Chapter 14 - What Vittorio Finally Admitted
Vittorio asked Dominic to meet him at Elena's grave.
No guards.
No lawyers.
No family.
Dominic went.
He later told me the conversation in pieces.
Some that night.
Some weeks later.
Some only after years had passed.
Vittorio stood beside Elena's headstone holding white roses.
"She hated these," Dominic said.
His father looked down.
"What?"
"White roses."
"She carried them at the wedding."
"Because you ordered two hundred of them."
Vittorio almost smiled.
"She told me she loved them."
"She lied."
"To me?"
"Constantly."
That surprised a laugh from the old man.
Then silence returned.
"I owe you the truth," Vittorio said.
"You owe many people."
"Yes."
Dominic waited.
Vittorio looked older than usual.
Not weak.
Simply tired of carrying history.
"After your mother died, I raised you and Matteo the way my father raised me."
"Badly?"
Vittorio looked at him.
"Efficiently."
Dominic laughed.
"That's worse."
"I thought fear kept sons alive."
"It kept us quiet."
"I know that now."
Vittorio stared at Elena's name.
"She told me."
"What?"
"That I was doing to you what you were beginning to do to Leo."
Dominic stopped breathing.
"When?"
"A month before she died."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I was offended."
Dominic looked away.
Of course.
Pride had cost the Moretti family years.
Vittorio continued.
"She said you were becoming harder because you were trying to impress me."
Dominic said nothing.
"She said Leo would grow up believing love sounded like orders."
That sentence broke him.
Because that was exactly what had happened.
"Did you know she was investigating Salvatore?"
"Not until it was too late."
"Rosa?"
"I suspected."
"You always suspected everyone."
"Yes."
"But never enough to act."
"No."
Dominic turned toward his father.
"Why?"
Vittorio's eyes filled.
"Because I was afraid of losing the family."
"You lost it anyway."
"I know."
There was no defense in his voice.
Only regret.
"I lied about Matteo to protect him."
"You broke me."
"I know."
"You let me believe Gabriel killed Elena."
"I know."
"You watched me become someone my son feared."
Vittorio closed his eyes.
"I know."
Dominic's anger rose.
Then something strange happened.
He realized he no longer needed his father to argue.
For years he had imagined confrontation as a battle.
Someone wins.
Someone loses.
But Vittorio wasn't fighting back.
He was listening.
And that made anger harder to hold.
"I needed you," Dominic said.
His voice changed.
Vittorio opened his eyes.
"When Matteo died—or when I thought he died—I needed you."
"I was there."
"No."
Dominic shook his head.
"You gave me work."
Vittorio looked down.
"When Mom died, you gave me responsibilities."
Silence.
"When Elena died, you gave me enemies."
Vittorio's face broke.
"You never let me grieve."
"I didn't know how."
Dominic laughed bitterly.
"Neither did I."
Father and son stood beside three generations of mistakes.
Then Vittorio did something Dominic had never seen him do.
He cried.
Not dramatically.
Quietly.
Exactly the way Dominic had cried behind the study door the day Lily spoke the truth.
"I am sorry," Vittorio said.
Dominic looked at him.
"I'm sorry I taught you that being feared was the same thing as being safe."
The words did not erase anything.
They did something better.
They named it.
Dominic eventually stepped forward.
He did not hug his father.
Not then.
But he placed one hand on Vittorio's shoulder.
For the Moretti men, that was a beginning.
Back at the mansion, Leo was waiting.
"Where were you?"
"With Grandpa."
"Is he okay?"
Dominic thought about it.
"He's trying."
Leo nodded.
"Like you?"
"Exactly."
Lily ran into the room holding a bubble wand.
"Outside."
Dominic stared at her.
"What?"
"Bubbles."
"Why are you telling me?"
"You make rules."
He looked at me.
I shrugged.
"Your reputation."
Dominic sighed.
"Outside."
The children ran.
He watched them through the doors.
Then looked at me.
"Do you think people can really change?"
"Some."
"Very comforting."
"You want me to lie?"
"No."
"Then some."
He nodded.
"What makes the difference?"
"Whether they want forgiveness or responsibility."
He looked at me.
"What's the difference?"
"People who only want forgiveness want everyone else to stop being angry."
"And responsibility?"
"They're willing to live differently even if nobody forgives them."
Dominic was quiet.
Then he said, "Dinner Friday?"
I smiled.
"You remembered."
"I have an assistant."
"That ruins the romance."
"I remembered without the assistant."
"Better."
Friday night, Dominic took me to a tiny Italian restaurant.
Not one of the luxury places where everyone knew his name.
A neighborhood restaurant Elena had loved.
He seemed nervous.
I enjoyed that more than I should have.
"No guards?" I asked.
"Two."
I looked around.
"Where?"
"If you can see them, they're doing it wrong."
I sighed.
"Baby steps."
We talked.
Not about Salvatore.
Not about crimes.
About ordinary things.
Lily's obsession with purple socks.
Leo's terrible jokes.
My dream of studying early childhood education.
Dominic's secret hatred of golf.
"Every rich man pretends to like golf," he said.
"You don't?"
"It's walking interrupted by disappointment."
I laughed.
For two hours, Dominic wasn't a title.
He was a man.
A complicated one.
A grieving one.
A changing one.
When he drove me home to the mansion, he walked me to my temporary room.
Then stopped.
"I had a good time."
"So did I."
He looked uncertain.
It was incredible.
"Can I kiss you?"
A man who once believed control meant strength was asking.
That mattered.
I nodded.
The kiss was gentle.
Brief.
Nothing dramatic.
When we separated, Dominic rested his forehead against mine.
"I don't know how to do this."
"Good."
He frowned.
"Good?"
"Means we do it slowly."
He smiled.
"Slowly."
From the hallway came a whisper.
"Ewww."
We turned.
Leo and Lily stood near the stairs.
Leo looked horrified.
Lily looked fascinated.
"You kissed Mommy."
I covered my face.
Dominic closed his eyes.
"Go to bed."
Lily pointed.
"You kissed."
"Bed."
Leo grabbed her hand.
"Come on."
As they walked away, Lily called back.
"Are you getting married?"
"No!" I shouted.
Dominic said, "Go to bed!"
Leo's laughter echoed down the hall.
And for once, nobody tried to stop it.
But the following morning, a letter arrived from the prosecutor's office.
Dominic opened it at breakfast.
His smile disappeared.
The government's investigation had expanded.
And Dominic himself might still face charges.
Changing his life did not erase what came before.
May you like
Now he would have to decide whether he truly believed in accountability when the person paying the price was him.
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