Chapter 14 - The Nanny Who Refused to Run
The townhouse was smaller than the estate.
Mia loved it.
“There are fewer rooms to lose people in.”
The sentence broke Clara’s heart.
Gabriel liked the rooftop garden.
Dominic hated every window.
He ordered ballistic glass installed.
Reinforced doors.
Two security checkpoints.
He also started cooking breakfast.
Badly.
The first pancakes looked like damaged geography.
Mia stared at one.
“Is this food?”
Dominic looked offended.
Clara laughed harder than she had in months.
For a few mornings, they became something almost ordinary.
Ethan improved enough to leave the hospital.
He moved into a nearby secure apartment.
Mrs. Alvarez entered protective custody and agreed to testify.
Daniel Hayes negotiated for reduced sentencing in exchange for locations, accounts, and names.
Salvatore remained missing.
The federal investigation closed around him.
Dominic began dismantling the illegal parts of the organization he had inherited.
Some associates walked away.
Others threatened him.
He did it anyway.
One evening, Clara found him on the rooftop.
“You gave up three companies today.”
“They were dirty.”
“You spent years building them.”
“My uncle built them.”
He looked toward the skyline.
“I spent years pretending I could separate good money from bad foundations.”
Clara leaned on the railing.
“What happens when this is over?”
Dominic smiled bitterly.
“Assuming I’m not in prison?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know.”
“That must be terrifying for you.”
“Why?”
“You love controlling everything.”
“I do not.”
She stared.
He sighed.
“Fine.”
They stood quietly.
Then Dominic said, “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“When Ethan finishes treatment.”
Clara looked toward the city.
“I want to go back to nursing school.”
“You should.”
“I can’t afford—”
“I’m not offering money.”
She looked suspicious.
“Good.”
“I learned.”
She smiled.
“I might apply for scholarships.”
“You’ll get them.”
“You sound confident.”
“I’ve read your transcript.”
“You investigated my grades?”
“I investigate everyone.”
She laughed.
Then the smile faded.
“What about the children?”
Dominic turned.
“What about them?”
“If I go back to school…”
The sentence hurt both of them.
“You’d leave.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“It sounded like it.”
“Dominic.”
He stepped closer.
“I hired you as a nanny.”
“Yes.”
“That’s not what you are anymore.”
Clara’s breathing changed.
“What am I?”
He looked at her.
For a man feared by hundreds, the answer terrified him.
“Family.”
Clara’s eyes filled.
He touched her cheek.
She whispered, “That’s dangerous.”
“I know.”
“You’re still technically my employer.”
“I can fire you.”
She laughed softly.
“That’s romantic.”
“I’m rusty.”
“That’s obvious.”
He kissed her.
Not desperate like before.
Slow.
Certain.
When they separated, Clara rested her forehead against his.
Below them, unseen, Gabriel stood near the rooftop door.
He smiled.
Then quietly walked away.
The next morning, a legal courier delivered papers.
Dominic opened them.
A property transfer.
Salvatore had sold one of his last legitimate holdings.
The buyer was unknown.
Matteo traced it.
His expression became grim.
“What?”
“The buyer is a shell company registered to Vincent Moretti.”
Dominic stared.
“Vincent is alive?”
“Yes.”
The former security coordinator.
The man they had suspected since Sofia’s death.
The missing piece.
Matteo continued.
“He entered the country yesterday.”
“Where?”
“Chicago.”
“Why?”
A message arrived.
Photograph.
The twins leaving therapy with Clara.
Taken that morning.
Dominic’s blood chilled.
Salvatore had not been acting alone.
Vincent had returned for the final strike.
They changed routes immediately.
Canceled appointments.
Moved Ethan.
Dominic wanted Clara sent to a secure federal location.
She refused.
“This is not bravery,” he told her.
“I know.”
“It’s stupidity.”
“Possibly.”
“Clara.”
She touched his arm.
“If I leave, Mia and Gabriel will think everyone leaves when things become frightening.”
“They’ll understand.”
“No. They’ll survive. That’s different.”
Dominic looked exhausted.
“I can’t lose you.”
Clara’s expression softened.
“Then don’t spend the time we have acting like I’m already gone.”
That night, they ate dinner together.
Mia told jokes.
Ethan joined by video.
Matteo complained about Dominic’s cooking.
Gabriel laughed silently.
It was one of the happiest evenings they had experienced.
Which was why none of them noticed the delivery van stop across the street.
Or the man photographing every visible window.
Or the small device attached beneath Dominic’s SUV.
The following morning, Dominic received a meeting request from federal prosecutors.
A secure location.
He planned to bring Clara and the children to another safe property first.
The convoy left at 8:17 a.m.
At 8:31, the tracker under the SUV transmitted their position.
At 8:42, a vehicle began following them.
At 8:49, Matteo noticed.
At 8:50, everything changed.
A truck blocked the intersection.
A black SUV struck the convoy from behind.
Glass exploded.
Security vehicles swerved.
Dominic shouted for the twins to stay down.
Clara covered them.
Then three armed men emerged.
One was Vincent Moretti.
He looked directly through the damaged window.
At Gabriel.
May you like
And smiled.
The attack everyone had feared had finally arrived.
