Chapter 7 - LILY ASKED DOMINIC THE QUESTION NO ADULT HAD BEEN BRAVE ENOUGH TO ASK
Three years after Luca’s conviction, Lily no longer wore the orthopedic brace every day.
Physical therapy had helped.
Surgery had helped more.
She still used a lighter support during long walks.
She still had a limp when tired.
She no longer apologized for either.
That was progress.
Anna had finished her degree and accepted a job with an independent workplace-safety nonprofit that advised construction workers on reporting hazards without retaliation.
Not Moretti.
Important.
She occasionally trained Moretti employees.
Paid consultant.
Written contract.
No special favors.
Dominic attended one session and sat in the back.
Anna called on him anyway.
“Mr. Moretti, what is a stop-work order?”
He looked offended.
“Seriously?”
“Answer.”
“An instruction to stop work when a hazard creates unacceptable risk.”
“And who gets to issue one?”
“Authorized safety personnel.”
“Can a CEO override it because delays are expensive?”
Dominic stared.
The room became very quiet.
“No.”
“Good.”
Anna smiled.
“See? Education works.”
Employees laughed nervously.
Dominic did too.
Their relationship had become strange.
Friendly.
Trusting.
Sometimes warm enough that Marco noticed and developed a habit of disappearing when Anna entered Dominic’s office.
Nothing happened for years.
Anna was not ready.
Dominic knew it.
He had his own history to dismantle.
He had spent most of his adult life surrounded by women who knew exactly what his name meant.
Some wanted access.
Some feared him.
Some performed indifference.
Anna had started by suspecting he might have helped cover up her husband’s death.
Romance built on that would have been obscene if rushed.
So they did not rush.
Dominic came to Lily’s eighth birthday because Lily invited him.
He brought one gift.
A telescope.
Anna stared.
“Normal gift?”
“Normal enough.”
“No pony?”
“I considered it.”
“Of course.”
Lily opened the box.
Her eyes widened.
“Can we see Saturn?”
“Yes.”
“You know how?”
“No.”
Lily looked disappointed.
Dominic pointed toward Anna.
“Your mother believes practice helps.”
That became a running family joke despite there not being a family yet.
They assembled the telescope badly.
Lily corrected them from the instruction book.
Later, sitting outside with hot chocolate, Lily asked:
“Dominic?”
Not Mr. Moretti anymore.
“Yes?”
“Did you kill my daddy?”
Everything stopped.
Anna’s cup froze halfway to her mouth.
Dominic did not look at her.
He looked at Lily.
“No.”
“Did your company?”
Harder.
“Yes.”
Anna closed her eyes.
Dominic continued.
“People who worked for my company made dangerous and dishonest choices.”
“They caused the conditions that killed your dad.”
“And I was the person above them who did not know what they were doing.”
Lily stared at him.
“Mom says you didn’t know.”
“That’s true.”
“Then why do you look sad?”
Dominic thought.
“Because I wish I had built a company where your dad thought telling me was safe.”
Lily considered that.
“Would he still be alive?”
Nobody could know.
Dominic refused the comforting lie.
“Maybe.”
Anna looked at him.
He continued.
“I don’t know.”
Lily looked toward the stars.
Then:
“Do you miss him?”
Dominic almost said he barely knew Daniel.
Instead:
“I think about him.”
“Why?”
“Because he tried to stop something dangerous.”
“Because he wrote things down when people wanted him quiet.”
“And because his daughter keeps asking difficult questions.”
Lily smiled.
Then something else.
“Are you my new daddy?”
Anna nearly inhaled hot chocolate.
Dominic’s eyes widened.
“No.”
The answer was immediate.
Lily frowned.
“Why?”
“Because you already have a dad.”
“He died.”
“Yes.”
“That doesn’t erase him.”
Lily looked at Anna.
Her mother’s eyes filled.
Dominic continued.
“And if your mom and I ever became something different someday, you would still get to decide what you call me.”
No claim.
No replacement.
Lily accepted that.
“Okay.”
Then:
“Can I call you Dom?”
Dominic visibly hated it.
Anna started laughing.
“Please do.”
Lily grinned.
“Dom.”
He sighed.
Children were more dangerous than federal investigators.
That night, after Lily went inside, Anna stayed on the porch.
Dominic began packing the telescope box.
“You answered well.”
“I had years to think about it.”
“She’s wanted to ask for months.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“She asked Marco first.”
Anna laughed.
“Of course.”
Then silence.
Dominic looked toward her.
“You’re happy.”
It was not a question.
Anna thought.
“Yes.”
“For the first time in a long time.”
“Good.”
She looked at him.
“And you?”
Dominic almost used a joke.
Then didn’t.
“Better.”
“Not happy?”
“I don’t know if I’m good at happy.”
Anna smiled.
“Practice helps.”
There it was again.
Then she said:
“Have dinner with me.”
Dominic went completely still.
“What?”
“One dinner.”
“Just us.”
He looked almost suspicious.
“Is this pity?”
Anna’s face hardened.
“No.”
“Gratitude?”
“No.”
“Because of Lily?”
“No.”
Dominic nodded slowly.
“Then yes.”
Their first date happened at a small restaurant Anna chose.
Dominic arrived without visible security.
Marco was probably somewhere nearby.
Anna did not ask.
They talked about Daniel.
Once.
Not all evening.
Important.
They talked about Anna’s classes.
Dominic’s terrible cooking.
Lily’s telescope.
Marco’s refusal to retire.
Music.
Books.
The fact Dominic had never ridden the L alone.
Anna stared.
“You’re from Chicago.”
“I own cars.”
“That is embarrassing.”
Apparently billionaires could blush.
The relationship developed over two years.
Slow.
No moving in.
No financial entanglement.
No employment.
Anna paid for every third dinner until Dominic stopped arguing.
He met her friends.
She attended no family business meetings.
He did not offer jobs.
When Anna’s car died, he suggested a mechanic.
Not a new car.
She noticed.
When Lily needed another procedure, Dominic asked:
“Do you want me at the hospital?”
Anna said:
“No.”
He replied:
“Okay.”
Then Lily called him herself.
“Dom, come.”
He came.
Choice.
Eventually Anna and Lily stayed at Dominic’s house for a weekend.
The marble threshold was long gone.
In its place was a smooth accessible entry.
Lily ran her fingers across it.
“You fixed it.”
Dominic stood beside her.
“You told me it was broken.”
“No.”
“You noticed.”
He thought.
“You were apologizing.”
Lily smiled.
“I don’t do that anymore.”
“For floors?”
“For things that aren’t my fault.”
Anna heard from the hallway.
May you like
So did Dominic.
That sentence was worth more than every million he had spent restructuring Moretti Construction.
