Chapter 18 - Dominic learned that being Clara’s father did not give him sole custody by declaration
Dominic wanted Elena and Clara on the jet by nightfall.
Elena said no.
The word stunned the room.
Dominic stared.
“No?”
“No.”
“You were just abducted from a safehouse.”
“By your mother’s people.”
“Exactly.”
“And your safehouse was attacked because your enemies knew where it was.”
“Which is why I’m taking you home.”
Elena’s eyes hardened.
“Home to you.”
“Yes.”
“That has never automatically meant home to me.”
Dante quietly left the room.
Smart man.
Dominic lowered his voice.
“She’s my daughter.”
“She’s mine too.”
“You hid her from me.”
“Yes.”
“You let me think she was dead.”
“Yes.”
Elena’s eyes filled.
“I will answer for that.”
“But I will not answer for it by handing you every decision now.”
Dominic froze.
He had crossed an ocean thinking the final step was retrieval.
Find Clara.
Take Clara home.
Father restored.
But seven years of Clara’s life existed without him.
School.
Friends.
Mother.
Switzerland.
Fear.
He could not punch that history into submission.
“What do you want?”
Elena exhaled.
“Independent family counsel.”
Dominic almost laughed.
“You sound like Dante.”
“Maybe Dante is right.”
Terrible development.
Then:
“Clara needs a therapist.”
“She needs stable schooling.”
“She needs to understand who you are without being dropped directly into a hotel where people bow every time you enter.”
Dominic frowned.
“No one bows to Clara.”
“That is not the point.”
It was.
Then Elena said something harder.
“You need to decide whether the life you are taking her into is one where a seven-year-old needs armored cars.”
Dominic stared.
That landed.
He had spent fifteen years believing the empire existed to protect family.
Elena had left because she believed the empire created the danger family needed protection from.
Both could point to evidence.
Then Dominic said:
“You still lied.”
“Yes.”
“You chose for me.”
“Yes.”
“You worked with Julian.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know what he became?”
“Not at first.”
“When you learned?”
Elena looked away.
“I stayed quiet too long.”
“Why?”
“Because admitting he was dangerous meant admitting the system I used to escape you had become dangerous too.”
Good.
Ugly.
Honest.
They agreed on temporary arrangements.
Clara remained in Sicily for four more days because moving immediately again would destabilize her.
Then:
Neutral family residence outside New York City.
Not St. Regis.
Not Elena’s old Swiss house.
Independent child therapist.
School evaluation.
Legal parentage confirmation even though DNA and birth records were overwhelming.
Dominic hated requiring a test to prove something his body already knew.
Still did it.
Result:
99.99+ percent probability of paternity.
No surprise.
Then custody.
Elena remained Clara’s legal mother.
Dominic was added as father.
Joint decision-making subject to court-approved transition terms.
Neither parent could unilaterally remove Clara internationally.
Dominic stared at that clause.
“So if I believe she is threatened—”
“Emergency exceptions exist,” the attorney explained.
“But you document them.”
Dominic looked offended.
Elena smiled.
He glared.
Healthy.
Then Dominic addressed another problem.
The Pier 9 violence.
The Cross mansion.
Julian’s private detention in the St. Regis wine cellar.
His own actions were not automatically legal because Julian was guilty of other things.
Outside counsel reviewed everything.
Julian and Vivienne were transferred to authorities.
Victor too.
Evidence preserved.
Dominic gave statements through counsel.
Would every violent act become a charge?
Not necessarily.
Julian had drawn a gun.
Pier 9 involved armed threats.
But private confinement after the fact created real legal exposure.
Dominic did not order anyone to “make it disappear.”
That was new.
Vivienne’s lawyers immediately announced a civil claim over the gala assault.
Dominic read it.
Frank waited for him to laugh.
He didn’t.
“I hit her.”
“Yes, boss.”
“She threw champagne.”
“Yes.”
“That doesn’t make the slap lawful.”
Frank looked uncomfortable.
“No, boss.”
Dominic settled the civil battery claim without requiring Vivienne to praise him or withdraw truthful allegations.
The internet hated that.
Some people wanted:
She deserved it.
Others:
Destroy Dominic.
Reality was boring.
She humiliated him.
He struck her.
Separate.
Then investigators audited Vivienne’s charity.
She had used donor accounts to reimburse Cross Holdings for gala expenses and private travel.
Not every charity dollar.
Enough for fraud charges.
She also knowingly signed transfer affidavits stating Dominic’s biometric approval had been obtained when it had not.
Her own conduct.
Dominic’s slap did not erase it.
Her fraud did not legalize his slap.
Specific.
Again.
Then Clara asked why “the red-dress lady” was on television.
Dominic answered:
“She made dishonest money decisions.”
“And Daddy hit her?”
Elena looked at him.
Dominic could have edited.
Did not.
“Yes.”
“Was that bad?”
He paused.
“Yes.”
Clara stared.
“But she was mean.”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“Someone being mean does not automatically make hitting them right.”
Clara thought.
Then:
“Did you say sorry?”
Dominic almost wished for another gunfight.
“No.”
“Why?”
Children.
Relentless.
“I should.”
So he did.
Through lawyers.
One sentence.
No meeting.
I should not have struck you at the gala. Your actions afterward are separate from mine.
Vivienne’s response:
I do not forgive you.
Dominic read.
Then put it down.
No problem.
Apology did not purchase outcome.
That evening Clara asked:
“Are we going home soon?”
Dominic asked:
“Which home?”
She thought.
Then:
“I don’t know yet.”
May you like
That was perhaps the most accurate answer anyone had given.
👉 Dominic regained legal recognition as Clara’s father but discovered that fatherhood did not give him the right to simply collect his daughter—while his public return forced him to accept that even justified anger did not place his own violence outside review.
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