Chapter 9 - The Life Nobody Expected
Six months later, Apex Freight and Logistics had a new chief financial officer.
Vivian Mercer.
She refused the position three times.
Then she accepted after negotiating a salary that made Dominic stare at the contract.
“You're robbing me.”
“I learned from professionals.”
Dominic signed.
The criminal syndicate was gone.
Anthony Russo received a lengthy federal sentence.
Leo Rossi accepted a plea agreement after several former allies testified against him.
Dominic avoided prison through extensive cooperation, forfeiture, and years of financial monitoring.
The newspapers called it the collapse of a Chicago dynasty.
Dominic called it Wednesday.
He sold the penthouse.
Vivian was horrified.
“Why?”
“Too many windows.”
“You bought a house with more windows.”
“Different windows.”
The house stood north of the city near Lake Michigan.
It had a garden.
A ridiculous kitchen.
And a nursery Dominic claimed was “temporary.”
Rebecca had effectively moved into it within forty-eight hours.
Daniel lived nearby.
He was learning how to be a father while grieving the wife who should have been beside him.
Vivian remained Rebecca’s legal guardian and second parent.
Their unusual little family developed routines.
Sunday breakfast.
Friday movie nights.
Dominic pretending he did not enjoy either.
Rebecca adored him.
At nine months old, she had discovered that dropping food from her high chair caused Dominic Russo to retrieve it.
Repeatedly.
“She's testing you,” Vivian said.
Rebecca dropped another piece of banana.
Dominic picked it up.
“She’s a baby.”
“She owns you.”
“She weighs fourteen pounds.”
“Exactly. Imagine what she'll accomplish at thirty.”
Dominic looked suspiciously at Rebecca.
The baby smiled.
He surrendered.
Vivian laughed.
Their relationship changed slowly.
There was no dramatic declaration.
No instant romance.
It happened through coffee left beside laptops.
Dominic learning which prenatal vitamins Vivian had taken even after the pregnancy because her doctor recommended continuing them temporarily.
Vivian correcting his spreadsheets.
Dominic assembling Rebecca’s crib at 2:00 a.m. because the instruction manual had “insulted him.”
Vivian finding him asleep beside the crib.
One evening, they sat outside overlooking the lake.
Rebecca slept inside.
Daniel was on a date for the first time since losing Rebecca’s mother.
Dominic held two cups of tea.
Vivian accepted one.
“You know,” she said, “when you broke into my apartment, I thought you were going to kill me.”
“I know.”
“That's not an ideal beginning.”
“No.”
“You were terrifying.”
“I've improved.”
“Marginally.”
He smiled.
Vivian became quiet.
“Why did you protect me?”
“At first?”
“Yes.”
“Because the numbers didn't make sense.”
She frowned.
“Romantic.”
“You asked.”
“And after?”
Dominic looked at her.
“Because you did.”
“Did what?”
“You looked at me like I was still capable of choosing what kind of man I wanted to become.”
Vivian’s expression softened.
Dominic continued.
“Nobody had done that in a long time.”
She placed her cup down.
“You chose.”
“Yes.”
“Was it difficult?”
“Extremely.”
“Do you regret it?”
He looked through the window toward Rebecca’s crib monitor.
“No.”
Vivian leaned closer.
Their first kiss was quiet.
No fireworks.
No dramatic music.
Just two people who had survived terrible things and decided to stop being afraid of wanting something good.
When they separated, Vivian smiled.
“That took you long enough.”
Dominic stared.
“You could have kissed me.”
“I wanted to see how long a criminal mastermind could remain completely oblivious.”
“How long?”
“Six months.”
“Cruel.”
“I worked for the Russo Syndicate. Bad influences.”
He kissed her again.
Inside, Rebecca began crying.
Dominic closed his eyes.
Vivian laughed.
“Your boss is calling.”
Dominic went inside.
He lifted Rebecca.
She immediately stopped crying.
Vivian leaned against the doorway.
Something warm settled inside her.
Family had once meant the people she lost.
Now it meant the people who stayed.
Then Dominic’s phone rang.
Daniel.
Dominic answered.
His expression changed.
Vivian felt the old fear return.
“What?”
Dominic listened.
Then looked toward her.
Daniel had received a package.
No return address.
Inside was an old photograph of Salvatore Russo standing beside Vivian’s father twenty-five years earlier.
On the back was a handwritten sentence.
Ask Dominic why your families were connected before either of you was born.
Vivian stared at him.
“You knew?”
Dominic slowly shook his head.
May you like
“No.”
And suddenly, the story they believed had ended opened one final door.
