Chapter 7 - THE PRICE OF STAYING ALIVE
Anthony Russo survived.
The bullet missed his liver by less than an inch.
Carl surrendered immediately.
His wife and teenage son were found locked inside a rented house outside Camden.
Alive.
Frank accepted a plea agreement in exchange for testimony.
Vincent Marconi survived surgery too.
That reunion was less peaceful.
Dominic entered the hospital room alone.
Sadie waited outside.
She heard nothing for twelve minutes.
Then Dominic came out.
“He knew.”
Sadie stood.
“What?”
“Not that Anthony ordered my father’s murder.”
“Then what?”
“He knew my father suspected Anthony of stealing.”
“And he hid it from you?”
“My father made him promise.”
Sadie watched anger and understanding fight across Dominic’s face.
“Are you going to forgive him?”
“No.”
Honest.
“Are you going to kill him?”
Dominic looked offended.
“No.”
“Progress.”
His mouth twitched.
Sadie had stayed in a Russo-owned hotel for four days because her apartment was still considered unsafe.
She hated it.
The towels were too soft.
The bed was larger than her entire childhood bedroom.
Room service kept sending food she did not order.
Dominic denied involvement.
Sadie did not believe him.
On the fifth morning, she found an envelope beneath her door.
Inside was a check.
One hundred thousand dollars.
She marched straight downstairs.
Dominic was sitting in a private dining room reading documents.
She dropped the check onto his plate.
“What is this?”
He looked at it.
“Paper.”
“Dominic.”
He leaned back.
It was the first time she had used his first name without thinking.
He noticed.
“Compensation.”
“For what?”
“Lost wages. Medical expenses. Property damage. Endangerment.”
“You owe me my rent and a new door.”
“Your apartment was destroyed because of me.”
“Technically your brother.”
“Close enough.”
Sadie pushed the check toward him.
“No.”
His expression tightened.
“We’ve done this before.”
“Yes.”
“And I lost last time.”
“Yes.”
He studied her.
“Why won’t you take help?”
Sadie crossed her arms.
“Because every time someone with money helped my mother, there was a reason.”
“Saint Agnes?”
“Was different.”
“My father paid for it.”
“Anonymously.”
Dominic understood.
She continued.
“I don’t want to wake up one day and discover I owe a man like you something I can’t repay.”
“A man like me.”
“Yes.”
He looked down.
“That’s fair.”
Sadie immediately felt guilty.
“I didn’t mean—”
“You did.”
He looked at her again.
“Don’t apologize for an emotion you actually feel.”
Sadie narrowed her eyes.
“Did a therapist teach you that?”
“No.”
“My mother.”
“Smart woman.”
“She terrifies me.”
Sadie smiled.
Dominic tore the check in half.
Then into quarters.
She blinked.
“That easy?”
“No.”
He dropped the pieces onto the table.
“That was painful.”
She laughed.
He smiled.
Not the cold smile from Lombardi’s.
A real one.
It changed his whole face.
Sadie suddenly understood why people could make stupid decisions around dangerous men.
She immediately looked away.
“What now?” Dominic asked.
“I go home.”
“No.”
She sighed.
“We were doing well.”
“Your apartment has no door.”
“I’ll stay with Hector.”
“The line cook?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“He has three roommates and one functioning lock.”
“You investigated Hector?”
“I investigate everyone near witnesses.”
Sadie stared.
“That is deeply invasive.”
“Yes.”
“At least you admit it.”
Dominic folded his hands.
“I have another option.”
“No hotel.”
“Job.”
She blinked.
“What?”
“My legitimate companies need compliance staff.”
Sadie laughed.
“You think I can do compliance because I noticed cigar ash?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“I think you can do entry-level audit work because you remember details, ask uncomfortable questions and refuse money from criminals.”
She stared.
“I don’t have a degree.”
“Do you have a high school diploma?”
“Yes.”
“College?”
“Two years.”
“Why did you stop?”
“Money.”
Dominic nodded.
“Finish.”
“With what?”
“Employee tuition program.”
Sadie narrowed her eyes.
“You just invented that.”
“No.”
He paused.
“I expanded it twenty minutes ago.”
She laughed despite herself.
“I don’t want special treatment.”
“You’ll take an aptitude test.”
“And if I fail?”
“You fail.”
“You’d really let me?”
“Yes.”
Sadie considered it.
Forty hours a week.
Benefits.
Tuition.
No trays.
No Carl.
It sounded impossible.
“That’s still helping me.”
Dominic shrugged.
“You saved my life.”
“By falling.”
“Do it again and I’ll increase the salary.”
She laughed.
Then slowly nodded.
“I’ll take the test.”
“Good.”
“And if I hate it?”
“You quit.”
“Without mysterious consequences?”
“Sadie.”
“I’m checking.”
“You quit.”
She extended her hand.
Dominic looked at it.
Then shook.
“Deal.”
Her fingers disappeared inside his.
Neither released immediately.
Sadie noticed first.
She pulled away.
Dominic looked toward the window.
Interesting.
Two weeks later, Sadie began at Russo Logistics in a junior compliance position.
She hated the first three days.
Spreadsheets everywhere.
Shipping codes.
Insurance certificates.
Vendor reports.
Then she found a billing discrepancy worth eighty thousand dollars.
Nobody else had noticed.
On day six, she found another.
On day ten, Dominic called her into his office.
“You’ve annoyed three vice presidents.”
“Only three?”
He smiled.
“Promising start.”
Her life changed slowly.
Not magically.
She still budgeted groceries.
Still lived in a modest apartment after repairs.
Still took the bus sometimes because she refused Dominic’s offer of a driver.
But the electricity stayed on.
She bought new work shoes.
Then, for the first time in four years, she enrolled in college again.
Night classes.
Accounting.
One evening, after a late lecture, she walked outside and found Dominic leaning against a black SUV.
She stopped.
“What are you doing?”
“Picking you up.”
“I have a bus pass.”
“It’s raining.”
“I own an umbrella.”
He looked at the broken umbrella sticking from her backpack.
“That thing is an insult to weather.”
Sadie laughed.
He opened the passenger door.
She hesitated.
“This isn’t employee transportation.”
“No.”
“What is it?”
Dominic looked unusually uncertain.
“Dinner.”
“With my boss?”
“No.”
“With a mafia boss?”
“Unfortunately.”
She smiled.
“Is this a date?”
Dominic’s expression became very serious.
“Only if you want it to be.”
That answer mattered.
Sadie studied him.
A man feared across Philadelphia.
A man with blood in his history.
A man trying, imperfectly, to become different from the legacy he inherited.
“I want pasta.”
He relaxed slightly.
“Good.”
“And dessert.”
“Dangerous.”
“And I’m paying my half.”
“Absolutely not.”
She started walking toward the bus stop.
Dominic sighed.
“Fine.”
She turned back.
“Really?”
“No.”
May you like
Sadie laughed.
And got into the car anyway.
