Chapter 8 - DOMINIC CHOSE HIS SON OVER THE MORETTI EMPIRE
Sebastian Vale was indicted on enough charges to ensure he would spend years answering for the past.
Attempted murder.
Conspiracy.
Kidnapping conspiracy.
Fraud.
Embezzlement.
Evidence tampering.
Charges tied to Elena Moretti’s death.
Miles Corbin pleaded guilty to fraud, conspiracy, and security manipulation.
His cooperation reduced his sentence.
Dominic hated that.
He accepted it.
Because Miles’s testimony proved how Sebastian built the scheme.
Evidence mattered more than satisfaction.
The forensic audit recovered much of Ethan’s missing trust money.
Not all.
Eleven million had been lost.
Sebastian’s assets were frozen.
Restitution followed.
None of that mattered much to Ethan.
He wanted to know whether birthday cake was safe again.
Dr. Harris and a new allergy specialist created a system Ethan understood.
Ingredient verification.
Sealed kitchen procedures.
Emergency medication always nearby.
Most importantly:
No one told him food was dangerous.
They taught him how to make informed choices.
His ninth birthday, months away, became something he wanted again.
That was victory.
Dominic had a harder decision.
Federal prosecutors had accepted his cooperation.
In return, they asked questions about Moretti enterprises that had nothing to do with Sebastian.
Warehouses.
Nightclubs.
Cash operations.
Construction intimidation.
Shipping arrangements.
Rocco sat across from Dominic one morning.
“You could fight.”
“Yes.”
“You have attorneys.”
“Yes.”
“People owe you.”
“Yes.”
“You can protect most of it.”
Dominic looked through the glass wall toward the garden.
Ethan was outside with Lily.
Sophia sat on a bench nearby.
Lily had turned four.
She was attempting to teach Ethan how to jump rope.
Poorly.
Dominic smiled.
“No.”
Rocco frowned.
“No what?”
“I’m done protecting it.”
“The companies?”
“The parts that require men to be afraid.”
Rocco sat back.
“That is most of how your father built this.”
“I know.”
“And your grandfather.”
“I know.”
“You give prosecutors everything, people will say you betrayed the family.”
Dominic looked at him.
“My family is outside.”
Rocco followed his gaze.
Ethan.
Sophia.
Lily.
Something softened in his face.
“Fair.”
Over the next year, the Moretti empire changed more than it had in four decades.
Illegal gambling businesses closed.
Protection arrangements ended.
Cash books went to attorneys and auditors.
Dominic sold companies whose operations could not survive transparency.
He paid penalties.
He cooperated.
Some associates walked away.
Others threatened him.
A few called him weak.
Dominic discovered weakness was an interesting accusation when made by men terrified of tax records.
Moretti Construction remained.
Shipping remained.
Real estate.
Restaurants.
Warehouses.
All legal.
All audited.
Less power.
More sleep.
Ethan noticed.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Why don’t the scary guys come over anymore?”
Dominic considered the answer.
“Because I changed some business.”
“Were they bad?”
“Some.”
“Were you bad?”
Sophia looked up from across the kitchen.
Dominic knew she was listening.
“Yes.”
Ethan stared.
Children rarely expect adults to admit that.
“Like villain bad?”
Dominic almost smiled.
“Not comic-book villain.”
“Then?”
“I made choices that scared people because it helped me get what I wanted.”
Ethan thought.
“Do you still?”
“I’m trying not to.”
“That counts?”
“It’s a start.”
Ethan nodded.
Then returned to homework.
Sophia approached later.
“That was brave.”
“No.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Brave would have been changing before my son almost died.”
She did not correct him.
Good.
“But changing after still matters.”
He looked at her.
“What happens when you stop working here?”
Sophia frowned.
“Who said I’m stopping?”
“Your contract has been suspended for months.”
“And?”
“You’re living in my family wing.”
“Temporarily.”
“Four months.”
“Security was complicated.”
“Convenient.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Careful.”
He smiled.
Then became serious.
“I want you to have a choice.”
Sophia’s expression softened.
He continued:
“I’m restructuring household management. Professional firm. No direct reporting to me.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to ask you something that I cannot ask while I control your salary.”
Her pulse changed visibly.
Dominic liked that far too much.
“Dominic.”
“I’m not asking yet.”
“Coward.”
He blinked.
Sophia smiled.
“Sorry. That was rude.”
“Accurate.”
Lily ran into the kitchen.
“Mommy!”
“Yes?”
“Ethan says Uncle Dom can’t jump rope.”
Dominic frowned.
“Uncle Dom?”
Lily looked at him.
“Dominic too long.”
“Reasonable.”
Ethan shouted from the garden:
“COME PROVE IT!”
Dominic stared at Sophia.
She smiled.
“Go.”
“I run companies.”
“Apparently not scary ones anymore.”
He went.
He was terrible at jump rope.
Lily laughed until she sat on the grass.
Ethan laughed harder.
Sophia watched from the terrace.
For years Dominic had believed fatherhood meant preventing danger.
Then Elena’s death had made him worse.
More guards.
More walls.
More control.
The poisoning taught him something no security system could.
A child could live inside a fortress and still be unsafe if the adults around him were afraid to question one another.
So the house changed too.
Ethan could enter the kitchen.
Staff could challenge instructions.
Medical protocols required two independent approvals.
Security audits came from outside firms.
No single person controlled cameras.
No one had unchecked access to the children.
And if Lily said she saw something strange, everyone listened.
Especially Dominic.
That winter, Sophia returned formally to work.
Not as head housekeeper.
She refused.
“Why?”
“I’m done making other people’s beds.”
Fair.
She completed certification in household and family-services management.
Dominic offered her a director role through the external firm.
Independent contract.
Her own office.
Salary negotiated by someone else.
She accepted.
Then three weeks later, Dominic finally asked:
“Dinner?”
Sophia looked up from her desk.
“What kind?”
“The kind where you are not being paid to listen to me.”
She smiled.
“Is that your romantic standard?”
“I am inexperienced.”
“You were married.”
“To Elena.”
His expression softened.
“That was different.”
Sophia understood.
“Friday.”
“Seven?”
“Seven-thirty.”
“Why?”
“So you learn not everything begins on your schedule.”
He smiled.
Friday came.
No poisoning.
No gunfire.
No emergency.
Just dinner.
They talked about Michael.
Elena.
Ethan.
Lily.
Grief.
Work.
Everything adults avoid on first dates if they have simpler lives.
At the end, Dominic walked Sophia to her door.
She had moved into a small apartment ten minutes from the estate.
Choice.
Distance.
Healthy.
“Can I kiss you?”
She looked surprised.
Then pleased.
“You ask a lot more questions now.”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
She kissed him first.
The next morning Lily looked at Sophia over pancakes.
“You kissed Uncle Dom.”
Sophia nearly dropped coffee.
“How do you know?”
“You smiling weird.”
Ethan looked delighted.
Dominic entered.
“What did I miss?”
Lily pointed.
“You boyfriend.”
Dominic froze.
Sophia laughed.
The same child who had once saved Ethan with a slap now apparently intended to manage adult relationships too.
Dominic sat.
“Apparently.”
Ethan grinned.
“Good.”
May you like
And for the first time since Elena died, Dominic allowed himself to believe the future might contain something besides survival.
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