Chapter 10 - THE DAY I STOPPED CALLING HIM MR. MORETTI
I stopped calling Dominic “Mr. Moretti” by accident.
He noticed immediately.
Of course.
We were arguing over a staffing proposal for the estate.
My company had been operating for nine months.
Alden Residential Management.
My maiden name.
Mine.
Twenty-three employees.
Seven estates.
Three townhouses.
One family compound in Connecticut where two sisters had not spoken in eleven years but insisted on sharing a chef.
Rich people created employment through dysfunction.
Dominic remained my most difficult client.
Naturally.
He wanted four additional night guards.
I said two.
He said four.
I said:
“Dominic, you do not need—”
Silence.
I stopped.
He looked at me.
I looked at him.
Lily, doing homework at the far end of the table, slowly lifted her head.
Ethan, home from school, grinned.
Dominic said:
“What did you call me?”
I closed my eyes.
“Don't.”
“No.”
His mouth moved.
Almost smile.
“Say it again.”
“Your invoice doubles.”
“Worth it.”
Ethan laughed.
Lily said:
“This is embarrassing.”
I glared.
Dominic leaned back.
“I've been waiting twelve years.”
“For what?”
“To become Dominic.”
“You have always been Dominic.”
“Not to you.”
That was true.
Even after everything.
Mr. Moretti.
Sir.
Boss to others.
Distance built into language.
I had needed it.
He had respected it.
Mostly.
Now something shifted.
I hated that the children noticed.
Ethan stood.
“We're leaving.”
I stared.
“Where?”
“Anywhere.”
He grabbed Lily’s backpack.
She looked offended.
“I’m not done.”
“You are emotionally done.”
“Noah is outside.”
“Great.”
They left.
Traitors.
The room became quiet.
Dominic looked at the staffing proposal.
“Two guards.”
I frowned.
“You're giving in?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I’m distracted.”
“Unprofessional.”
“Your company.”
“Exactly.”
He looked at me.
“Dinner.”
There it was.
I had known it might come.
Eventually.
Not because Dominic spent years behaving romantically.
He didn't.
That was important.
After Isabella’s truth emerged, we had grown closer.
But grief complicated everything.
I would not become the woman who entered his life because his dead wife’s murder reopened his heart.
Neither would he.
For more than two years after Lorenzo’s arrest, nothing happened.
Then trial ended.
Time passed.
Ethan started driving.
Terrifying.
Lily entered middle school.
Worse.
Noah and Rachel moved to Connecticut.
Noah visited constantly.
The Moretti estate became quieter.
Dominic became less watched.
Then dinner.
“Is this a client dinner?”
“No.”
“Business?”
“No.”
“Children?”
“No.”
I stared.
“You thought through this.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
His face changed slightly.
“Okay.”
Immediate.
I expected relief.
Instead I felt irritated.
“That's it?”
He raised an eyebrow.
“What would you prefer?”
“I don't know.”
“Anna.”
“Don't psychoanalyze me.”
“I wasn't.”
“Your face was.”
He smiled.
Then:
“You said no.”
“I heard.”
“Good.”
We returned to staffing.
He never asked why.
That bothered me for weeks.
Which meant the problem was mine.
Nora, retired from Moretti employment but apparently immortal, visited my office every Thursday.
She knew immediately.
“He asked.”
I stared.
“Who?”
“Please.”
“Nora.”
“Did you say no?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Why good?”
“Because if one no makes him disappear, he was not ready.”
I folded my arms.
“He accepted it.”
“Better.”
“Annoying.”
“Yes.”
She drank coffee.
“Why did you say no?”
I looked toward my office window.
“Isabella.”
Nora nodded.
“You think dating him betrays her.”
“I knew her.”
“A little.”
“Yes.”
“I watched her funeral.”
“I watched Ethan grow up missing her.”
Nora waited.
“And?”
“And I do not want to become the woman who benefits from a dead woman's absence.”
Nora stared.
Then:
“That is extremely arrogant.”
I turned.
“What?”
“You think Dominic loving someone else years after Isabella died changes what she was?”
“No.”
“You think Ethan cannot love his mother and tolerate his father dating?”
“No.”
“You think your happiness is powerful enough to erase a dead woman.”
I stared.
“That is not what I said.”
“It is what you're implying.”
I hated her.
Nora continued:
“Maybe the reason is simpler.”
“What?”
“You're scared.”
I looked away.
There it was.
Dominic Moretti.
Powerful.
Complicated.
Criminal past.
Grief.
My daughter deeply attached to his son.
My life interwoven with his family.
Dating him could destroy twelve years of stability.
“Yes.”
Nora nodded.
“Better answer.”
I hated when everyone used that phrase now.
Three months later, I asked Dominic to dinner.
He was silent for a full five seconds.
“Business?”
“No.”
“Client?”
“No.”
“Children?”
“No.”
He smiled.
“Dinner.”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
“That easy?”
“You said no once.”
“I heard it.”
“I waited.”
Something warm and dangerous moved through me.
We went to a restaurant in White Plains.
Small.
No Moretti ownership.
I checked.
He was offended.
“You researched?”
“I do due diligence.”
“On dinner?”
“On you.”
“Fair.”
He wore no tie.
I had never seen Dominic nervous.
Not around politicians.
Police.
Court.
Violent men.
Tonight he moved his water glass twice.
I almost enjoyed it.
“What?”
he asked.
“Nothing.”
“You're smiling.”
“Rare condition.”
We talked.
At first about children.
Easy territory.
Ethan wanted to study engineering in Boston.
Dominic hated Boston suddenly.
Lily wanted to become either a forensic scientist or veterinarian depending on week.
Noah wanted filmmaking.
Rachel was horrified.
Then silence.
Dominic said:
“I loved Isabella.”
My chest tightened.
“I know.”
“I still do.”
“Good.”
He watched me.
“You're not threatened by that?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because she is not competition.”
His face changed.
Tears almost.
“Thank you.”
I continued:
“But I am afraid of being compared.”
“To her?”
“Yes.”
“I won't.”
“You might.”
“Then tell me.”
Simple.
I looked at him.
“What are you afraid of?”
Dominic laughed softly.
“Everything.”
“Specific.”
“That I do not know how to love someone without eventually trying to control the environment around them.”
Honest.
Good.
“That you will always partly work for me even if you don't.”
“Yes.”
“That Ethan will think I replaced his mother.”
“Yes.”
“That Lily will think her mother's entire life got absorbed into the Morettis.”
That one surprised me.
He noticed.
“I think about it.”
“Good.”
“I’m afraid my history makes your safety dependent on choices you never made.”
I swallowed.
“Also good.”
He frowned.
“You are enjoying this.”
“Moderately.”
Then:
“Why me?”
I asked.
Dominic did not answer immediately.
Because he had learned not to give polished responses too fast.
“I trust your no.”
Silence.
That was not romantic.
It was better.
“You tell me no when you are afraid.”
“When you're angry.”
“When I’m right.”
“When I’m wrong.”
“You don't need me to like it.”
He smiled faintly.
“Isabella was the first person who did that.”
“My mother sometimes did.”
“You do.”
His eyes softened.
“And I like the person I have to become to stay in a room where no still means no.”
My throat tightened.
No billionaire line.
No destiny.
Choice.
We had dinner.
Then another.
Slowly.
No children told for six months.
Naturally they knew after six days.
Lily confronted me.
“You're dating Dominic.”
I choked.
“Who told you?”
“Ethan.”
“Who told Ethan?”
“His eyes.”
Teenagers.
Terrible.
“What do you think?”
She shrugged.
“Fine.”
“Fine?”
“Do I have to move rooms?”
“No.”
“Change schools?”
“No.”
“Call him Dad?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Then fine.”
I stared.
“What if it ends?”
She looked at me like I was stupid.
“Then you break up.”
Children.
Again.
Ethan’s reaction was harder.
He spoke to me alone.
“Do you love him?”
My chest tightened.
“I care about him.”
“That wasn't the question.”
“Not yet.”
He nodded.
Then:
“Don't become my mom.”
I froze.
“What do you mean?”
“Don't stay because you think leaving will hurt him.”
The sentence landed.
Ethan had learned everything.
Too well.
I reached for his hand.
He allowed it.
“I promise.”
He looked toward the hallway.
“My dad can survive being left.”
A sad smile.
“He already did.”
“Yes.”
“And he survived becoming better too.”
Ethan nodded.
“Good.”
Then:
“If he acts insane, call me.”
I laughed.
“You are seventeen.”
“Still.”
That night Dominic asked why Ethan looked pleased with himself.
I said:
“Nothing.”
He narrowed his eyes.
I smiled.
May you like
For once, the Moretti men did not get every piece of information.
Healthy.
