Chapter 2 - The Debt He Refused to Forget
Lily was six years old and believed every problem in life could be solved with chocolate milk.
At 7:02 the next morning, she was sitting at our kitchen table wearing mismatched socks and telling me that a boy named Jamie had stolen her purple crayon.
“I told him it wasn't his.”
“What did he say?”
“He said his favorite color was purple.”
I poured milk into her cup.
“And what did you say?”
“That wasn't an answer.”
I smiled.
“That sounds reasonable.”
She nodded.
The world felt normal.
That was what made the fear worse.
I kept looking at the window.
Every car that slowed outside made my shoulders tense.
At 7:34, a black sedan stopped across the street.
I froze.
The driver's side window lowered.
A familiar face appeared.
Dominic.
He was alone.
Lily tugged my sleeve.
“Mom?”
I stepped away from the window.
“Finish your cereal.”
“Why?”
“Because I said so.”
She frowned.
Children knew when adults were lying.
I grabbed my coat.
“Rosie said I should take you to school.”
“Is she coming?”
“No.”
“Who is?”
I didn't answer.
Outside, Dominic was standing beside the sedan.
He looked ridiculous on our street.
Everything about him was too polished for cracked sidewalks and sagging porches.
When I reached him, he looked at the backpack on Lily's shoulders.
“She ready?”
“No.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“She won't tell me why we're leaving early.”
“Because you don't need to know.”
His eyes moved to me.
“You were threatened last night.”
“How do you know?”
“I know.”
I hated that answer.
“You can't keep showing up.”
“I know.”
“Then stop.”
“No.”
He said it calmly.
Not arrogantly.
Simply.
I folded my arms.
“You think because you have money and armed men, you can decide what happens to me.”
“No.”
He looked at Lily.
“I think because someone threatened your child, I should make sure she reaches school safely.”
Lily appeared behind me.
She looked at him.
“Who are you?”
Dominic crouched.
“I'm Dominic.”
“Are you my mom's boss?”
I almost laughed.
“No,” he said.
“She doesn't have a boss.”
Lily nodded seriously.
“Then you're rich.”
Dominic glanced at me.
“Apparently.”
Lily held out her hand.
He shook it.
“I like you.”
I stared.
“Lily.”
“What?”
“He looks sad.”
Dominic's expression shifted.
For perhaps the first time, I saw him caught off guard.
Lily stepped closer.
“Do you know my mom?”
“Yes.”
“Did she help you?”
“Yes.”
“Then you owe her.”
Dominic's mouth curved.
“She thinks I don't.”
Lily looked at me.
“She thinks you're stubborn.”
I nearly dropped my bag.
Dominic laughed.
Actually laughed.
It transformed his face.
For one second, he did not look like a crime boss.
He looked like a tired man who had forgotten laughter existed.
“I think you're right,” he told Lily.
Then he stood.
“Get in the car.”
I shook my head.
“We're not taking your car.”
He opened the rear door.
“Why?”
“Because I don't trust you.”
He nodded.
“Good.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Don't trust me blindly.”
He closed the door.
“I'll earn it.”
That sentence stayed with me all day.
At school, two men remained across the street.
I was about to protest when Dominic explained.
“They're not here for you.”
“Then why?”
“Because if somebody wants to reach me through you, I want to know where they came from.”
He drove away.
My day at the diner passed without incident.
Until 3:10 p.m.
A man in a gray coat sat at the counter.
He ordered coffee.
He didn't drink it.
He kept looking at the door.
I noticed his wedding band.
Silver.
Scratched.
He looked ordinary.
That was the danger.
When I brought his check, he said,
“You're the woman from the fire.”
My stomach dropped.
“What fire?”
“The one near Grant Street.”
I smiled politely.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
He smiled back.
“You're a terrible liar.”
Before I could answer, the bell over the diner door rang.
Dominic walked in.
He took one look at the man.
Everything changed.
The stranger stood.
Dominic's guards appeared behind him.
The stranger did not reach for a weapon.
He simply smiled.
“You found her.”
Dominic stopped.
“Who sent you?”
The man shrugged.
“I wanted to see what she looked like.”
“Now you have.”
“Yes.”
His eyes moved to me.
“She doesn't look important.”
Dominic's voice became very quiet.
“She is.”
The man left.
No fight.
No shouting.
Just a stare.
After he was gone, I looked at Dominic.
“Who was he?”
“Someone testing a theory.”
“What theory?”
“That you're the reason I survived.”
“But I am.”
“Yes.”
He looked at me.
“And that's becoming a problem.”
That evening, Dominic drove me home.
Lily fell asleep in the backseat.
Rain tapped against the windows.
I looked at him.
“Why do people think you deserve to die?”
He kept his eyes on the road.
“Because I've hurt people.”
“That doesn't answer my question.”
“No.”
“What happened to you?”
He was quiet.
Then he said,
“My father died when I was seventeen.”
I waited.
“He left a business behind.”
“What kind?”
“The kind that made enemies.”
I looked at his hands.
“You took over?”
“At twenty-two.”
“Why?”
“Because nobody else could.”
“And you became…”
“What everyone calls me now.”
“Did you choose this life?”
He considered it.
“I chose survival first.”
“And later?”
“Later, I stopped knowing how to leave.”
His honesty surprised me.
We stopped outside my apartment.
He looked back at Lily.
“Tomorrow night, I'll send a car.”
“No.”
“You're going to the charity event.”
“What charity event?”
“The one your landlord's wife has been pressuring you to attend.”
I stared.
“How do you know about that?”
He looked almost embarrassed.
“I'm very good at finding things.”
“That isn't comforting.”
“No.”
He turned toward me.
“But this will be.”
He handed me a small box.
Inside was Lily's missing purple crayon.
I looked at him.
“She told me about it.”
“How did you…”
He smiled.
“She thinks I'm rich enough to replace crayons.”
I laughed despite myself.
He got out of the car and opened my door.
For a second, we simply stood there in the rain.
Then he said,
“I know what you think I am.”
“What?”
“A dangerous man.”
“You are.”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
Then his expression softened.
“But I'm not dangerous to you.”
He walked away.
I watched him get into the sedan.
That night, I placed the purple crayon beside Lily's bed.
May you like
And for the first time since the fire, I wondered whether the most frightening thing about Dominic Salvatore wasn't what he could do.
It was how safe he could make me feel.
