes.”
“Threats?”
I hesitated.
Dominic noticed.
“Mara.”
“He never wrote anything specific.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning Daniel is careful.”
I stared into my coffee.
“He says things like, ‘You’ll regret doing this alone.’ Or, ‘People who walk away from me lose more than they expect.’”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“Did you save them?”
“Some.”
“Good.”
“Why?”
“Because tomorrow you’re filing for a protective order.”
I looked up.
“You don’t get to decide that.”
“No.”
“Then don’t speak like you do.”
For the first time, I saw genuine approval in his face.
“Good.”
“What?”
“You disagree when you want to.”
I stared at him.
“I’m not one of your employees.”
“I noticed.”
“Then stop testing me.”
His eyes held mine.
“I wasn’t testing you.”
“What were you doing?”
“Making sure fear hasn’t trained you to obey every man who sounds certain.”
The words struck harder than I wanted them to.
I looked away.
Daniel had trained me.
So had my father.
Different methods.
Same lesson.
Keep quiet.
Don’t embarrass the man.
Don’t make him angry.
Be grateful for whatever kindness you receive.
My mother had tried to teach me differently.
But some wounds entered through repetition.
Dominic leaned back.
“There’s something else.”
Of course there was.
“Your father knows Carter.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Richard Bennett and Daniel Carter have met at least six times in the past year.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It makes enough sense that I’m concerned.”
“How would you know that?”
“Because my company has been negotiating a major redevelopment partnership with Bennett Development.”
The gold sign flashed through my memory.
BENNETT DEVELOPMENT WELCOMES ROMANO HOLDINGS.
“My father needs you.”
“Yes.”
“How badly?”
Dominic didn’t answer immediately.
“That depends on what I learn tomorrow.”
I sat back.
“Did you help my mother because of him?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because she needed surgery.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re getting tonight.”
I hated how badly I wanted to believe him.
The elevator doors opened nearby.
A nurse entered.
“Mara?”
I stood.
“Your mother is awake.”
Everything else disappeared.
I hurried upstairs.
Mom’s eyes opened when I entered the room.
“Mara.”
Her voice was barely a whisper.
I took her hand.
“I’m here.”
“You shouldn’t have gone to him.”
Of course she knew.
Mothers always knew which mistake their children had made before the children confessed.
“I had to.”
“No.”
“You needed the surgery.”
“And you needed to stay away from Richard.”
Her grip tightened weakly.
“Mom?”
She looked past me toward the doorway.
Dominic stood there.
Her expression changed.
Fear.
Real fear.
“Who is that?”
“Dominic Romano.”
Mom tried to sit up.
The monitor beside her accelerated.
“Mom.”
“Mara, come here.”
“I’m right here.”
“No.”
She pulled me closer.
“Stay away from that family.”
I looked at Dominic.
He did not enter.
“You know him?”
My mother’s eyes never left his face.
“No.”
“Then why—”
“I know the name.”
Dominic spoke from the doorway.
“Mrs. Bennett, I’m not here to harm your daughter.”
Mom’s eyes narrowed.
“Men who say that usually believe harm only counts when they intended it.”
Dominic absorbed the insult without reaction.
My mother had always been remarkable.
Even recovering from major surgery, she could make Chicago’s most intimidating man look like a teenager being evaluated at the front door.
“I’ll wait outside,” he said.
When he left, Mom whispered, “What happened?”
I told her.
Not everything.
But enough.
Daniel.
The restaurant.
The hospital deposit.
Dominic.
My father.
When I finished, she closed her eyes.
“I should have told you.”
My pulse changed.
“Told me what?”
She looked older suddenly.
“Your father didn’t leave because he fell in love with someone else.”
I stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
“He was already involved with people he shouldn’t have been involved with.”
“Romano?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
She swallowed.
“Developers. Politicians. Contractors. Men who knew how to make money disappear and property appear.”
I sat down slowly.
“Mom, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying your father built the beginning of Bennett Development with money that wasn’t entirely his.”
My skin prickled.
“How do you know?”
“I kept the books.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“You worked for Dad?”
“Before you were born.”
She looked ashamed.
“I found irregular accounts. I asked questions. Richard begged me to stay quiet.”
“And you did?”
“For a while.”
Her eyes filled.
“Because I loved him.”
I understood that more than I wanted to.
“What happened?”
“I copied everything.”
“Everything?”
“Records. Transfers. Property agreements.”
“Where are they?”
“I don’t know anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your father discovered what I’d done.”
I could barely breathe.
“He threatened you?”
“He threatened to destroy both of us financially. Then he left.”
“And you never told anyone?”
“He had people watching us for years.”
The room went cold.
“Daniel?”
“I don’t know.”
But both of us were thinking it.
Why would my father meet with my ex six times?
Why would Daniel appear at the hotel before I arrived?
Why would Daniel suddenly offer money for Mom’s surgery after months of harassment?
Dominic appeared again at the doorway.
He had probably heard none of it.
Yet the moment he saw my face, he knew something had changed.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
My apartment door.
Taken tonight.
Below it, one sentence.
YOU SHOULD HAVE COME HOME ALONE.
Mom saw my expression.
“Mara?”
I showed Dominic.
His calm disappeared.
Not dramatically.
His eyes simply hardened.
“Do you have anything important at your apartment?”
“Clothes. Laptop. Documents.”
“Anything connected to your mother?”
I turned toward her.
Mom’s breathing changed.
“Mara.”
“What?”
“There’s a blue storage box in the back of your closet.”
My heart started pounding.
“I’ve had that box since college.”
“I know.”
“What’s inside it?”
Mom closed her eyes.
May you like
“The reason your father has been afraid of me for twenty-seven years.”
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