Chapter 9 - Lily's Second Brave Thing
The mansion went into lockdown.
Again.
This time, Leo understood enough to be frightened.
He didn't ask whether something was wrong.
He asked who was trying to hurt us.
That difference broke my heart.
Dominic sat with him in the library.
"No one is going to hurt you."
"That's not what I asked."
Dominic looked at me.
I stayed silent.
He had promised Leo questions would receive answers.
Now he had to live with the rule he created.
"There are people angry with me."
"Because you're bad?"
Dominic flinched.
"Because I've made mistakes."
"Are they bad?"
"Some."
Leo thought about that.
"Are they coming here?"
"I won't let them."
"How?"
Dominic paused.
"People are helping us."
"Police?"
"Yes."
Leo looked genuinely shocked.
"You're calling police?"
Matteo coughed to hide a laugh.
Dominic glared at him.
"Yes."
Leo nodded slowly.
"Okay."
Children can adapt to almost anything when adults stop lying.
For two days, we remained inside.
Lily treated lockdown like a vacation.
She built forts.
Demanded cookies.
Asked one of Dominic's most intimidating guards if he knew how to braid hair.
He did not.
By evening, he did.
Leo became quieter.
Not the old silence.
This was worry.
He followed Dominic from room to room.
Sometimes pretending not to.
Dominic noticed.
Instead of telling him to go play, he began explaining small things.
"I'm meeting an attorney."
"Why?"
"To give him documents."
"Why?"
"Because they prove somebody stole money."
"Why?"
By the sixth why, Dominic looked exhausted.
Lily said, "He does that."
I smiled.
"So does she."
For the first time, Dominic's world was being forced into language a six-year-old could understand.
It was changing him.
Then Rosa called.
Dominic put the call on speaker with federal investigators listening.
Her voice sounded calm.
"You've embarrassed the family."
Dominic looked almost amused.
"That's your concern?"
"You turned documents over to outsiders."
"They prove crimes."
"Since when do you care?"
"Since those crimes killed my wife."
Silence.
Rosa sighed.
"Elena should have stayed out of things she didn't understand."
Every person in the room went still.
Dominic's face drained of emotion.
"Say that again."
"You heard me."
"Did you order her killed?"
"No."
"Did you know Salvatore planned it?"
A pause.
Too long.
Dominic closed his eyes.
"Rosa."
"You don't understand what would have happened if she exposed us."
"So you knew."
"I knew she was dangerous."
"She was my wife."
"She was going to destroy everything your father built."
Dominic's voice dropped.
"You mean everything you stole."
Rosa hung up.
The investigators had enough for conspiracy charges.
But Salvatore was still missing.
That evening, Dominic sent most of the household staff away for safety.
Only essential security remained.
I considered leaving.
Dominic stopped me.
"You should take Lily somewhere else."
"Where?"
"Anywhere not connected to me."
"Leo?"
His face changed.
"Stays."
"Then Lily stays."
"No."
"You're not separating them now."
"This is not about feelings."
"It is for them."
Dominic looked toward the playroom.
Leo and Lily were sitting beneath a blanket fort.
"Isabella."
"Leo already ran away because he thought his existence might get Lily hurt."
Dominic said nothing.
"If she suddenly disappears, what do you think he'll believe?"
His jaw tightened.
"That I'm protecting her."
"He's six."
Dominic exhaled.
He knew I was right.
"Fine."
"Fine?"
"She stays."
Lily chose that moment to run into the room.
"Can we have pizza?"
Dominic stared.
"That's what you wanted?"
"Yes."
"We are discussing security."
"Pizza is food."
I covered my mouth.
Dominic closed his eyes.
"Fine."
Lily smiled.
"I like when you say fine."
That night became one of the strangest evenings of my life.
Boston's most feared man sat on the floor eating pizza with two children while armed security guarded every entrance.
Leo got sauce on Dominic's shirt.
He froze.
"I'm sorry."
The room went silent.
Dominic looked at the red stain.
Then at his son.
"It's a shirt."
Leo blinked.
"You're not mad?"
"I own others."
Lily wiped sauce on her own dress.
"Me too."
I laughed.
Dominic laughed.
Leo joined us.
Then the lights went out.
Everything changed instantly.
Security radios crackled.
"Backup generator."
"Not responding."
"West gate camera down."
Dominic stood.
"Safe room."
We moved.
Leo grabbed Lily's hand.
A crash sounded downstairs.
Lily screamed.
Dominic picked up both children.
"Look at me."
Leo was shaking.
Dominic knelt.
"Look at me."
Leo did.
"You stay with Isabella."
"What about you?"
"I'll be right outside."
"No."
Dominic froze.
Leo grabbed his jacket.
"Don't leave."
The old Dominic would have pulled away.
This one hesitated.
Then he sat on the safe room floor.
"I won't."
The guards handled the house.
The power failure turned out to be intentional.
Someone had cut an exterior line.
Then disabled the backup.
But nobody entered.
It was a message.
We can reach you.
Leo remained pressed against Dominic's side.
Lily sat in his lap.
Twenty minutes passed.
Then thirty.
Dominic's phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number.
Give us Gabriel, or next time the lights stay off longer.
Dominic showed Matteo.
Neither spoke.
Lily looked up.
"Are bad people outside?"
Dominic paused.
"Yes."
"Are you scared?"
Everyone looked at him.
Dominic could have lied.
Instead he said, "Yes."
Lily touched his cheek.
"It's okay."
His eyes softened.
"I'm supposed to say that to you."
"You can say it too."
He laughed quietly.
Then she said something none of us expected.
"You should tell the bad people you're sorry."
Dominic stared.
"For what?"
"I don't know."
"You think saying sorry fixes everything?"
"No."
She thought carefully.
"But Mommy says you can't fix things if you pretend you didn't break them."
I felt my face heat.
Dominic looked at me.
"That's annoyingly wise."
"She's three. Don't encourage her."
Leo leaned against his father.
"Did you break things?"
Dominic looked at him.
"Yes."
"Can you fix them?"
"I can try."
The next morning, Dominic announced his decision.
He would publicly step away from the criminal side of the Moretti organization.
He would turn over information.
Close illegal operations.
Cooperate.
Matteo stared at him.
"You understand what that means?"
"Yes."
"You'll make enemies."
"I already have enemies."
"You could lose everything."
Dominic looked toward the kitchen where Leo and Lily were making toast.
"No."
His voice softened.
"I finally understand what everything is."
But there was one problem.
To complete the deal with investigators, Dominic needed Salvatore alive.
And less than an hour later, Salvatore called Dominic directly.
"I hear you're becoming respectable."
Dominic's expression hardened.
"Where are you?"
"Come find me."
"Why?"
"Because I have something you want."
"What?"
Salvatore laughed.
Then a small voice came through the phone.
"Dominic?"
My blood froze.
It was Vittorio.
Dominic's father.
Salvatore had taken him.
And the price of getting him back was the one thing Dominic had just decided to give up forever.
May you like
His future.
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