Chapter 2 - THE QUESTION I HAD FEARED
I didn't answer.
I carried Sophie toward the staff corridor, trying to keep my steps steady. She rested her cheek against my shoulder and waved at Dominic.
“Bye, Mr. Hug.”
His guards parted to let us pass.
I made it to the staff room before my knees began to shake.
Sophie wriggled down and returned to her crayons as if nothing unusual had happened.
“Can I draw him a picture?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because we don't know him.”
She frowned. “He was nice.”
“He's a very important man. We shouldn't bother him.”
“But he looked sad.”
I closed my eyes.
Three years of careful silence, three years of telling myself that leaving Dominic had been the only way to keep my daughter safe, and Sophie had undone the wall with one question.
A knock sounded at the door.
I opened it a few inches.
Dominic stood alone.
“Please,” he said. “Five minutes.”
I almost laughed at the echo of my daughter's request.
“She's not going anywhere with you.”
“I didn't ask to take her.”
“Then what do you want?”
“The truth.”
I stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind me.
“Your truth or mine?”
“Start with why you disappeared.”
“I didn't disappear. I left.”
“You vanished from my life without a word.”
“I sent you a letter.”
His expression hardened. “I never received one.”
“Of course you didn't.”
He stared at me. “What does that mean?”
“It means someone made sure I couldn't reach you.”
“Who?”
I shook my head. “I don't know. I was twenty-four, pregnant, frightened, and suddenly every door I knocked on was closed. Your assistant told me you didn't want to see me. A man followed me from the clinic. Then someone left a photograph of me outside my apartment with a message telling me to stay away from the Valenti family.”
Dominic went very still.
“Who left the photograph?”
“I never saw his face.”
“Why didn't you come to the police?”
I gave him a bitter look. “You know what your name means in this city.”
He didn't argue.
“Did you have the baby alone?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever try to contact me again?”
“Twice. Both times, the messages came back.”
His jaw flexed.
“Claire, I need to know if Sophie is my daughter.”
I looked through the narrow window in the staff-room door. Sophie was drawing a crooked house and three stick figures.
“She is.”
The words came out quietly.
Dominic closed his eyes.
For a moment, the hallway seemed to tilt.
“How long have you known?”
“Since the day she was born.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I thought you would take her.”
His eyes opened. “I would never take my child from you.”
“You don't know what your family is capable of.”
“I know exactly what my family is capable of.”
“That isn't reassuring.”
He looked as though I had struck him.
Then he asked, “Does she know who I am?”
“She knows she doesn't have a father in her life. That's all.”
He swallowed.
“Can I see her again?”
“Not until I know she's safe.”
“I can make her safe.”
“You couldn't even keep me safe.”
Silence fell between us.
Dominic stepped back.
“You're right,” he said. “I couldn't. And I need to find out why.”
He turned to leave, then paused.
“Claire, I won't tell anyone about Sophie until you agree.”
I watched him walk away.
Through the door, Sophie called, “Mommy? Is the sad man gone?”
I pressed my hand over my mouth.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
May you like
But I knew Dominic Valenti was not going to disappear again.
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