Chapter 20
DOMINIC
Living with Sofia isn’t much different from not living with Sofia.
We travel to work separately and come home separately.
I think that’s a complete waste of time, but she won’t budge.
She doesn’t want even a hint of office gossip about us.
That’ll be a moot point once her pregnancy starts showing, but I digress.
We still have no answers on who broke into Sofia’s apartment, even though I know it in my gut it had to be Calderone. The violence felt so personal. They wanted to send a message to her and to me.
The most frightening part was that there was no break-in. The windows were all shut and locked, the door too. That means someone has a copy of her key and could come back anytime. Changing the locks won’t help, either. If they copied it once, they could do it again.
For two weeks, she’s a ghost in my home. I know she’s there. She sure spends a hell of a lot of time with my sister. They’ve become thick as thieves, which is a problem for later. The last thing I need is the two most important women in my life ganging up on me.
I also resent it. She trusts Chiara more easily than she’s ever trusted me.
I think she’s still mad about me bringing Dr. Greco to see her.
She thinks I overstepped. Well, she can think whatever the hell she wants, because I’m not risking her health on top of everything else.
In the meantime, I’ll just have to deal with her not speaking to me in a non-professional capacity.
Rafe comes into my office one afternoon, and I can tell by the grimace on his face that whatever it is, it’s bad. He glances back at Sofia’s desk, which he never does. I stiffen.
“Shut the door,” I tell him.
He hesitates. “It’s about her dad,” he says quietly. “I think after everything, you should probably bring her in on this from the start.”
I only consider not telling her for a moment. The only way we’re ever going to build trust is if I’m open and honest about what’s going on. Hiding another thing from her is not going to strengthen our good will.
“Sofia,” I call. “Can you please come in here?”
Her chair squeaks as she gets up, and I wait, holding my breath. She comes into the office, looking between Rafe and me, apprehension written all over her face.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
“Have a seat,” I tell her. “And Rafe? Shut the damn door.”
He does and they both sit down. Rafe looks from me to her, clearly not sure who to address.
“Out with it,” I demand.
“Sofia,” he says carefully. “This is going to be hard to hear, and I haven’t told Dominic yet either, so I’m telling you both together. Your father’s garage was vandalized.”
She gasps in horror and shoots to her feet. “I have to go check on him.”
I move quickly, putting myself between her and the door.
“Let my men handle it,” I tell her. “The last thing we need is for you to put yourself in harm’s way.”
She glares up at me, shaking her head fiercely.
“I’m not having this debate with you,” she hisses. “He’s my father!”
“At least let him call you and tell you himself,” Rafe suggests. “He’s going to be suspicious if you go there now without warning. He’ll wonder how you know.”
She looks between us, and I see the gears grinding. She knows Rafe is right. She’s more likely to listen to him than me right now.
“It’s going to be okay, Sofia,” I tell her. “We’re going to sort it out.”
She doesn’t respond. She opens the door and goes back to her desk without another word. I’d chain her to that desk if I could.
“What if he doesn’t tell her?” I ask Rafe. “We’re going to have a hell of a time keeping her out of Queens.”
Rafe sighs. “Then you’ll need to go with her. From the pictures I’ve seen, she’ll need the support.”
“I’m not sure how much support I’ll be to her,” I murmur. “Or how much she’ll let me be.”
We hear the sound of buzzing, and a moment later, Sofia appears in the doorway.
“He called,” she says plainly. “I’m going.”
“We’re coming with you,” I tell her.
She doesn’t argue, probably because she knows there’s no point.
We pile into a town car and head toward Queens.
Her father’s garage sits in a seedier neighborhood than her apartment.
Anyone could have vandalized it, though we all know the truth.
Whoever did this was likely the same person who broke into her apartment, the same person who tried to attack my business.
Which means Enzo isn’t just attacking my interests anymore. He’s going after the people I care about too. This can’t continue.
When we pull up to the garage, I see Marco standing inside, hands on his hips just like Sofia. He’s assessing the damage, and even from behind he looks overwhelmed. I hate this. I can’t help feeling responsible.
He turns at the sound of our car pulling up and narrows his eyes. He’s ready for a fight. Sofia gets out first and his face immediately changes from anger to worry. Once Rafe and I step out of the car, his face darkens again.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he screams at me. “This is all your fault! They did this because of you!”
“Dad, stop!” Sofia warns. “They’re here to help.”
She turns to me and I nod. Rafe chuckles, even though it’s completely inappropriate in this moment.
“Mr. Bellini, my name is Rafael Santoro.” Rafe holds out his hand for Marco to shake.
Just like in my office, Marco stares at his hand and doesn’t shake it. Rafe is much more patient than I am. He just closes his hand and smiles.
“Mr. Bellini, we’ll help you however we can,” I promise him.
“There’s nothing to help,” he says, throwing his hands up. “They’ve destroyed everything.”
He walks into the garage and we follow, getting a better look.
Every tool chest has been overturned or emptied.
It looks like they stole any tool they couldn’t break.
The lift nearest the back is wrecked, hydraulic fluid pooling dark on the floor beneath it.
The office window is shattered from the inside.
We step through to find file cabinets ripped open, invoices and receipts scattered across the floor.
Years of Marco’s life, ruined. We can replace the physical things, but his confidence is shattered. In the fluorescent light of his office, he looks smaller than he did in mine. His face is lined with grief and fury. He may not recover from this.
Over his head, I see a red Vieri business card pinned to the wall with a knife. Sofia sees it a second after I do and gasps. Marco turns around and stiffens. He walks over to it, pulls out the knife, and grabs the card.
“I believe this belongs to you,” he says darkly, handing me the card.
Sure enough, it’s my name on the card. One of my personal cards. Whoever did this wanted Marco to know it’s because of me. They want him to hate me. It all feels so deeply personal.
“Marco,” I say carefully. “I will do whatever needs to be done to make this right. You have my word.”
I expect him to lash out. How could he not? Then he looks at Sofia, and his face falls even further. I turn to her and see the tears running down her face.
“I should have quit,” she says in a small voice. “You wanted me to quit and I didn’t. This is my fault.”
“Sof,” Marco says, but she shakes her head and storms out.
I chase after her, leaving Marco with Rafe.
“Sofia,” I call as she runs out of the garage. “Sofia, wait!”
She turns on me. “He was supposed to be protected!” she screams. “I only took this job to help with his debts. He was never supposed to lose his garage because of me.”
“Nothing is lost,” I say gently. “We’ll help put it back together.”
Her eyes are alight with fury and she steps into my space.
“Did you not see him? He has no fight left in him. He’s not recovering from this, Dominic. They took away his safety just like they took away mine.”
“Sofia,” I say softly. “I’m so sorry this is happening. I will make it better, I swear to you.”
She shakes her head. “You’ve done enough,” she says. “I think you and Rafe should go. Let me handle this. He doesn’t want you here.”
“I’m not leaving you alone,” I protest.
Her face goes hard. “That wasn’t a request.”
I’m almost impressed by her audacity, speaking to me like that. Normally I’d argue and impose my will, but maybe she’s right. I’ve done enough.
“There’s a full security team across the street,” I tell her. “I’ll leave you alone, but I’m not leaving you unprotected.”
She grits her teeth. “Fine,” she concedes. “Please just leave.”
As much as it pains me, I do what she asks. I go back inside to grab Rafe and tell him we’re leaving. He looks between me and Sofia, who’s followed me in, and doesn’t argue.
“We’ll find the men who did this and punish them,” I promise Marco. “You have my word.”
He gives me a hard look, and I realize it’s probably the last thing he wants to hear.
I mean it, though. I know in my gut that Enzo Calderone ordered this attack.
He’s gotten away with too much. I’ve sat back and waited too long, and now he thinks he can do whatever the hell he wants without consequence. That changes now.
Rafe and I get back into the car and he whistles lowly.
“This is bad, Dom,” he says. “Targeting us is one thing, but this is personal.”
“You think I don’t know that?” I snap, leaning against the window and running a hand through my hair. “We need to make a move.”
He nods and sighs wearily.
“We’ve got to be smart, though,” I continue. “If we counterattack without absolute proof of what he’s done, he’ll try to ruin us.”
“I’m on it,” he says. “Whatever you need.”
The driver pulls away from the curb, and I look back toward the garage. Sofia and Marco are still visible through the opening, and it kills me to leave her alone. I fight the urge to stay. This is what it means to build trust, though, right?