Chapter 9 - The Choice No One Could Make for HerDaniel did not object immediately.
That would have been easier.
Instead, he became quiet.
He visited Sophia every afternoon.
He brought books.
He learned she hated peas, loved purple, and believed dinosaurs would be excellent household pets if properly trained.
He also watched Dante.
He saw how Sophia climbed into Dante’s lap without asking.
How Dante cut her pancakes into stars.
How Rosa looked at him when she thought nobody noticed.
Eventually Daniel asked Rosa to talk.
They met in the estate garden.
“I want another chance.”
Rosa had expected the words.
They still hurt.
“At being Sophia’s father?”
“At everything.”
She looked away.
“Daniel.”
“I loved you.”
“Four years ago.”
“I still do.”
“You don’t know me anymore.”
“I can learn.”
She shook her head.
“That isn’t fair.”
“To whom?”
“To the woman I became while you were gone.”
Daniel absorbed that.
“I didn’t choose to disappear.”
“I know.”
“I stayed away because Victor’s people were watching you.”
“You could have found a way.”
“Maybe.”
“Daniel, I gave birth alone.”
His eyes closed.
“I know.”
“She had pneumonia when she was eleven months old. I sat in an emergency room for nine hours by myself.”
“Rosa—”
“I worked two jobs. I counted quarters for diapers. I told her stories about a father I wasn’t even sure loved us.”
“I did love you.”
“I believe you.”
That surprised him.
Rosa’s eyes filled.
“And that’s what makes this so sad.”
Daniel looked toward the house.
“Falcone.”
“This isn’t about Dante.”
“Yes, it is.”
“No. It’s about me.”
Rosa stepped closer.
“I spent my whole life letting circumstances choose for me. Jobs. Rent. Men. Fear. I’m not doing it anymore.”
“So you choose him?”
“I choose myself.”
Daniel stared.
“And yes, right now, the life I want includes him.”
Daniel looked wounded.
But eventually he nodded.
“I deserved that.”
“No. You deserved to come home four years ago.”
She hugged him.
It was not romantic.
That made them both cry.
Inside the house, Dante had heard enough to understand.
Not because he was eavesdropping.
Sophia had dragged him behind a curtain.
“Why are we hiding?” he whispered.
“Daddy talking to Mommy.”
“That is exactly why we should not be hiding.”
Sophia held a finger to her lips.
“Shhh.”
Dante stared at the three-year-old who had somehow turned him into an accomplice.
When Rosa entered, she found them pretending not to be behind a curtain.
She looked at Dante.
“Really?”
“It wasn’t my idea.”
Sophia betrayed him instantly.
“He listened.”
Dante looked offended.
“So did you.”
“I’m three.”
Apparently that was a complete legal defense.
Rosa laughed.
Then Dante saw her swollen eyes.
“Sophia, kitchen.”
“But—”
“Mrs. Alvarez made cupcakes.”
Sophia vanished.
Dante approached Rosa.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
“Daniel?”
“We said goodbye to something that ended years ago.”
Dante nodded.
He did not celebrate.
That mattered to her.
She touched his chest.
“What?”
“You’re not going to say anything territorial and ridiculous?”
“I had several speeches prepared.”
She smiled.
“Keep them.”
“I planned to.”
Then the front doors opened.
Marina entered holding an envelope.
Her expression killed the warmth instantly.
“This was delivered at the gate.”
Dante opened it.
Inside was one photograph.
Carmela.
Alive.
The date stamp was six months after her supposed death.
Dante nearly dropped it.
Rosa stared.
“That’s impossible.”
Marina whispered, “Is it?”
Dante turned the photograph over.
An address had been written there.
And one sentence.
ASK DANIEL WHAT REALLY HAPPENED THAT NIGHT.
They found Daniel preparing to leave.
Dante slammed the photograph onto the table.
Daniel went white.
Rosa saw it.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“You recognize this.”
Daniel looked at Dante.
“The photograph is fake.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I was there when Carmela died.”
Silence.
Dante stepped forward.
“You told me you weren’t.”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“Because Carmela asked me to.”
Dante grabbed his shirt.
Rosa shouted his name.
Daniel did not resist.
“She survived the first shooting.”
Dante froze.
“What?”
“I got her out of the car.”
“Then where is she?”
Daniel’s eyes filled.
“She died forty minutes later.”
Dante released him.
“Where?”
“In my arms.”
Daniel explained.
Carmela had discovered Victor’s ambush hours before it happened. She and Daniel attempted to turn it into a trap.
Victor changed the plan.
Carmela was shot.
Daniel escaped with her but could not reach a hospital without exposing Rosa.
Carmela died in an abandoned clinic.
Daniel returned her body to the wreckage before authorities arrived.
Dante looked sick.
“Why lie?”
“Because her final request was to keep you from hunting Victor until we had enough evidence.”
Dante laughed bitterly.
“Everyone decided what I was allowed to know.”
Daniel said nothing.
Rosa touched Dante’s arm.
He pulled away.
Not from her.
From everyone.
Then Sophia appeared.
She held something behind her back.
Dante looked down.
“What?”
She revealed a purple crayon.
“Walk?”
He stared.
She folded her hands behind her back.
Like the first day.
Dante looked toward Carmela’s room.
Then at Rosa.
Daniel.
Marina.
All the people tied together by lies, love, mistakes and survival.
Finally he put both hands behind his back.
Sophia smiled.
They began walking.
But this time Dante did not walk ahead.
May you like
Sophia walked beside him.
And halfway down the corridor, Rosa joined them.
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