Chapter 5 - THE LETTER THAT NEVER ARRIVED
The next morning, Dominic asked me to meet him in the study.
On his desk lay a yellowed envelope.
My name was written across it in my own handwriting.
I stopped breathing.
“Where did you get that?”
“It was found in a locked cabinet in my uncle's office.”
I reached for it.
The envelope was unopened.
Three years earlier, I had written it in a hospital waiting room, my hands shaking while a nurse told me my daughter was healthy. I had begged Dominic to call me. I had told him I was pregnant and scared. I had written the hospital's number twice.
I opened it.
The letter was still inside.
Dominic read it over my shoulder. His face drained of color.
“You tried to tell me.”
“I told you.”
“I never saw this.”
“Someone made sure you didn't.”
He turned the page over. A small stamp marked it as received by the Valenti private office. Beneath it was a signature.
R. Valenti.
His uncle.
Dominic gripped the desk.
“Raffaele intercepted it.”
“And the messages. And the calls.”
He looked at me.
“I'll make him answer for this.”
“Don't do anything because you're angry.”
“I'm angry because I lost three years.”
“So did I.”
He went quiet.
I sat down, suddenly exhausted.
“I spent nights wondering whether Sophie would ever ask why her father didn't want her. I worked two jobs. I skipped meals. I told her stories about a father who lived far away because I couldn't bear to tell her the truth.”
Dominic came around the desk, then stopped before reaching me.
“I am sorry.”
I looked up.
“I don't need an apology that lasts five minutes. I need you to understand that you cannot make those years disappear.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.” His voice was rough. “I can't give you back her first steps or her first words. I can't be there for the nights she had a fever. I can't undo the birthdays I missed.”
He looked at the letter.
“But I can be here for the next ones, if you let me.”
I didn't answer.
A small knock sounded at the door.
Sophie peeked inside, holding Mr. Buttons.
“Mommy? Can I show him?”
I looked at Dominic.
He waited for my decision.
I nodded.
Sophie hurried in and climbed onto the sofa.
“I drew a family.”
She held up a page. Three people stood beneath a crooked yellow sun. One was small, one had a dress, and the tallest wore a black suit.
Dominic stared at it.
“That's beautiful.”
“That's Mommy. That's me. That's you.”
He swallowed.
“I'm honored.”
Sophie considered him.
“Are you my papa?”
The room went silent.
I moved toward her, but Dominic lifted one hand gently.
“Can I answer?”
I nodded.
He knelt beside the sofa.
“I believe I am, sweetheart. But I don't want you to feel you have to call me anything before you're ready.”
Sophie looked at me.
“Is he?”
I brushed her braid back.
“Yes, baby. Dominic is your papa.”
She studied him for a long moment.
Then she held out Mr. Buttons.
“You can hold him. He's very brave.”
Dominic accepted the worn rabbit with both hands.
“I'll take good care of him.”
Sophie leaned forward and kissed his cheek.
May you like
And the man who had faced armed enemies without blinking looked as if that tiny kiss had brought him to his knees.
============================================================================
