Chapter 5 - The Negotiation of Four-Year-Olds
Dominic sucked in a sharp breath, a stunned, watery laugh escaping his lips. He looked at Lily, then up at me standing in the doorway with my hands clamped over my mouth to keep from sobbing.
"I'm sorry," Dominic said, his voice thick with emotion as he turned back to the little girl. He cleared his throat, struggling to find his footing in a world he didn't know how to navigate. "Am I? Is this your spot?"
Lily propped herself up on one elbow, eyeing him with the suspicious, analytical gaze of a Supreme Court justice evaluating a faulty contract.
"Yes," she stated firmly, waving a small hand toward the pillow. "And you have a scary face. Mommy says scary faces mean you didn't eat your carrots."
Dominic let out a genuine chuckle—a deep, resonant sound that I hadn't heard in five agonizing years. The tension in his broad shoulders seemed to drop an inch.
"I'll eat all the carrots in Chicago, I promise," Dominic said softly, his eyes never leaving her face. "Starting tomorrow. Do you like carrots, little one?"
"I like strawberries," Lily corrected him matter-of-factly. "Mommy says carrots are for horses and people who want to see in the dark. Do you need to see in the dark?"
"Sometimes," Dominic murmured, a dark shadow flickering across his features before he forced a gentle smile back onto his face. "Sometimes the dark is all there is. But right now, I think I can see just fine."
He reached out slowly, asking for permission with his eyes. When Lily didn't pull away, his massive hand gently brushed a stray curl away from her forehead. His fingers lingered there, trembling slightly against her soft skin.
I watched from the doorway, a tight knot twisting painfully in my chest. Five years of anger, resentment, and bitter independence threatened to dissolve into the warm, golden glow of the nightlight. This was the man who had abandoned me. But he was also the man who didn't know.
"Go back to sleep, sweetpea," I said, stepping into the room and forcing my voice to remain steady. "It's late."
Lily gave Dominic one final, deeply critical inspection. "You can stay," she decided graciously, lying back down and pulling her superhero blanket up to her chin. "But don't steal my pillow."
Dominic stayed kneeling by the bed until her breathing slowed and she drifted back into deep, peaceful slumber. Only then did he stand up, his joints cracking in the quiet room. He looked at me, his eyes dark, heavy, and burning with a terrifying new resolution.
"We need to talk," he whispered, gesturing toward the living room. "Now."
We slipped back out into the tiny living room, closing the bedroom door halfway. Dominic turned to face me, the fragile softness he had shown Lily instantly vanishing, replaced by the hardened steel of a mafia boss who had just discovered someone had stolen his entire world.
"Who else knows?" he demanded, his voice dropping into a dangerous, lethal register.
"Nobody," I whispered back fiercely. "My landlord thinks I'm a single mother working two jobs. Dena thinks I had a bad breakup. Nobody knows you're her father, Dominic. I didn't want your money, and I didn't want your protection. I wanted to raise my daughter in peace!"
"Peace?" Dominic let out a bitter, mocking laugh, pacing the tiny length of my living room. "Ellie, open your eyes! You think you're safe here in this run-down apartment? You think my enemies—the ones I've been warring with for five years—won't look for leverage against me?"
"They don't know she exists!"
"Secrets don't stay buried in Chicago for long," Dominic snapped, stopping right in front of me. He grabbed my shoulders, his grip warm and urgent. "The moment my uncle or the Outfit finds out I have a daughter—a little girl with my face—you and Lily won't last twenty-four hours. They won't see an innocent child. They'll see a target."
The blood drained from my face. The cold reality of his world—a world of blood feuds, car bombs, and back-alley executions—crashed down around me.
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"What are you saying?" I whispered, my lips trembling.
"I'm saying," Dominic said, his jaw locked with absolute, unyielding determination, "you and Lily are packing your bags tonight. You're coming with me."
