Dominic stared at his mother as though she had spoken in another language.
“My daughter?”
Lucia did not answer immediately.
Her silence was answer enough.
Dominic turned toward Lily.
The little girl had jumped slightly when the glass shattered, but Rosa had already rushed forward and wrapped her arms around her.
Lily looked between the adults.
Confused.
Dominic suddenly became aware of the ballroom around them.
Guests were watching.
Isabella stood near the center of the room, one hand pressed against her champagne glass.
Enzo moved first.
He signaled the musicians to stop.
Then he addressed the nearest staff.
“Party’s over.”
Several guests pretended not to hear.
Enzo looked at them.
“It’s over.”
The room emptied quickly after that.
Dominic remained near the staircase.
He did not speak until the front doors closed behind the final guest.
Then he turned to his mother.
“Library.”
Lucia’s chin lifted.
“Dominic—”
“Now.”
Rosa held Lily closer.
Dominic looked at the little girl.
Every instinct in him wanted answers immediately.
Another instinct, one he had never needed before, told him the child should hear none of them.
“Enzo.”
“Yes?”
“Take Rosa and Lily to the breakfast room. Get her something warm to eat.”
Lily looked at Dominic.
“You’re not mad at me, are you?”
The question struck him harder than anything Lucia had said.
Dominic crouched.
“No.”
“Because I wasn’t supposed to bother anybody.”
“You didn’t.”
He glanced at Rosa.
“No one ever tells her that again.”
Rosa nodded quickly.
Dominic looked back at Lily.
“You like hot chocolate?”
She considered.
“With marshmallows?”
His mouth almost curved.
“With as many as you want.”
Lily nodded.
Enzo escorted them away.
Dominic watched until she disappeared.
Then he entered the library.
Lucia followed.
Isabella did too.
Dominic stopped.
“Isabella.”
“I’m staying.”
“This is family business.”
She looked toward the doorway Lily had just vanished through.
“We were supposed to become family.”
Dominic had no argument for that.
He closed the doors.
Lucia stood beside the fireplace.
Dominic faced her.
“Start talking.”
Lucia folded her hands.
“Sophia came to me four years ago.”
Dominic felt his jaw tighten.
“When?”
“Three days before she disappeared.”
“What did she want?”
“She was pregnant.”
Dominic closed his eyes for half a second.
The confirmation somehow hurt more than the suspicion.
“She told you before she told me?”
“She intended to tell you.”
“Then why didn’t she?”
Lucia’s gaze dropped.
“Because I convinced her not to.”
Dominic stared at her.
Isabella inhaled softly.
Lucia continued.
“You were taking control of the family then. Everything was unstable. The Lombardi conflict had started. Federal investigations were everywhere. People were threatening you.”
“So?”
“I believed Sophia would become a weakness.”
Dominic laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“A weakness.”
“She was not from our world.”
“She didn’t need to be.”
“I thought she would get you killed.”
Dominic moved closer.
“So you threatened her?”
Lucia’s silence answered.
“What did you do?”
“I told her that if she stayed, people would eventually use her against you.”
“That was true.”
“I told her the child would never be safe.”
Dominic’s voice sharpened.
“That was not your decision.”
Lucia finally looked at him.
“I was trying to save you.”
“No. You were controlling me.”
Lucia flinched.
Dominic had never spoken to her like that.
“What happened after Sophia left?”
Lucia swallowed.
“She went to Connecticut with Rosa.”
“And you knew where?”
“Yes.”
“For four years?”
“Yes.”
Dominic turned away.
He placed both hands against the edge of his desk.
“Did Sophia ask about me?”
Lucia did not answer quickly enough.
Dominic turned back.
“Did she?”
“Yes.”
The word barely came out.
“How many times?”
“Several.”
“How many?”
Lucia’s eyes filled.
“Every few weeks at first.”
Dominic’s face went blank.
“She wrote you letters.”
His expression changed.
“Letters?”
Lucia nodded.
Dominic stared at her.
“Where are they?”
“I kept them.”
“Where?”
“At my apartment in the city.”
Dominic crossed the room so quickly Isabella instinctively stepped aside.
“You kept letters from the woman I loved?”
Lucia raised a hand.
“She begged me not to tell you about the baby until she could decide whether coming back was safe.”
“And when she decided?”
Lucia’s tears spilled.
“She never got the chance.”
The anger in Dominic paused.
“What happened?”
Lucia looked toward the fire.
“Sophia’s pregnancy was difficult.”
Rosa had apparently taken Sophia to specialists using another surname.
Lucia secretly paid the bills.
Dominic knew none of it.
Sophia gave birth six weeks early.
There were complications.
Massive bleeding.
Doctors tried to stabilize her.
They failed.
Dominic’s hands curled into fists.
“When?”
“December eighteenth.”
He went still.
Four years ago.
One week before Christmas.
He had spent that Christmas drinking alone in his Manhattan penthouse, furious at Sophia for abandoning him.
While she had been dead.
He lowered himself into a chair.
For several moments, the most powerful man in the room looked suddenly exhausted.
“Was she alone?”
Lucia shook her head.
“Rosa was there.”
“Did she ask for me?”
Lucia began crying harder.
“Yes.”
Dominic looked at her.
“What did she say?”
“I don’t know every word.”
“You know enough.”
Lucia hesitated.
“She asked Rosa to tell you she was sorry.”
Dominic’s eyes closed.
“She said she never stopped loving you.”
A long silence followed.
Isabella stood near the doorway, tears in her own eyes.
Dominic stared at the floor.
“And Lily?”
Lucia wiped her face.
“Rosa raised her.”
“You visited?”
“Yes.”
“How often?”
“Every few months.”
“You held my daughter while telling me Sophia chose to disappear?”
Lucia could not answer.
Dominic stood.
“You watched me hate her.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That you would take Lily.”
“She is my daughter.”
“I know.”
“Did you?”
Lucia looked away.
“Did you think I would hurt her?”
“No.”
“Then what were you afraid of?”
Lucia finally said it.
“That you would love her more than you loved me.”
The room became silent.
Dominic stared at his mother.
For the first time, Lucia looked old.
Not powerful.
Not commanding.
Just frightened and terribly human.
Dominic shook his head.
“You lost me the moment you decided my life belonged to you.”
Lucia covered her mouth.
Dominic opened the library door.
Enzo stood outside.
“Car,” Dominic said.
“To the city?”
“No.”
“Where?”
Dominic looked toward the breakfast room.
“Connecticut.”
Rosa appeared in the doorway.
Lily stood beside her holding a mug with both hands.
Dominic looked at her.
He had missed her first word.
Her first birthday.
Her first Christmas.
Four entire years.
Because people had decided what he deserved to know.
He crouched in front of Lily.
“Would you show me where you live?”
Lily looked at Rosa.
Rosa nodded.
Then Lily looked back at him.
“Okay.”
She hesitated.
“Can Teddy come?”
Dominic looked at the worn stuffed bear.
“Teddy definitely comes.”
For the first time that night, Lily smiled.
It was Sophia’s smile.
Dominic had to look away.