Chapter 3 - I DIDN’T STEAL HER
Eleanor was packing when Dominic knocked.
Not one of his men.
Not Victor.
Dominic himself.
Three soft knocks on the apartment door.
Lily looked up from the kitchen table.
“Who is it?”
Eleanor already knew.
She had realized the tin was missing halfway home.
Her hands had not stopped shaking since.
“Stay here.”
She opened the door three inches.
Dominic stood in the hallway.
No visible weapon.
No men behind him.
He held the silver necklace in his palm.
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“You dropped this.”
She did not reach for it.
Dominic’s voice was controlled.
“Where did you get it?”
“I can’t talk to you.”
“You recognized me.”
“Everybody recognizes you.”
“Lily called me Dominic. You knew which Dominic.”
Eleanor glanced toward the apartment.
“Please leave.”
“Mrs. Hayes.”
Her eyes flashed.
“Don’t call me that like we’re discussing rent.”
Dominic went quiet.
Inside, Lily called, “Grandma?”
“I’m okay.”
Dominic heard fear in Eleanor’s answer.
Not fear of being exposed.
Fear of him.
That mattered.
He lowered his voice.
“I will not take her from you tonight.”
Eleanor stared.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to understand that if I wanted to force my way through this door, we would not be having this conversation.”
Her face hardened.
“There he is.”
Dominic regretted the words immediately.
He took one step backward.
“You’re right.”
That surprised her.
“I’m not threatening you.”
“You don’t have to.”
He looked down at the necklace.
“My daughter wore this the night she disappeared.”
Eleanor’s face changed.
“Dominic…”
“My daughter had the same scar.”
Silence.
“The same eyes.”
Eleanor gripped the door.
“The same age.”
“Stop.”
“The same way of tilting her head when she thinks adults are being stupid.”
A tiny voice came from behind Eleanor.
“I don’t do that.”
Both adults turned.
Lily stood in the hall holding a red crayon.
Dominic almost laughed.
Eleanor looked shattered.
“Baby, go sit down.”
“No.”
“Lily.”
“She has questions,” Dominic said.
Eleanor glared.
“She’s six.”
“She knows something is happening.”
“And whose fault is that?”
Mine, Dominic thought.
Maybe everyone’s.
Lily looked at the necklace.
“That’s mine.”
Dominic stopped breathing.
Eleanor whispered, “Lily.”
“It was in Grandma’s box.”
She pointed.
“I wore it when I was little.”
Dominic crouched.
“How do you know?”
Lily frowned.
“I remember.”
Eleanor covered her mouth.
Dominic’s voice softened.
“What do you remember?”
“Water.”
Eleanor started crying.
Lily looked frightened.
“Grandma?”
Dominic stood immediately.
“Enough.”
He did not ask another question.
He looked at Eleanor.
“We need to talk.”
She wiped her face.
“Not in front of her.”
“Agreed.”
Lily crossed her arms.
“I don’t agree.”
Dominic almost smiled again.
Eleanor did not.
“Kitchen. Now.”
Lily stomped away.
Dominic waited until she was out of sight.
Then Eleanor opened the door.
“Five minutes.”
He entered.
The apartment was warm only because the oven door stood open.
A portable heater rattled near the couch.
Dominic noticed a stack of overdue bills.
He looked away.
This was not the moment to make Eleanor feel purchased.
She sat opposite him.
Dominic placed the necklace on the table.
“Is Lily Anna?”
Eleanor’s face crumpled.
For a long time, she said nothing.
Then:
“I don’t know what she remembers.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“No.”
Dominic’s chest stopped.
Eleanor immediately continued.
“No, I don’t know if she understands who she was. But yes.”
Dominic could not breathe.
Eleanor looked toward the kitchen.
“Her name was Anna.”
The room disappeared.
Three years.
Three years of black water.
Three years of nightmares where he lost her hand.
Three years of waking with his fingers curled around nothing.
Dominic sat absolutely still.
“Say it again.”
Eleanor’s eyes filled.
“She is Anna Moretti.”
Dominic stood so quickly the chair hit the wall.
Lily appeared in the doorway.
He froze.
She stared at him.
“Why are you crying?”
Dominic touched his face.
He had not realized he was.
Eleanor stood.
“Lily, honey—”
Dominic crouched.
He wanted to grab her.
Hold her.
Call her Anna.
Take her home.
He did none of those things.
“My daughter was named Anna.”
Lily looked confused.
“The girl in the picture?”
“Yes.”
“She looked like me.”
“Yes.”
Eleanor whispered, “Dominic.”
He kept his eyes on Lily.
“I think there’s a chance you might be her.”
Lily stared.
Children did not process life-changing information the way adults imagined.
She looked at Eleanor first.
“Are you my grandma?”
Eleanor’s face broke.
“Yes.”
“That wasn’t the question,” Lily said.
Eleanor began crying harder.
Dominic understood instantly.
Lily had caught the difference.
“Are you my real grandma?”
Eleanor knelt.
“No, baby.”
Lily backed away.
The betrayal on her face cut deeper than any accusation.
“You lied.”
“I protected you.”
“You said my mommy was gone.”
“She is.”
“You said Daddy was gone too.”
Eleanor whispered, “I thought he had to be.”
Lily looked at Dominic.
“Are you my daddy?”
His entire body went still.
“I don’t know yet.”
“You just said—”
“I think I am.”
“Then why don’t you know?”
“Because I want to make sure before I tell you something that big.”
Lily looked furious.
“Grown-ups are confusing.”
“Yes.”
That answer she accepted.
Dominic took a breath.
“There’s a test.”
“Needle?”
“Maybe a cheek swab.”
Lily relaxed slightly.
“Does it hurt?”
“No.”
“Can Grandma stay?”
Dominic looked at Eleanor.
“Yes.”
Eleanor stared at him.
Lily nodded.
“Okay.”
Then she turned and walked back into the kitchen.
Dominic waited.
Eleanor sank into the chair.
“You’re going to hate me.”
“I don’t know you well enough.”
“You should.”
“Tell me why.”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“When I found her, she was three years old, half-conscious and soaked in river water.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“Where?”
“A private medical clinic in Red Hook.”
He stared.
“No hospital admitted her.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because the men who brought her there didn’t want records.”
Every muscle in Dominic’s body went rigid.
“Who were they?”
“I don’t know their names.”
“Describe them.”
“One had a Moretti ring.”
Dominic stopped breathing.
Eleanor continued.
“I recognized it from the news.”
“What happened?”
“They told the doctor the little girl had to disappear.”
Dominic’s voice became deadly quiet.
“Disappear how?”
Eleanor looked at him.
“I didn’t stay long enough to find out.”
“What did you do?”
Her eyes moved toward Lily’s kitchen drawings.
“I took her.”
Dominic stared.
Eleanor swallowed.
“I did not steal your daughter.”
Her voice broke.
May you like
“I stole her back.”
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