Chapter 3 - Shadows of the Past
The rain turned into a downpour by seven in the evening. The café sign was flipped to 'CLOSED,' but inside, the warm yellow lights remained on.
Dominic sat on a small, wooden dining chair upstairs in Clara’s modest two-bedroom apartment. He looked impossibly large for the space, his broad shoulders filling the cozy kitchen nook. On the table sat a plastic mug of warm milk with a floating marshmallow, placed there carefully by Noah.
"You can drink it," Noah said gravely, holding his own blue cup with both hands. "Mom says hot milk makes bad dreams go away."
Dominic looked down at the mug, then at the serious little boy staring up at him with his own storm-gray eyes. A knot in Dominic’s throat tightened so hard it hurt to breathe. He reached out with a hand that had signed million-dollar contracts and ordered ruthless acts, and gently picked up the tiny plastic handle.
"Thank you, Noah," Dominic said softly. "I've had a lot of bad dreams lately. I think this will help."
Lily sat on Clara’s lap across the table, her small fingers twining into her mother’s brown sweater. She kept darting shy glances at Dominic. "Are you a prince?" she asked suddenly.
Dominic blinked, taken aback. "A prince? No, small one. Why do you ask?"
"Because you have big cars and men in suits standing outside in the rain," Lily said plainly. "And Mommy said princes live far away in big castles."
Clara flushed, her hands tightening around Lily’s waist. "Lily, shh."
"It's alright," Dominic said, a rare, soft smile breaking through his stern features. It transformed his face completely, softening the sharp edges of his jaw. "I don't live in a castle. I live in a very quiet, very empty house in Boston. But... I hope it won't be empty for much longer."
Clara’s heart did a terrifying flutter. "Dominic, don't say things like that to them."
"We need to talk, Clara. Properly," Dominic said, his voice dropping an octave as his eyes met hers over the kids' heads. "Without the children listening."
Ten minutes later, after hot chocolate, stories, and tucking two exhausted five-year-olds into their twin beds, Clara closed the bedroom door softly and turned to face Dominic in the small living room.
"They look so much like you," she said softly, leaning her back against the door frame. "Noah has your temper. He gets so stubborn when he can't figure something out. And Lily... Lily observes everything. She doesn't speak until she knows exactly what everyone in the room is feeling."
"They are magnificent," Dominic said. He was standing near the window, looking out into the storm where his security vehicles were parked discretely down the street. "And you raised them alone. In hiding. Because of a misunderstanding I failed to prevent."
"It wasn't your fault, Dominic," Clara admitted, the words tasting bitter yet liberating. "I was terrified. When I saw Elena, I thought... I thought you were playing with me. A mafia lord taking a simple girl from a baker's family as a trophy. I thought I meant nothing to you."
Dominic crossed the room in three long strides, stopping right in front of her. He reached out, his fingers brushing against her jaw, trembling as he felt her warm skin for the first time in sixty months.
"You were my entire world, Clara. You were the only clean thing in my life," he whispered, his thumb lightly wiping away a stray tear on her cheek. "When you left, the darkness came back. I tore Boston apart. I ruined people who even smiled at the thought of your disappearance. I haven't slept a full night since the morning you walked away."
Clara leaned into his touch for a fleeting second before catching herself. "Dominic... what happens now? You can't just move your life here. And I can't go back to Boston. The life you live... it's dangerous. I have two children to protect now."
"I know," Dominic said grimly. His tone shifted, the gentle warmth cooling into the cold, calculated air of a man who knew his enemies. "And that is why we have a problem."
Clara stiffened. "What do you mean?"
"I didn't find you by accident, Clara," Dominic said quietly. "My security detail intercepted a trace on your social security number two days ago. Someone else was looking for you."
May you like
Clara turned pale. "Who?"
"Elena," Dominic spat the name like poison. "And her new allies. They knew if they found you before I did, they could use you to destroy me. I came here to protect you, Clara. But the storm isn't just outside this window. It's coming for all of us."
