Chapter 7 - The Child Who Made Him Fear Losing Everything Again
Two years after our wedding, we learned we were having a baby.
Dominic was terrified.
“I don't know how to do this.”
I laughed.
“You've run a corporation.”
“That doesn't qualify.”
“You survived being shot.”
“Also irrelevant.”
“You survived me.”
“That was the hardest.”
I hit his arm.
He laughed.
The pregnancy changed him.
He became protective.
Almost absurdly.
He checked every staircase.
Every meal.
Every doctor.
He even bought a ridiculous armored SUV.
I refused to ride in it.
“It's ugly.”
“It is safe.”
“It's ugly.”
“I'll buy another.”
“No.”
Our daughter was born during a snowstorm.
We named her Sofia.
Dominic cried when he held her.
I had never seen him cry like that.
He whispered:
“I'll never let anyone hurt you.”
I touched his shoulder.
“You can't control everything.”
“I know.”
“But you can love her.”
He looked at me.
“That I can do.”
Sofia grew.
The house became noisy.
Alive.
The old estate no longer felt cold.
Children's drawings covered the refrigerator.
Toys appeared in rooms where weapons once sat.
Dominic learned to read bedtime stories.
Badly.
Sofia corrected him.
He listened.
One night, an old letter arrived.
From Alessandro.
He was still in prison.
The letter contained one sentence.
THE BLOODLINE IS NOT FINISHED.
Dominic burned it.
I watched.
“You're not curious?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I finally know what matters.”
He looked toward Sofia.
“You.”
And me.
Then another person.
“Our daughter.”
We kissed.
The past no longer frightened us.
Until Luca called.
He had found evidence that another branch of the Rossi family was still operating overseas.
Someone had inherited Alessandro's contacts.
Someone who wanted revenge.
Dominic knew what it meant.
May you like
The past wasn't finished.
But this time, it wouldn't separate us.
