Chapter 11 - What Dominic Was Afraid to Lose
Dominic moved Claire and Lily before sunset.
Not to another Valente property.
Victor knew them.
Not to a hotel.
Too many employees.
Instead Marcus chose a townhouse belonging to his sister in Brooklyn Heights.
Anonymous.
Private.
Protected.
Claire hated every second.
“I am tired of running.”
“So am I,” Dominic said.
“Then stop telling me where to hide.”
“I'm not asking you to hide.”
“This feels exactly like hiding.”
Dominic turned toward her.
“I'm asking you to stay alive.”
The words silenced her.
Lily sat on the floor between them holding one of Dominic's cufflinks.
Nobody knew how she'd gotten it.
Claire looked down.
“You don't have to stay.”
“Yes.”
“Marcus can protect us.”
“Yes.”
“But you're staying.”
Dominic nodded.
“Why?”
He knew the answer.
He wasn't ready to say it.
Claire waited.
Finally Dominic looked at Lily.
“She knows me.”
Claire's expression softened.
“That isn't the whole reason.”
“No.”
“Are you going to tell me the rest?”
“No.”
She almost smiled.
“At least you're consistent.”
That evening, Dominic made pasta.
Or attempted to.
Claire leaned against the kitchen counter.
“You run a multinational company.”
“Formerly.”
“Temporarily.”
“Unclear.”
“And yet boiling water has defeated you.”
“The instructions are imprecise.”
“They say twelve minutes.”
“Depending on altitude.”
“We're in Brooklyn, Dominic.”
Lily laughed from her high chair.
Dominic looked at her.
“She agrees with me.”
“She is one year old.”
“She has instincts.”
Claire took over.
For ten minutes, the world became strangely ordinary.
Pasta.
Baby food.
A small kitchen.
No marble floors.
No executives.
No threats.
Dominic found himself imagining something dangerous.
A life where evenings could be like this.
The thought scared him more than Victor.
After Lily slept, Claire stood on the back patio.
Dominic joined her.
Brooklyn lights glowed beyond the neighboring rooftops.
“Ethan would have liked you,” Claire said.
Dominic looked surprised.
“Why?”
“He liked difficult people.”
“That sounds insulting.”
“It is.”
Dominic smiled.
Claire looked at him.
“He was warm.”
Dominic's smile faded.
“Unlike me.”
“I didn't say that.”
“You were going to.”
“No.”
Claire turned toward him.
“You're warmer than you think.”
Dominic looked away.
“That baby has damaged your judgment.”
“Probably.”
Silence.
Then Claire said, “I'm scared of forgetting him.”
“Ethan?”
“Yes.”
She folded her arms.
“Not his face. Or his voice. Small things.”
Dominic listened.
“The way he left cabinet doors open. The stupid songs he sang when cooking.”
She laughed softly.
“I hated those songs.”
“You miss them.”
“Every day.”
Dominic understood.
His mother used to tap twice on his bedroom door before entering.
He hadn't thought about that in years.
“My mother's perfume,” he said.
Claire looked at him.
“I don't remember it anymore.”
“You were young.”
“Sixteen.”
“That is young.”
“It didn't feel young.”
Claire smiled sadly.
“It never does when you're living it.”
Dominic met her eyes.
Something passed between them.
Grief recognizing grief.
Not trying to fix it.
Simply knowing.
Claire stepped closer.
Dominic didn't move away.
Their faces were inches apart.
Then Marcus called.
Naturally.
Dominic answered.
“What?”
Marcus sounded tense.
“Victor contacted Adrian.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“What did he say?”
“He wants to meet.”
“Where?”
“Adrian won't tell me.”
Dominic swore.
“He already left?”
“Ten minutes ago.”
Dominic called Adrian.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Claire stepped inside.
“What happened?”
“Adrian is doing something stupid.”
“Genetic?”
Dominic almost laughed.
“Yes.”
They tracked Adrian's phone.
Lower Manhattan.
Then it went dark.
Dominic immediately left.
Claire grabbed her coat.
“No.”
She stared.
He sighed.
“Fine. Stay behind Marcus.”
“Compromise.”
“I regret teaching you that word.”
They reached an underground parking garage near Wall Street.
Adrian's car sat empty.
A note lay on the driver's seat.
Pier 6.
Dominic felt anger and fear merge.
They reached the pier.
Adrian stood near the water.
Victor faced him.
No visible weapons.
Marcus's team remained hidden.
Dominic approached.
Victor smiled.
“Both Valente brothers.”
Adrian looked furious.
“I told you not to come.”
Dominic ignored him.
Victor laughed.
“Still controlling.”
“What do you want?” Dominic asked.
Victor looked at them.
“To hear you admit it.”
“Admit what?”
“That your family took what belonged to mine.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“Our grandfather failed you. Dad didn't.”
“Your father used me.”
“He gave you a career.”
Victor's face twisted.
“A career?”
His control cracked.
“I saved that company!”
Dominic spoke calmly.
“And then you decided that entitled you to own everyone inside it.”
Victor looked at him.
“You inherited everything.”
“Yes.”
“You didn't earn it.”
“No.”
That answer stunned Victor.
Dominic continued.
“I inherited an advantage you never had.”
Adrian looked at his brother.
Dominic said, “That was unfair.”
Victor's expression shifted.
“But what you did afterward was your choice.”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“You think confession makes you noble?”
“No.”
“It makes you weak.”
“No.”
Dominic looked toward Claire.
“It makes me finished being afraid of what truth costs.”
Victor followed his gaze.
Understanding entered his face.
“So it's her.”
Dominic said nothing.
Victor smiled.
“The woman and the child.”
Claire felt cold.
Victor looked back at Dominic.
“I wondered.”
Adrian stepped between them.
“Leave them out of this.”
Victor's gaze sharpened.
“Look at you two.”
He laughed.
“Finally united because of a stranger.”
Claire answered.
“Maybe family isn't only blood.”
Victor's face hardened.
“That is easy to say when you've never been denied yours.”
Claire stepped forward.
“My daughter was denied her father before she was born.”
Victor stopped.
“My husband died because you were afraid of losing control.”
Victor's expression changed.
“You don't know that.”
“I know you threatened him.”
“He should have listened.”
Claire's eyes filled.
Dominic moved beside her.
Victor realized what he'd said.
Marcus heard it through the hidden microphone.
So did federal investigators.
Adrian stared.
“You just admitted involvement.”
Victor looked around.
Then understood.
Sirens approached.
He laughed once.
“Clever.”
Dominic's expression remained cold.
“It's over.”
Victor backed toward the edge of the pier.
Federal agents appeared.
“Victor Hale!”
He raised his hands.
For one moment it seemed finished.
Then Victor looked at Dominic.
“You'll lose the company anyway.”
“Maybe.”
“You'll lose the Valente name.”
“No.”
Victor smiled.
“You'll become nothing.”
Dominic looked toward Claire.
Then Adrian.
Then answered.
“I'll survive.”
Agents arrested Victor.
There was no dramatic struggle.
No escape.
Just handcuffs.
A man who had spent decades collecting leverage finally had none.
As they led him away, Victor turned.
“Dominic.”
Dominic looked.
“Your father chose you.”
Victor's voice broke.
“He always chose you.”
Dominic understood.
Beneath the money, revenge, and blackmail had always been an abandoned boy asking why another branch of the family had received the life he wanted.
Dominic felt pity.
Not forgiveness.
Not yet.
But pity.
Victor disappeared into the police vehicle.
Adrian stood beside Dominic.
“So.”
“So.”
“Are we brothers again?”
Dominic looked at him.
“You're still irritating.”
Adrian smiled.
“I'll take that.”
Claire approached.
Dominic looked at her.
For a moment he almost kissed her.
Then he stopped.
Claire saw.
Neither mentioned it.
Because Ethan's death was still fresh again.
Because Dominic's world was collapsing.
Because some beginnings deserved patience.
They returned to Brooklyn.
Sophia opened the door holding Lily.
The baby saw Dominic.
Her entire face lit up.
She reached toward him.
Dominic took her without hesitation.
No awkwardness now.
No retreat.
Lily rested her head against his chest.
Claire watched.
Dominic looked at the child.
Then at Claire.
And for the first time he admitted the truth to himself.
Victor had been right about one thing.
Dominic had finally found something he was afraid to lose.
Two things.
May you like
And neither of them had anything to do with Valente Global.
---
