Chapter 6 - The Romano Table
The contract changed everything.
Dominic's attorneys traced the corporation.
The alley access connected three buildings, Isabella’s property, the café, and a redevelopment project Victor Hale had hidden behind shell companies.
Without the access rights, Hale’s entire deal collapsed.
But there was something worse.
Hale had been forging notices, falsifying tenant debts, and intimidating business owners into selling.
Dominic had evidence.
Bella had witnesses.
And Calvin had the unsigned contract.
Three days later, Hale's investors withdrew.
Two days after that, city investigators opened an inquiry.
Hale called Dominic.
Bella was in the Romano kitchen when the phone rang.
Dominic answered.
“Hale.”
Bella watched his expression.
“No.”
Pause.
“No.”
Another pause.
Dominic almost smiled.
“You threatened my mother. You threatened Bella. You damaged her workplace. There is no deal.”
He hung up.
Bella handed him coffee.
“That sounded satisfying.”
“It was.”
Isabella entered carrying a tray.
“Dinner at seven.”
Dominic frowned.
“We're working.”
“You are eating.”
“Mother—”
“Seven.”
She walked out.
Bella grinned.
“The terrifying Dominic Romano.”
“Don't start.”
“Defeated by a seventy-four-year-old woman.”
“She has decades of experience.”
That evening, Bella sat at the Romano dining table.
She had never seen so many forks.
She whispered to Dominic, “Which one?”
“The outside.”
“Which outside?”
He reached over and picked up the correct fork.
“This.”
“Thank you.”
Isabella watched them from across the table.
She looked delighted.
Dominic noticed.
“Mother.”
“What?”
“Stop.”
“I’m eating.”
“You're staring.”
“At my dinner.”
“I'm not dinner.”
Isabella smiled.
“Not yet.”
Bella nearly choked on her water.
After dinner, Isabella disappeared upstairs.
Bella stood near the terrace doors.
Rain had started again.
Dominic joined her.
“You always show up when it rains,” he said.
“So does Chicago.”
He smiled.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Bella looked at him.
“What happens now?”
“To Hale?”
“To me.”
Dominic's expression became serious.
“You go back to your life.”
“That's it?”
“What did you expect?”
“I don't know.”
He looked away.
Bella studied him.
“You're doing that thing again.”
“What thing?”
“Deciding what's best for someone without asking.”
Dominic turned.
“Bella, my life isn't normal.”
“I noticed the armed men before breakfast.”
“People around me become targets.”
“I already became one.”
“Exactly.”
She stepped closer.
“You think sending me away fixes that?”
“It reduces the risk.”
“Is that what you want?”
He didn't answer.
Bella waited.
“Dominic.”
“No.”
The word was quiet.
She softened.
“No what?”
“No, it isn't what I want.”
“Then what do you want?”
Dominic looked at her for a long moment.
“You.”
Bella's breath caught.
He continued.
“And that is precisely why I'm trying to be careful.”
She smiled faintly.
“You're terrible at careful.”
“I know.”
“You investigated me.”
“I apologized.”
“You bought my building.”
“Technically an investment.”
“You sent four bodyguards into a café.”
“My mother requested four.”
Bella laughed.
“Of course she did.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“I've spent most of my life assuming everyone who approached my family wanted something.”
“I wanted something.”
His eyebrow rose.
“What?”
“For people to stop stepping over those oranges.”
He smiled.
Bella reached for his hand.
His tattooed fingers closed around hers.
Then Isabella's voice came from upstairs.
“Dominic!”
He closed his eyes.
Bella laughed.
“What?”
Isabella appeared at the railing.
“Do not stand in the rain. Bella will catch pneumonia.”
“Mother, we're indoors.”
“Then why is the terrace door open?”
Bella called back, “We're fine!”
Isabella smiled.
“Wonderful. Continue.”
She disappeared.
Dominic stared at the staircase.
“She planned this.”
“Definitely.”
He looked at Bella again.
“So?”
“So what?”
“Dinner tomorrow?”
Bella pretended to consider.
“Do I get four bodyguards?”
“Two.”
“Three.”
“Done.”
She smiled.
Then kissed him.
Brief.
Soft.
Enough to make Dominic Romano completely forget whatever he had intended to say next.
Bella stepped back.
“You look surprised.”
“I am.”
“Good.”
His phone rang.
He checked the screen.
The warmth disappeared from his face.
“What happened?” Bella asked.
Dominic answered.
He listened.
Then looked at her.
“Hale disappeared.”
Bella's smile faded.
“Is that bad?”
Dominic put the phone away.
“Very.”
Outside, a black car passed slowly beyond the estate gates.
May you like
And for the first time since the oranges fell into the rain, Bella understood that the story wasn't finished.
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