“You know who I am?”
“Yes, Mr. Russo. My whole Bronx knows who you are.”
“Then why aren’t you afraid?”
Elena gave a soft, sad laugh.
“Because I’ve already lost everything. My father was shot dead three years ago outside his shop. Three bullets. My mother died six months later because she could not survive it. My brother Miguel was set up and sent to prison for 10 years. I work 16 hours a day trying to pay lawyers who do nothing.”
She looked him straight in the eyes.
“What else can you take from me? My life? Take it. It isn’t worth much anyway. But don’t expect me to fear you. I have nothing left to fear.”
Dominic looked at her then.
Really looked.
Not as a housekeeper.
Not as the girl who dared challenge him.
As a person who had endured too much and still had enough love left to save his children.
“I was wrong,” he said. “I was jealous. You did what I couldn’t. You made my daughters speak, laugh, sing. Instead of being grateful, I was angry. I destroyed everything.”
Elena stared at the falling leaves.
“You’re right,” she said. “You destroyed everything.”
“I want you to come back.”
“What?”
“Come back. Work for me. Stay with my daughters. You’re the only one they trust. Please.”
She laughed without warmth.
“I can’t.”
“I’ll pay double. Triple. Ten times. Any number you want.”
Elena stood.
“You think this is about money? Do you know what it felt like to be thrown out like a criminal in front of children I loved? Do you know Mia’s crying still haunts me every night?”
She drew a sharp breath.
“I get up at five. I go to bed at one. I’m so tired some days I forget how to breathe. But every night, I still think about those girls. I still worry. I still pray for them, even after you threw me out like a dog.”
She looked at him.
“Sorry isn’t enough. Money isn’t enough. Nothing is enough.”
She turned to leave.
“Your brother,” Dominic said.
Elena froze.
“What did you just say?”
“Miguel Vasquez,” Dominic said. “Twenty-two now. Serving 10 years at Sing Sing. Drugs and weapons. But he didn’t do it. He was set up.”
Fury flashed across her face.
“You investigated me? And now what? You’re using my brother to force me back?”
“No.”
She stared at him.
“No,” he said again. “I’m not bribing you. I’m going to help your brother whether you come back or not. I have the best lawyers. I have connections. I can reopen the case. I can find who set him up. I can get him out.”
“Why?” she whispered.
“Because it is the right thing. I’ve done too many wrong things. The blood on my hands will never wash off. But maybe I can still do one right thing. Help an innocent man get out of a place he does not belong. No conditions. No trade. Whether you come back or not, I help Miguel. That is a promise.”
Elena searched his face for a lie.
For manipulation.
For the trap.
She found only exhaustion and regret.
She sat down again.
For a long time, neither spoke.
Then she said, “I hate you.”
“I know.”
“I hate the way you treated me. I hate the way you screamed in that kitchen. I hate that you terrified those little girls. I hate that you think money can buy everything.”
“I know.”
“But I love those children,” Elena said. “Lucia with her pretend strength. Valentina with her endless why questions. Mia with her tiny singing voice. I was with them eight weeks, and I love them like my own.”
She turned to him.
“If I come back, you have to change. Really change. Not apologize and forget. Real change.”
“How?”
“You have to be home. Actually home. Breakfast. Dinner. Bedtime stories. Know their teachers. Their friends. Their songs. Their fears. Their dreams. They don’t need a mafia boss. They need a father.”
Dominic opened his mouth.
