Chapter 3 - The Boy Behind the Locked Door
Dominic Vale returned to the Harbor Light Diner at exactly nine the next morning.
No dramatic entrance.
No shouting.
Just a tall man in a charcoal coat stepping through the door while October rain dripped from the awning.
Marcus followed him.
Frank nearly dropped the coffee pot.
I stood behind the counter holding my mother's bracelet.
Dominic noticed it immediately.
His entire expression changed.
"Where did you get that?"
"It belonged to my mother."
He stepped closer.
I instinctively tightened my grip.
Dominic stopped.
"May I see it?"
I hesitated.
Then placed the bracelet on the counter.
He lifted it carefully.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then his voice became almost unrecognizable.
"She kept it."
"Did you give it to her?"
He nodded.
"I made it from a broken identification bracelet. The nurses helped me engrave the letters."
I watched his thumb move over the silver.
"Why?"
Dominic looked toward the window.
"Because she was the first person who ever told me I wasn't a monster."
Something painful moved through his eyes.
I pulled out a chair.
"Sit down."
Marcus looked startled.
Dominic almost smiled.
"You're very comfortable giving me orders."
"I'm a waitress. It's part of the job."
He sat.
I placed a cup of coffee in front of him.
Then I asked the question I'd been thinking about all night.
"What happened when you were seven?"
Dominic's expression darkened.
"My father ran an organization that controlled much of the waterfront. He believed fear was the only way to keep people loyal."
"And you?"
"I was a frightened child."
He looked at his hands.
"My mother died when I was six. Afterward, my father decided weakness needed to be beaten out of me."
I felt sick.
Dominic continued.
"One night, he locked me in a basement because I refused to hurt another child."
I swallowed.
"How long?"
"Three days."
My hand flew to my mouth.
"When they finally brought me to the hospital, I wouldn't let anyone touch me."
"Except my mother."
He nodded.
"Eleanor sat beside my bed for hours. She didn't force me to talk. She just stayed."
I felt tears gathering.
"She used to do that with me."
Dominic looked at me.
"She became my guardian while the court investigated my father. She tried to adopt me."
My heart stopped.
"Why didn't she?"
Dominic's jaw tightened.
"Because someone in my family threatened to kill her if she didn't disappear."
Silence settled between us.
Then I noticed something.
A faint white scar beneath Dominic's left cheekbone.
Exactly where I'd wiped away his blood.
He caught me looking.
"My father gave me that scar."
I lowered my eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Dominic shook his head.
"You didn't know."
Then he leaned forward.
"Lily, there's something you need to understand."
"What?"
"Your mother didn't leave because she stopped caring about me."
His voice dropped.
"She left because she was pregnant."
I stared at him.
"With me?"
May you like
He nodded.
"And according to the records I've found, someone threatened to kill both of you before you were born."
