Chapter 10 - The Price of ProtectionEmma avoided Dominic for two days.
It was difficult because his people were everywhere.
Cole sat outside the diner reading a newspaper upside down because, according to Sarah, “subtlety died and asked him to carry the coffin.” Nathan parked near the alley. Elena came by twice with legal paperwork and cannoli, which was apparently her way of pretending she was not checking on everyone.
Dominic did not come inside.
That made Emma angrier than if he had.
On the second night, she found him in the alley behind Rosie’s Diner, standing near the delivery crates where Frank Bennett had once found him stealing bread.
The symmetry was too cruel to ignore.
“You’re lurking,” she said.
He turned. “I’m watching.”
“Same posture.”
“I thought you didn’t want to see me.”
“I didn’t.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m mad you listened.”
Dominic looked at her for a moment, then lowered his gaze with something almost like surrender.
Emma hated how that softened her.
“I asked you how many,” she said.
“Yes.”
“You answered.”
“Not fully.”
“Then do it now.”
Rain dripped from the fire escape above them.
Dominic looked toward the alley mouth. “After my father died, the men responsible joined a crew run by Adrian’s mother’s family. I was eighteen when I found them.”
Emma’s stomach tightened.
“I wanted justice,” he said. “That’s what I called it. But justice has rules. Revenge only has appetite.”
Emma stayed still.
“I killed one man myself. The others died because I ordered it.”
The words entered the alley and made it colder.
Emma’s eyes burned, but she forced herself not to look away.
“Were you sorry?”
Dominic’s jaw flexed. “Not then.”
“And now?”
“Every day.”
That answer hurt because she believed him.
He continued, voice low. “I built a life where no one could touch Elena again. I told myself every compromise was protection. Every threat. Every alliance. Every body. Then one day I looked around and realized I had become the thing I was protecting her from.”
Emma swallowed.
“Why tell me?”
“Because Moretti will use the truth. I’d rather you hear it from me.”
“That doesn’t make it easier.”
“No.”
“You scare me,” she said.
Dominic closed his eyes briefly.
When he opened them, they were bare of defense.
“I know.”
“But not in the way you think.”
His gaze lifted.
Emma stepped closer. “I’m not scared you’ll hurt me. I’m scared I’ll start making excuses for you because you’ve been hurt.”
Dominic looked as if she had cut him cleaner than any knife.
“Don’t,” he said.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t make excuses.”
The alley went quiet.
Somewhere inside the diner, Sarah laughed at something Rosie said. The sound floated through the back door, warm and ordinary.
Dominic looked toward it. “I’m trying to end it.”
Emma frowned. “End what?”
“My organization as it exists. The violence. The debt collections. The old alliances. I’ve been moving money into legal businesses for years. That’s why Adrian wants me gone. He thinks I’m weakening the family.”
Emma stared at him.
This was the piece she had not expected.
“You’re leaving the mafia?”
His mouth curved without humor. “It’s not a job with a resignation letter.”
“But that’s what you’re doing.”
“I’m trying.”
“And Moretti?”
“Moretti needs the old system. Men afraid. Businesses trapped. Officials bought. If I expose him, Adrian loses his strongest ally.”
Emma looked at the diner door.
“Rosie’s block is part of something bigger.”
“Yes.”
She exhaled slowly.
“Then we need more than a viral video.”
Dominic watched her carefully. “What are you thinking?”
“That Moretti offered money because he wants papers signed. Which means papers matter. Which means somewhere, someone has the original loan agreement, the fake fees, the inspection orders, the shell company files.”
Dominic’s eyes sharpened. “Yes.”
“And people like Moretti don’t keep dirty records where police can easily find them.”
“No.”
“But someone close to him knows where they are.”
Dominic was silent for one beat.
May you like
Then he said, “His accountant.”
Emma smiled without joy. “Does his accountant eat breakfast?”
