Chapter 9 - The Question He Could Not Ask
The question burned in Dominic’s throat.
Is she mine?
He did not say it.
Because the prompt forbids confirmation.
Because Elena’s eyes warned him that asking in front of the child would become another act of violence.
Because the girl was not a blood claim, not a clue, not a weapon.
She was a child clutching a purple crayon in a sealed restaurant while adults nearly broke around her.
So Dominic swallowed the question.
It almost killed him.
Elena saw the restraint.
For the first time, uncertainty flickered across her face.
Maybe she expected him to demand.
To command.
To order Marco to collect records, doctors, names, proof.
Maybe the Dominic she remembered would have.
Maybe the Dominic he had become still wanted to.
But the little girl was watching.
And when a child with your eyes watches you, even unconfirmed, you learn which parts of yourself are monstrous.
Dominic stepped back from the table.
Slowly.
Elena’s grip remained tight, but her breathing changed.
Marco looked shocked.
The staff looked terrified.
The unseen figure remained behind Dominic.
Still close.
Still unnamed.
Dominic turned his head slightly toward the shadow but kept his body angled so he could see Elena and the child.
“What does this person want?”
Elena’s face went still.
No answer.
The child whispered, “Mommy?”
Elena knelt slightly, lowering herself closer to the girl’s face.
“Do not move unless I move.”
The child nodded.
Dominic’s heart twisted again.
Commands a child should never need.
The unidentified person shifted.
A coat hem entered the edge of Dominic’s vision.
Marco’s breath caught.
Dominic’s eyes narrowed.
He wanted to turn fully.
He wanted to seize the room back.
But Elena had told him to turn around.
And for once, he understood that obedience might reveal more than force.
He looked at Elena one last time.
“Did you come here because of me?”
Her lips parted.
Closed.
Not answered.
That was answer enough and not enough at all.
Rain battered the windows harder.
A candle flickered out near table nine.
The shadow across the table deepened.
Dominic turned a fraction more.
The person still was not revealed.
Elena pulled the little girl fully behind her.
Marco whispered, barely audible, “Impossible.”
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Dominic froze.
Read Chapter 10 👉 Because Marco’s single word made Dominic understand the person behind him might be connected to a truth Elena had buried for years.
