Chapter 7 - THE EMPIRE SOPHIA WAS AFRAID OF
The Moretti family did not respond well to Dominic’s transformation.
His uncle Vittorio called it surrender.
Two senior captains called it weakness.
Three business partners threatened lawsuits.
Lucia called it grief.
Dominic called it necessary.
He spent January separating legitimate companies from everything else.
Restaurants stayed.
Real estate stayed.
Warehouses with clean books stayed.
Cash businesses tied to extortion disappeared.
Private “enforcement” crews were disbanded.
Weapons routes were surrendered through attorneys in exchange for cooperation agreements.
The old Moretti organization began collapsing in public.
Adrian watched from across Dominic’s office.
“You know Dad would hate this.”
Dominic signed another document.
“That helps.”
Adrian smiled.
Then became serious.
“You’re going to make enemies.”
“I already had enemies.”
“You had rules.”
“I had excuses.”
Adrian leaned back.
“You really think this fixes Sophia?”
Dominic stopped writing.
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because Lily is going to ask what I do someday.”
He looked at his brother.
“I want an answer that doesn’t make her afraid of me.”
Adrian nodded slowly.
“Fair.”
Lily and Elena had moved into a townhouse in Brooklyn Heights.
Dominic paid for it.
Elena insisted on a lease.
He agreed.
She insisted the lease be in her name.
He agreed.
She insisted he could not arrive without calling.
That one annoyed him.
He agreed anyway.
At first, Dominic visited three evenings a week.
He brought too many gifts.
Elena stopped him.
“She needs you, not inventory.”
So he learned.
He built blocks.
Read picture books.
Failed to braid hair.
Burned grilled cheese.
Lily watched all of it with grave judgment.
One evening she handed him a hairbrush.
“Try.”
Dominic stared at it.
“No.”
“You said practice.”
“With cards.”
“Hair.”
Elena laughed from the kitchen.
“Good luck.”
Twenty minutes later, Lily had something resembling a crooked ponytail.
She examined herself in the mirror.
“It’s bad.”
Dominic nodded.
“Very.”
She smiled.
“Again tomorrow.”
He felt absurdly proud.
But January also brought court proceedings.
Richard Hale’s attorneys tried to claim Dominic orchestrated the kidnapping to destroy the merger.
Vanessa cooperated with prosecutors.
Her testimony contradicted her father.
Lucia was subpoenaed.
The story became public.
Sophia’s letters leaked.
Dominic nearly lost control when a newspaper published portions.
Not because he feared scandal.
Because Sophia’s private grief became entertainment.
He filed injunctions.
Failed.
The letters spread anyway.
Then something unexpected happened.
Public sympathy turned toward Sophia.
People did not see a gold-digger.
They saw a twenty-four-year-old pregnant woman terrified of a powerful family.
They saw a child hidden for safety.
They saw a dying mother trying to protect her daughter.
Dominic hated that strangers knew.
But he understood why the truth mattered.
One night, Lily sat on his lap while a television report played silently across the room.
A photograph of Sophia appeared.
Lily pointed.
“Mommy.”
Dominic muted the television completely.
“Yes.”
“Why is she on TV?”
Elena looked at him.
Dominic answered carefully.
“People learned about something that happened to her.”
“Is Mommy famous?”
“No.”
“Are you?”
He sighed.
“Sometimes.”
“Why?”
Elena smiled.
“I’d like to hear this.”
Dominic glared at her.
Lily waited.
“Because I run companies.”
“That’s boring.”
Elena laughed.
Dominic nodded.
“Yes.”
Lily studied the screen.
“Did you love Mommy?”
The room went still.
Dominic looked at her.
“Yes.”
“How much?”
He swallowed.
“A lot.”
“More than Christmas?”
Elena covered her mouth.
Dominic thought seriously.
“Yes.”
Lily looked impressed.
“That’s a lot.”
“It was.”
She leaned against him.
“Mommy loved me.”
“Yes.”
“She told me.”
Dominic’s eyes burned.
Lily continued.
“She said before heaven she would always know me.”
Elena turned away.
Dominic held Lily tighter.
“Then she was right.”
“How?”
“Because you remember her.”
Lily nodded.
Then she touched his face.
“Do you miss her?”
“Yes.”
“Me too.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
That was the first time grief stopped belonging only to him.
They shared it.
A week later, Lucia asked to see Lily.
Elena said no.
Dominic supported her.
Lucia called him.
“She is my granddaughter.”
“That does not create a right.”
“I am trying to apologize.”
“To whom?”
“Everyone.”
Dominic looked out the office window.
“Apologies are not access.”
Lucia went quiet.
“You sound like Elena.”
“Good.”
“She hates me.”
“She has reasons.”
“And you?”
Dominic did not answer immediately.
“I don’t know what I feel.”
“That hurts more.”
“I know.”
Lucia began attending therapy.
Dominic learned because Adrian told him.
She moved out of the Moretti estate permanently.
Sold the house.
Donated part of the proceeds to maternal-health programs anonymously.
Elena remained skeptical.
Dominic did too.
But neither stopped her.
People could change without being rewarded immediately.
That was another lesson Dominic had never learned in the old world.
By February, his life looked almost unrecognizable.
He lived in a smaller Manhattan apartment.
No armed men in the hallway.
No family council.
No engagement.
No mother arranging his schedule.
One Sunday, he arrived at Elena’s townhouse.
He called first.
Lily answered Elena’s phone.
“Hello?”
“Hi.”
“Who?”
Dominic frowned.
“Dominic.”
“Oh.”
She giggled.
“I know.”
“You’re hilarious.”
“Are you coming?”
“If I’m invited.”
A pause.
Then Lily whispered loudly to Elena.
“Can he come?”
Elena’s muffled voice answered.
“Yes.”
Lily returned.
“You can.”
“Thank you.”
“And bring strawberries.”
“Anything else?”
“Pancakes.”
“I’m not cooking.”
“Good.”
He laughed.
That afternoon, Lily fell asleep against him while watching a cartoon.
Elena stood in the doorway.
“She trusts you.”
Dominic looked down.
“I hope so.”
“That scares me.”
He understood.
“If I disappear—”
“You won’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No.”
Elena crossed her arms.
“But she’s starting to love you.”
Dominic’s chest tightened.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Stay.”
The word was simple.
Harder than any threat.
Dominic looked at Lily.
Then Elena.
“I will.”
“Don’t say it unless you mean it.”
“I mean it.”
Elena nodded.
“Good.”
Lily shifted.
Half asleep, she whispered one word.
“Daddy.”
Dominic froze.
Elena did too.
Lily did not wake.
Dominic looked down at her.
His face changed.
Elena’s eyes filled.
“Don’t make a big deal.”
He whispered, “I’m not.”
“You look like you’re going to cry.”
“I am not.”
“You absolutely are.”
Dominic looked away.
Lily tightened her hand around his shirt.
“Daddy.”
This time he closed his eyes.
May you like
And for once, Dominic Moretti did not care if anyone saw him break.
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