Chapter 9 - The Choice
Beatrice didn't leave. But she didn't just stay, either.
She insisted on going back to school, finishing the degree she had abandoned years ago. She insisted that Dominic take a sabbatical, a real one, far away from the shipping lanes and the judges.
They went to a small, coastal town in Italy, a place where no one knew who Dominic Romano was. There, they were just a man, a woman, and a little boy. They walked on the beach, they ate gelato until they were sick, and they lived in a world where the only threat was a sunburn.
It was the happiest three months of their lives.
But the world has a way of finding you, even on a beach in Italy.
One afternoon, they were walking along the cliffside when they saw a group of men watching them. Men with hard eyes and expensive suits.
Dominic didn't panic. He just turned to Beatrice.
“Go,” he said, his voice calm. “Take Leo and go to the harbor. The boat is waiting.”
“I’m not leaving you,” Beatrice said.
“You’re not leaving,” he said. “You’re waiting. If I’m not there in ten minutes, you sail to the coordinates I gave you.”
He walked toward the men, his hands empty, his posture relaxed. Beatrice watched him, her heart in her throat, until she saw him stop and speak.
They weren't there to kill him. They were there to offer him something—a chance to return to the old life, with more power than ever.
May you like
Beatrice watched from the distance as Dominic shook his head. He didn't yell, he didn't fight. He just walked away, leaving the men standing on the cliff, the wind whipping their expensive suits around them.
He came back to her, his smile bright and genuine. “I told them the winter is over,” he said.
