Chapter 2 - “I know about your hospitalization.”
Her face tightened.
“And Toby.”
The name broke something.
“Are you firing me?”
Vincent stared at her.
“You think I would fire you after you threw yourself between my son and a gun?”
“You investigated me.”
“Yes.”
“Without asking.”
“Yes.”
“That isn’t normal.”
“Nothing about my life is normal.”
A tear escaped the corner of her eye.
Vincent leaned closer.
“You don’t owe Matteo your life because you couldn’t save Toby.”
Her breath caught.
“You don’t know anything about it.”
“I know enough.”
“No, you don’t.”
Her voice cracked.
“I was holding his hand, Vincent.”
He went still.
“We were buying milk. That’s all. He wanted cereal. I remember being annoyed because he’d changed his mind three times.”
She covered her mouth.
“And then there was noise.”
Vincent said nothing.
“I couldn’t stop the bleeding.”
Her body began shaking.
“I kept pressing my hands over it, and I couldn’t stop it.”
Vincent rose.
Clara tried to turn away.
He wrapped his arms around her.
For once, she didn’t fight him.
She sobbed against his chest.
Vincent held her carefully, avoiding the injured shoulder.
“You don’t owe the dead your suffering,” he whispered.
She cried harder.
“You don’t have to keep paying for surviving.”
Hours later, Dominic brought Matteo downstairs.
The boy rolled to Clara’s bedside.
“You got shot.”
“So I’ve been informed.”
“For me.”
Clara’s smile weakened.
“Don’t make it dramatic.”
“There was blood everywhere.”
“Bodies are very inconsiderate that way.”
Matteo’s eyes filled.
“I was scared.”
“So was I.”
“You were?”
“Terrified.”
He seemed surprised.
Clara reached toward him with her good hand.
“Being brave doesn’t mean you’re not scared. It means you still do what needs doing.”
Matteo leaned his forehead against the mattress.
“My dad killed him.”
Clara looked at Vincent.
He waited for revulsion.
Instead she turned back to Matteo.
“Your father protected you.”
Matteo looked between them.
“We’re still a team?”
“Yes.”
“You won’t leave?”
Clara’s fingers moved through his hair.
“I’m here.”
Matteo nodded.
Vincent looked away.
Because suddenly the man who had built his life around possessing everything understood the difference between possession and choice.
May you like
Clara had been given every reason to leave.
She was choosing to stay.
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