Chapter 18 - CLARA JENKINS RUSSO MAKES THE DEALEveryone expected Dominic to lead the rescue.
He didn’t.
Clara did.
Not because Dominic lacked the ability.
Because Luca Bellandi expected Dominic.
He expected threats.
Weapons.
Violence.
He expected the former mafia boss.
He did not understand the waitress who had once survived Dominic by refusing to play the role assigned to her.
Clara called Luca again.
“You want Matteo alive?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He knows where the original ledger is.”
Matteo denied it.
Clara knew he was lying.
“Where?”
Matteo smiled.
“Thomas knows.”
Thomas cursed.
Dominic stared at both men.
“I am beginning to understand why Clara hates secrets.”
Thomas revealed the truth.
The original Bellandi ledger was hidden inside Giovanni’s.
Of course it was.
Thomas had placed it there years earlier.
Inside the foundation beneath the corner booth.
Clara nearly laughed.
Everything always returned to that table.
Victor retrieved it.
Hundreds of handwritten transactions.
Names.
Dates.
Murders disguised as accidents.
Luca would kill for it.
So Clara offered an exchange.
Ledger for Emilia.
Dominic objected.
Quietly.
Privately.
“What if he kills you?”
“He won’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No.”
“Then why are you calm?”
“I’m not.”
Clara’s hands shook.
Dominic took them.
She looked at him.
“I am so scared I can barely breathe.”
“Then let me go.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because he wants you angry.”
Dominic’s eyes filled.
Clara touched his face.
“You taught me something.”
“What?”
“That becoming better doesn’t mean becoming harmless.”
Dominic almost smiled.
“You taught me that.”
“Then apparently we’re even.”
The exchange occurred inside an abandoned train depot.
Clara entered carrying the ledger.
No visible weapon.
Luca waited with Emilia.
The little girl was crying.
“Mommy!”
Clara’s heart broke.
“I’m here, baby.”
Luca held her hand.
Not violently.
That somehow made Clara hate him more.
“Ledger.”
“Emilia first.”
“No.”
Clara shrugged.
Then turned around.
Luca blinked.
“What are you doing?”
“Leaving.”
“You won’t leave your daughter.”
“No.”
Clara looked over her shoulder.
“But you won’t kill her.”
“You sound confident.”
“If you kill Emilia, you lose the ledger.”
“I could kill you.”
“Then you lose it too.”
He smiled.
“You brought it.”
“No.”
Clara lifted the leather folder.
“Copies.”
Luca’s smile disappeared.
“The original is somewhere you’ll never find unless I walk out with my daughter.”
Silence.
Then Emilia suddenly bit Luca’s hand.
Hard.
He shouted.
Clara moved.
She grabbed Emilia.
Gunfire exploded.
Not from Dominic.
Federal tactical agents stormed the depot.
Luca fired toward Clara.
Dominic appeared from behind a concrete pillar.
He had a clear shot.
For one fraction of a second, Clara saw the old Dominic.
Then he lowered his aim.
Shot Luca in the leg.
Not the chest.
Not the head.
Luca collapsed.
Agents surrounded him.
Dominic ran to Clara.
Emilia reached for him.
“Daddy!”
Dominic fell to his knees.
He wrapped both Clara and Emilia in his arms.
No one spoke.
He cried.
Openly.
Victor looked away.
Clara didn’t.
She kissed Dominic’s wet cheek.
“She’s okay.”
He held Emilia tighter.
“I know.”
“You didn’t kill him.”
Dominic looked at Luca being handcuffed.
“No.”
“Why?”
He looked back at his daughter.
“Because I want her to know her father came home.”
Clara understood.
Not physically.
Morally.
Dominic had spent years coming home.
That night Emilia slept between them.
Dominic refused to move.
Clara whispered:
“My arm is numb.”
“Mine too.”
“Move her.”
“You move her.”
“You’re closer.”
“She’s holding my shirt.”
“Dominic.”
“She may wake up.”
Clara smiled in the darkness.
The former boss of the Russo syndicate was terrified of waking a toddler.
Good.
Then Dominic whispered:
“Clara?”
“Hmm?”
“I want another one.”
Her eyes opened.
“Another kidnapping?”
“Child.”
She turned.
“Are you insane?”
“Possibly.”
Clara stared at him.
Then Emilia kicked Dominic directly in the stomach.
He groaned.
Clara covered her mouth to stop herself laughing.
“Ask me again when she stops doing that.”
Dominic smiled.
“Someday?”
Clara remembered another question.
Another someday.
May you like
She reached across Emilia and took his hand.
“Someday.”
