Chapter 2 - The silent agreement
Domenico’s jaw remained tight as his eyes fixed on the final signature at the bottom of the yellowed paper. The room was deathly quiet, save for the soft, fading whimpers of little Sofia clinging tightly to his trouser leg. Camilla sat frozen in the armchair, her hand pressed against her stinging cheek, while Marco slowly pushed himself up from the floor, wiping a smear of red from his forehead.
"Domenico," Camilla whispered, her voice trembling as she tried to regain her composure. "You don't understand what you're looking at. It's old family business. It has nothing to do with you."
Domenico didn't look up from the document. His voice was dangerously low, a calm rumble that carried far more threat than his previous roar. "Old family business? Then why is a private hospital birth registry from fourteen months ago hidden inside an antique vase in my house?"
Marco stepped forward cautiously, raising his hands in a defensive gesture. "Look, boss, it's complicated. We put that away to protect the family name. You know how rumors spread in the city. If the syndicate found out about the irregularities—"
"Shut your mouth, Marco," Domenico snapped, his intense brown eyes finally rising to pierce his brother-in-law. "You lay another hand on me or my family, and I'll have Vance throw you into the Hudson River before sunset."
Sofia reached up, her small fingers tugging at Domenico's black trousers. Domenico immediately softened his stance, kneeling down gracefully in his tailored suit. He picked the toddler up into his broad arms, resting her small head against his shoulder. Sofia buried her rosy face in his neck, feeling safe against his broad shoulders.
"Camilla," Domenico said, standing back up and slipping the folded yellowed document carefully into his interior jacket pocket. "From this second on, you do not come within ten feet of this child. Do you understand me?"
"She's my daughter, Domenico!" Camilla screamed, standing up in her cream dress, though her eyes flickered with a nervous guilt that betrayed her words. "You can't take my child from me in my own home!"
"You just slapped a fourteen-month-old baby across the face because she knocked over a vase," Domenico said, his dark beard framing a cold, ruthless smile. "You aren't a mother. You're a liability."
Domenico turned his back on them and walked out of the foyer, carrying Sofia up the grand staircase toward the nursery. Down below, Marco grabbed Camilla by the arm, whispering furiously into her ear.
"We're dead if he calls the clinic," Marco hissed under his breath. "We need that paper back tonight."
"He won't leave it unguarded," Camilla replied, her eyes wide with desperation. "You saw him. He knows something isn't right. If he digs any deeper into what happened fourteen months ago, everything we built crumbles."
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Upstairs, Domenico set Sofia down on the soft rug of her bright, sunlit nursery. He walked over to the heavy mahogany desk in the corner, pulled out his encrypted satellite phone, and dialed a private number.
"Vance," Domenico spoke into the receiver, watching Sofia play with a plush teddy bear. "I need a forensic team at the house immediately. And get me the chief of staff at St. Jude’s Memorial Hospital. Tell him Domenico Romano is calling, and he has five minutes to open his private archives."
