The First Time They Met as Two Ordinary People
Chapter 14 - The First Time They Met as Two Ordinary People
Grace chose a coffee shop in Huntington.
Small.
Busy.
Nobody impressed by black cars.
Dominic arrived alone.
Technically.
Grace saw a federal supervision officer’s vehicle across the street.
Not his choice.
Good.
He wore dark jeans and a charcoal sweater.
No three-piece suit.
No visible gun.
No one lowered their eyes when he entered.
He looked around as if discovering how unusual that was.
Grace stood.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
They sat.
For the first five minutes, conversation was almost painfully ordinary.
Coffee.
Traffic.
Her classes.
The girls.
Dominic did not say:
They need you.
Grace noticed.
“How are they?”
“Better.”
“Better is vague.”
“Yes.”
He smiled faintly.
“Olivia talks at school sometimes.”
“I heard.”
“Sophie still goes quiet if she hears loud arguments.”
“That makes sense.”
“Nora told my supervision officer he had ugly shoes.”
Grace laughed.
“That also makes sense.”
Dominic looked at her.
“I missed that.”
“What?”
“You laughing at me.”
“I was laughing at him.”
“Close enough.”
Silence softened.
Then Grace asked:
“How are you?”
Dominic almost gave the automatic answer.
She saw him stop.
“Uncertain.”
“About?”
“Everything that used to tell me who I was.”
“Business?”
“Yes.”
“Fear?”
He looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Family name?”
“Yes.”
“Is that bad?”
“I don’t know.”
Grace raised an eyebrow.
He sighed.
“You enjoy that.”
“A little.”
Dominic stirred his coffee.
“I thought losing power would feel like humiliation.”
“And?”
“It mostly feels quiet.”
Grace understood.
“Do you like quiet?”
“Not yet.”
Good answer.
He continued.
“I see a therapist.”
“Voluntarily?”
“Court strongly suggested.”
She laughed.
“So no.”
“I continued after the required sessions ended.”
“Then yes.”
“Painfully.”
They smiled.
Then Dominic became serious.
“I want to apologize to you.”
Grace leaned back.
“For which thing?”
“Fair.”
He thought.
“For allowing your employment to become entangled with my family’s investigation after I knew your father was connected.”
“You learned that after I found the key.”
“Yes.”
“You did not hire me for that.”
“No.”
“That part belongs to Mrs. Donnelly.”
“Yes.”
“What part belongs to you?”
Dominic looked at her.
“I began relying on you emotionally while you still worked for me.”
Grace’s expression changed.
He continued.
“I noticed what you did for the girls and wanted more of it.”
“Yes.”
“I also noticed you.”
Silence.
“And I told myself not acting on it made the power difference irrelevant.”
Grace looked down.
“That is accurate.”
“I was wrong.”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
No defense.
Then:
“I do not want to repeat that.”
“What do you want?”
Dominic looked nervous.
That almost made her smile.
“I want to see you again.”
“Why?”
“Because I like you.”
Simple.
No salvation.
No daughters.
No Isabelle.
Grace’s chest tightened.
“And because?”
He almost smiled.
“You’re waiting for the bad answer.”
“I’m waiting for the rest.”
“Because I think about you.”
“Better.”
“Because you make me uncomfortable in useful ways.”
She laughed.
“That may be the least romantic sentence I’ve heard.”
“I had ten months.”
“Apparently wasted.”
He smiled.
Then serious.
“I am not asking you to become anything to the girls.”
Good.
“I am not asking you to move back into the house.”
Better.
“I am asking whether you want another coffee.”
Grace looked at him.
“Yes.”
Relief crossed his face so quickly it made him look younger.
“Next week?”
“No.”
He stiffened.
She smiled.
“Friday.”
Dominic exhaled.
“Cruel.”
“Good for character.”
Their second coffee became a walk.
The third became dinner.
Public.
Not one of his restaurants.
On the fourth date, Dominic sent a car without asking.
Grace canceled dinner.
He called.
“I messed up.”
“Yes.”
“I thought it would be safer.”
“Yes.”
“That is not enough.”
“No.”
A pause.
“I’m sorry.”
Grace sat on her couch.
“What do you do next time?”
“Ask.”
“Good.”
“Can I still see you tonight?”
She thought.
“Yes.”
“How are you getting here?”
“Train.”
Dominic almost choked.
Grace laughed.
He took the train.
No one died.
Progress.
The girls knew Grace and Dominic were spending time together because adults told them simply.
No secrets.
Dr. Feldman helped.
Olivia asked:
“Are you replacing Mommy?”
Grace’s chest tightened.
“No.”
“Ever?”
“No one can replace Mommy.”
“Then what are you?”
Grace looked at Dominic.
He did not answer for her.
Good.
“I’m Grace.”
Olivia considered.
Then nodded.
“That’s okay.”
Sophie asked:
“Do you love Daddy?”
Grace almost laughed.
Dominic went very still.
“Sometimes adults need time before they know exactly what a feeling means.”
Sophie looked dissatisfied.
Nora announced:
“I love pancakes.”
Conversation ended.
Months passed.
Dominic’s legitimate businesses survived.
Barely at first.
Banks left.
Partners left.
Some employees left because they no longer trusted the Romano name.
Others stayed because a paycheck was not philosophy.
Dominic accepted both.
He sold the mansion the following spring.
That surprised everyone.
Grace asked:
“Why?”
He looked toward the east wing.
“The girls deserve a house where every hallway is not evidence.”
“Did they choose?”
“Yes.”
That answer mattered more.
Olivia wanted a smaller house.
Sophie wanted a garden.
Nora wanted stairs “but not too many.”
They found one in Port Washington.
Four bedrooms.
Yellow kitchen.
No east wing.
No panic room.
The night before moving, Dominic stood beneath Isabelle’s portrait.
Grace beside him.
“I thought selling this meant erasing her.”
“Does it?”
“No.”
“What changed?”
He looked at the photograph.
“I realized the house is not where she is.”
Grace said nothing.
He reached toward her hand.
Stopped.
“Can I?”
Even after months.
Still asking.
Grace turned her palm upward.
“Yes.”
He took it.
Then the library door opened.
Sophie stood there holding The Velveteen Rabbit.
“Daddy.”
“Yes?”
She looked at the empty window seats.
“Can we take Mommy’s letter?”
Dominic’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“And the picture?”
“Yes.”
“And the rabbit.”
Nora shouted from somewhere upstairs:
“MY RABBIT.”
Sophie rolled her eyes.
Grace laughed.
Dominic did too.
Then Sophie said something quieter.
“Leave Uncle Cesare’s ring.”
Dominic looked at her.
The serpent ring remained in evidence, but he understood.
Leave the murder.
Take the mother.
“Yes,” he said.
May you like
“We leave that.”
And when the Romano family drove away from the mansion for the last time, nobody looked back at the east wing.
