Chapter 4 - THE FOURTH LETTER
Lucia did not answer in the ballroom.
She answered in her private office.
The hidden box sat open on her desk.
Four letters.
Two ultrasound photographs.
A hospital bill.
A handwritten note from Sophia.
Dominic stood across from his mother.
Adrian remained by the door.
Marco had gone to bring Elena.
Vanessa had been asked to leave.
She had refused.
Dominic’s security escorted her out anyway.
Lucia looked at the letters as though they were something alive.
“I kept them because I could not burn them.”
Dominic’s voice remained flat.
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because every year I told myself I would give them to you.”
“And every year?”
“I saw what you were becoming.”
“What was I becoming?”
“Stable.”
Dominic laughed without humor.
“Without Sophia?”
“You stopped drinking.”
“After nearly killing myself with it.”
“You became disciplined.”
“I became empty.”
Lucia flinched.
Marco entered with Elena.
Elena saw Lucia.
Her entire body stiffened.
“You.”
Lucia looked at her.
“Elena.”
“Don’t say my name.”
Lily was not with her.
Dominic noticed.
“Where is she?”
“With Mrs. Donnelly.”
“Good.”
Elena looked at the box.
“What is that?”
Dominic held up the first letter.
“Sophia wrote four.”
Elena frowned.
“Four?”
Lucia sat down.
Dominic opened the first.
The paper shook slightly in his hands.
He hated that Adrian noticed.
Dominic,
I’m sorry I disappeared. I don’t know what you’ve been told, and I don’t know if writing is dangerous, but I need you to know I’m pregnant.
He stopped.
Elena covered her mouth.
Dominic continued silently.
The second letter included an ultrasound.
The third asked him to meet her.
Then he reached the fourth.
Postmarked six weeks before Lily’s birth.
Dominic,
I’m not asking you to come for me anymore.
I think your mother was right about one thing. Being close to you means becoming part of a world I don’t understand.
But I need to know if our daughter is safe from it.
If you ever read this, please don’t search for us unless you can promise that she will never be used to punish you.
I love you.
I hate that I still do.
Sophia.
Dominic sat down.
No one had ever seen him sit because his legs failed before.
That night, he did.
Elena cried openly.
Adrian looked toward the floor.
Lucia whispered, “I thought I was protecting her too.”
Elena turned.
“Do not.”
Lucia looked at her.
“You don’t get to turn this into sacrifice.”
Dominic’s voice was quieter.
“What are the medical records?”
Lucia hesitated.
Then pushed them across the desk.
Private obstetric clinic.
Albany.
Sophia Carter.
Dominic stared.
“You were paying her medical bills.”
“Yes.”
Elena’s head snapped around.
“What?”
Lucia looked at her.
“I tracked her.”
“You said you didn’t know where we were.”
“I knew until Lily was born.”
Elena moved toward her.
Dominic stopped her with one hand.
“What happened after the birth?”
Lucia’s face changed.
“The clinic called.”
“Why?”
“I had guaranteed payment.”
Elena stared in horror.
“You knew she was hemorrhaging.”
Lucia’s eyes filled.
“I knew she was ill.”
“You knew she was dying!”
“I sent a doctor.”
“What doctor?”
Lucia looked at Dominic.
“Dr. Bellini.”
Dominic went still.
Bellini had been the Moretti family physician for twenty years.
He had retired suddenly two years earlier.
“Where is he?”
“In Florida.”
“Marco.”
“I’m calling.”
Lucia shook her head.
“It won’t matter.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because he followed Sophia’s instructions.”
Elena stared.
“What instructions?”
Lucia took a folded paper from beneath the medical records.
Sophia’s handwriting.
If my condition worsens, do not contact Dominic Moretti.
If I die, Lily stays with Elena Carter.
Under no circumstances is Lucia Moretti to become Lily’s guardian.
Elena’s knees nearly gave out.
Dominic caught the desk.
Lucia closed her eyes.
“She never trusted me.”
Elena laughed through tears.
“Why would she?”
Dominic studied the paper.
“Did Bellini tell her you were paying?”
“No.”
“Did Sophia know you knew where she was?”
“I don’t think so.”
“So you watched her.”
“Yes.”
“You paid enough to ease your conscience.”
Lucia looked at him.
“Yes.”
“But not enough to call me.”
“No.”
Dominic turned away.
That was the part he could not understand.
Not the threat.
Not the arrogance.
Fear made people cruel.
But Lucia had known Sophia was sick.
She had known a child existed.
And still she chose silence.
“Why?” he asked.
His mother finally broke.
“Because I was afraid you would leave.”
Dominic looked back.
Lucia’s tears fell.
“Your father was dead. Adrian hated the business. You were all I had keeping the family together.”
“So you chose the empire.”
“Yes.”
The honesty hurt more than another lie.
Dominic nodded slowly.
“Then you can have it.”
Lucia stared.
“What?”
“The Moretti organization.”
Adrian looked at him.
“Dominic.”
“I’m done.”
Lucia stood.
“You cannot walk away.”
“I can.”
“You think enemies disappear because you become sentimental?”
“No.”
Dominic’s eyes hardened.
“I think enemies exist because people like us keep feeding them.”
“You are your father’s son.”
“No.”
He looked toward the letters.
“That’s what Sophia was afraid of.”
His voice changed.
“I refuse to make her right.”
Lucia’s face went white.
Dominic turned to Elena.
“I want Lily moved upstairs tonight.”
Elena hesitated.
“To where?”
“The family wing.”
“Why?”
“Because she is family.”
Lucia whispered, “Dominic.”
He looked at his mother.
“No.”
One word.
Final.
“You will not approach her unless Elena permits it.”
Lucia stared.
“You’re banning me from my granddaughter?”
“I’m giving her guardian a choice.”
Elena looked surprised.
Dominic continued.
“You should try it sometime.”
Then Marco returned.
His face was tense.
“Bellini answered.”
“What did he say?”
“He wants to speak to you directly.”
Dominic took the phone.
“Doctor.”
Bellini’s voice sounded older than Dominic remembered.
“I knew this day would come.”
“Did you treat Sophia?”
“Yes.”
“Could she have survived?”
Silence.
Dominic’s hand tightened.
“Answer me.”
“With surgery earlier? Possibly.”
Elena gasped.
Dominic’s voice went cold.
“Why didn’t she get it?”
“Because she refused transfer.”
“Why?”
“She thought the hospital would notify your family.”
“Did you tell her I didn’t know?”
Another pause.
“I was told you knew.”
Dominic stopped breathing.
“By whom?”
Bellini answered.
“Lucia.”
Dominic looked at his mother.
Lucia’s face changed.
“No.”
Bellini continued.
“She told me you had agreed Sophia and the child should remain hidden.”
Dominic lowered the phone.
Lucia stood.
“That is not what I said.”
Bellini’s voice carried faintly from the speaker.
“It is exactly what you said.”
Elena covered her face.
Dominic stared at his mother.
For the first time that night, Lucia looked afraid of him.
Not because he might hurt her.
Because she realized he might never forgive her.
Dominic handed the phone to Marco.
Then he spoke.
“You are leaving this house tonight.”
Lucia’s lips parted.
“This is my home.”
“No.”
His eyes were dark and utterly calm.
“It was Sophia’s death sentence.”
Lucia recoiled.
Dominic turned away.
“Pack.”
Behind him, Lucia whispered, “You’ll regret this.”
Dominic stopped at the door.
“No.”
He looked back.
“I regret listening to you four years ago.”
Then he left.
At the end of the upstairs hallway, Lily stood holding Mrs. Donnelly’s hand.
She had changed into yellow pajamas.
She saw Dominic.
“Did you find Mommy’s letters?”
He stopped.
Elena had told her something.
Not much.
Enough.
“Yes.”
Lily thought about that.
“Did she write about me?”
Dominic crouched.
“Every single time.”
Lily smiled.
Then she held out her arms.
Dominic stared.
“Up?”
She nodded.
He lifted her carefully.
She was lighter than grief had imagined.
Her head rested against his shoulder.
“Where are we going?”
He looked down the hallway.
“To your room.”
“I have a room?”
“You do now.”
“Can Aunt Elena sleep there?”
“If she wants.”
“Can Bear?”
“Definitely.”
Lily considered this.
“Can you?”
Dominic’s chest tightened.
“Tonight?”
She nodded.
He looked toward Elena.
Elena’s eyes filled.
Then she gave the smallest nod.
Dominic carried Lily into the room that had once been intended for the child he never knew existed.
For the first time in four years, something inside the Moretti mansion felt less like power.
May you like
And more like home.
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