Chapter 13 - Victor’s InvitationVictor Caruso sent flowers.
Not to Dominic.
Not to Elena.
To Nico and Rafa.
Two small arrangements of white lilies arrived at the recovery center gates with no card, no sender, and no mistake about what they meant.
Elena wanted them burned.
Dominic agreed.
But before Marcus could remove them, Nico saw the delivery through the window.
“Flowers,” he said.
Elena turned him gently away.
“They are not for us.”
Rafa appeared behind him.
“Can we give them to sick people?”
Dominic’s chest tightened.
Elena looked at him.
The boys did not understand threats disguised as gifts. They saw flowers and imagined kindness.
That was exactly why Victor had sent them.
To invade without entering.
To turn innocence into a message.
Dominic ordered the flowers photographed, tested, and destroyed.
Elena did not object.
At noon, a second message arrived.
This one came through Dominic’s oldest private line, a number only family and dead men had used.
Marcus placed the phone on speaker.
Victor’s voice filled the room, warm and gravelly.
“Nephew.”
Dominic said nothing.
“I hear congratulations are in order.”
Elena stood behind Dominic, arms wrapped around herself.
Victor chuckled.
“Twins. Your father would have laughed.”
Dominic’s voice remained flat.
“You sent a man to my sons’ window.”
“I sent a man to confirm a rumor.”
“You sent flowers.”
“To honor Lucia.”
“You do not say her name.”
Victor paused.
There it was.
The first crack.
“Careful,” Victor said softly. “You are emotional.”
“Yes.”
Marcus glanced at him.
Dominic continued, “That should worry you.”
Victor laughed.
“You always were dramatic when wounded. Listen to me. Bring Elena and the boys to dinner. We discuss the trust. We discuss blood. We discuss how to keep them safe.”
Elena whispered, “No.”
Dominic did not need her warning.
“My sons will never sit at your table.”
“Your sons?” Victor repeated. “Have you held them long enough to earn that word?”
The hit landed.
Dominic let it.
Victor continued, “The woman hid them from you. For three years. She sold your ring, used your mother’s name, and ran. Are you certain she did not plan this moment? Women with children understand leverage.”
Elena’s face hardened.
Dominic’s voice dropped.
“Say one more word about her.”
Victor sighed.
“There. Weakness. I warned your father love would ruin you.”
“No,” Dominic said. “My father ruined enough. Love is what survived him.”
Silence.
Then Victor’s tone changed.
“Dinner. Tomorrow night. Or the next complaint goes to federal court, and this time it includes your medical history, Elena’s aliases, and a witness who says she tried to sell the boys’ paternity.”
Dominic looked at Margaret Ellis, who was listening from the corner.
She mouthed, He has more.
Dominic said, “Send the location.”
Elena’s eyes flew to him.
Victor sounded pleased.
“Good boy.”
Dominic ended the call.
Elena exploded.
“Absolutely not.”
Dominic turned.
“I am not bringing you or the boys.”
“You just agreed.”
“I agreed to receive information.”
“You think you can go alone and outplay him?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
Dominic looked at Marcus.
“Because Victor does not invite. He reveals.”
Marcus nodded slowly.
“He wants us looking at dinner.”
Elena’s anger faltered.
Dominic continued, “Which means something else happens tomorrow.”
Margaret stepped forward.
“He threatened federal court. He may already have filings prepared.”
“Or media,” Marcus said.
Elena’s face paled.
“The boys.”
Dominic nodded.
“We move them before dinner.”
“No more moving,” she whispered. “They are exhausted.”
“I know.”
Nico appeared in the doorway holding a crayon drawing.
Everyone stopped.
He looked from face to face.
“Are we hiding again?”
Elena closed her eyes.
Rafa peeked around him.
“I don’t like hiding.”
Dominic felt something inside him settle.
Not soften.
Settle.
He rolled forward until he was at their level.
“You should not have to hide,” he said.
Nico watched him.
“Then why do we?”
“Because adults made a dangerous mess before you were born.”
“Can you clean it?”
Dominic looked at Elena.
Then back at Nico.
“Yes.”
Rafa held up his toy ambulance.
“Today?”
Dominic almost smiled.
“I will start today.”
Nico handed him the drawing.
It showed four figures.
Mommy.
Nico.
Rafa.
And a person in a chair.
Dominic stared at it.
The label beneath the chair figure was not Daddy.
It was Dominic.
Somehow, that hurt and healed at the same time.
“Thank you,” he said.
Nico nodded.
“You can keep it. But don’t fold it.”
“I won’t.”
After the boys left, Dominic placed the drawing carefully inside his jacket.
Then he looked at Marcus.
“Call Walsh. Call Margaret’s federal contacts. Call every legitimate board member who still owes me honesty instead of fear.”
Elena studied him.
“What are you doing?”
May you like
Dominic’s eyes had gone cold, but not dead.
“I am accepting Victor’s invitation,” he said. “And burning down the table before he sits.”
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