Chapter 4
That was how Linda had explained the sudden change.
“She works hard,” Dominic said quietly. “She earned it.”
“I know.”
Keo looked down at his tray.
“She cries sometimes, but she thinks I’m sleeping. I’m not supposed to know she’s sad.”
Then he looked up again.
“You’re not going to fire her, are you? Because she has to come here a lot.”
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
“I am never going to fire her. She can stay as long as she wants.”
“Okay. Good.”
Keo returned to the Jell-O.
“Do you like Captain Galaxy?”
“I’m not familiar with him.”
“He’s the best. He shoots lasers.”
Keo reached toward the nightstand for the blue action figure.
The IV line pulled tight.
He winced.
The toy slipped from his fingers and rolled beneath the bed.
Keo tried to lean over the rail, his face tightening with pain.
Dominic moved before thinking.
He dropped to 1 knee on the linoleum, reached beneath the hospital bed, and picked up the plastic figure.
He stood and handed it back.
“Thanks, Mr. Gallo.”
“Dominic.”
The correction surprised even him.
“Call me Dominic.”
“Okay. Thanks, Dominic.”
“What are you doing?”
The voice came from the doorway.
It was not loud.
But Dominic reacted as though he had been struck.
He turned.
Linda stood at the entrance holding 2 Styrofoam cups of coffee.
Her face had gone completely white.
She stared at Dominic with undisguised terror.
She did not see the employer who protected carpets and disciplined rude men.
She saw a mafia boss standing 3 ft from her sick son.
“Linda—”
Dominic moved 1 step toward her.
“Get away from him.”
Her voice shook.
The coffee cups fell.
Hot coffee splashed across the floor.
Linda crossed the room in 3 quick steps and placed herself between Dominic and the bed.
Her arms extended as if her body alone could shield Keo.
She trembled violently.
“Mom?”
Keo’s voice rose.
“Mom, what’s wrong? He just got my toy.”
“Hush, Keo. Don’t look at him.”
Linda never took her eyes from Dominic.
“What are you doing here, Mr. Gallo? Did I do something wrong? Did I take too much time off? I’ll work double shifts. I’ll clean the garage. Please, just don’t—don’t be here.”
Dominic felt sick.
He had killed people.
Destroyed lives.
Guilt had rarely troubled him.
But watching Linda put her body between him and her child made him hate what his presence meant to her.
“I’m not here to threaten you.”
Dominic kept his voice controlled.
He raised his empty hands.
“I was in the neighborhood. I wanted to see how the boy was doing.”
“You don’t come to neighborhoods like this.”
Linda’s fear sharpened into anger.
“And you don’t care about sick children. You’re a businessman. You deal in debts. What do I owe you? Tell me, and I’ll pay it.”
“You owe me nothing.”
“People like you don’t do things for nothing.”
“Mom, stop.”
Keo’s voice cracked.
“He’s nice. He’s the 1 who gave you the raise.”
Silence filled the room.
Linda froze.
Slowly, she lowered her arms and turned toward her son.
“What did you say?”
“He’s the boss you told me about. The 1 who gave you the money for the hospital.”
Linda turned back toward Dominic.
The terror in her expression changed.
Her mind was assembling pieces.
The salary advance.
Dominic protecting her from Dante.
The impossible administrative mistake that had suddenly funded pediatric oncology.
The anonymous trust.
Linda looked at him differently.
“The trust.”
The words barely carried.
“The anonymous donor.”
Dominic said nothing.
“The hospital said a private benefactor endowed the whole ward.”
Linda moved 1 step closer.
“$2.5 million.”
She stopped several feet from him.
“Was it you?”
Her voice was broken open now.
“Did you do that?”
Dominic could have lied.
He could have threatened her into silence.
He could have left and removed the complication from his life.
He did none of those things.
“Yes.”
The word remained in the room.
Linda stared at him.
Coffee spread slowly across the floor until it nearly reached his shoes.
“Why?”
Dominic had no prepared explanation.
“Because I had the money.”
He paused.
“And because he didn’t deserve to die.”
Linda’s breath caught.
A tear moved down her cheek.
Behind her, Keo spoke.
“Mom?”
Linda forced herself to turn.
She smiled despite the trembling in her face.
“It’s okay, baby. Mommy dropped her coffee. I’m going into the hallway with Mr. Gallo for a minute. Eat your Jell-O.”
She took hold of Dominic’s sleeve and pulled him outside.
The door closed almost completely behind them.
The corridor was empty.
Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead.
Linda released him and wrapped both arms around herself.
“$2.5 million.”
She shook her head.
“Dominic—Mr. Gallo—I can’t pay that back. Not in 3 lifetimes. Not if I cleaned every floor in the city.”
“I didn’t ask you to repay it.”
“Then what do you want?”
The question carried the suspicion life had taught her.
“Men like you don’t spend millions on charity. What’s the catch? Do you want me laundering money? Carrying packages? What is it?”
The accusation hurt more than Dominic expected.
She had every reason to think that way.
Still, the thought of using Linda or putting her in danger made him feel ill.
“I want nothing.”
He moved slightly closer but kept his hands at his sides.
“There is no catch. No package. The money is gone. It belongs to an anonymous trust now. I cannot take it back. Neither can you. It exists to keep your son alive.”
“Why?”
Linda’s voice cracked.
“I’m just the maid. You didn’t even know my name 3 months ago.”
“I knew your name.”
Linda stopped.
“I noticed you.”
Dominic’s voice lowered.
“I noticed that you worked harder than anyone in that house. I noticed you looked like a ghost. I followed you to the hospital because I thought you had been compromised. I thought you were selling information to the FBI or the Morettis.”
A wet, incredulous laugh escaped her.
“You thought I was a rat?”
“In my world, everyone becomes a rat eventually.”
Dominic looked down the yellow corridor.
“Then I saw you in that room. I heard the nurse put a price on your son’s life. I watched you break.”
He paused.
“I ruin things for a living, Linda. I tear them down. I break them apart.”
He looked back at her.
“For once in my miserable life, I wanted to fix something.”
Linda’s eyes filled with tears.
“I’m not asking for gratitude.”
Dominic’s tone became controlled again.
Professional.
He needed the armor back.
“And I’m not asking you to be afraid of me. Keep your job. Keep your hours. Go back into that room and sit with your son.”
He turned away.
“We never have to discuss this again.”
Dominic walked toward the stairwell without waiting for an answer.
Linda remained in the hallway, watching him disappear.
May you like
The fear was gone.
Something warmer had taken its place.
