Chapter 2 - The Name on Her Birth Record
Dominic read the report three times.
It did not change.
Clara Marie Evans.
Mother: Elena Costa.
Father: Daniel Evans.
Elena Costa had disappeared from the criminal world twenty-one years earlier.
Dominic remembered the story.
Victor’s younger sister had fallen in love with an ordinary man.
She had chosen him over her family.
Then she vanished.
“She knew?” Dominic asked.
Enzo shook his head.
“We don’t know.”
“She was working at my gala.”
“As a substitute.”
“Convenient.”
Isabella’s expression hardened.
“She saved my life.”
“That doesn’t erase her name.”
“No. But neither does her name erase what she did.”
Dominic looked through the glass.
Clara remained unconscious.
“Find everything.”
---
She woke the next afternoon.
Her first word was not Dominic’s name.
“Water.”
A nurse helped her drink.
Then Clara noticed Dominic sitting beside the window.
Her eyes narrowed.
“You.”
“Me.”
“Your mother?”
“Alive.”
Clara relaxed.
Then she noticed the ring on her thumb.
She stared at it.
“What is this?”
Dominic stood.
“It’s complicated.”
“Remove it.”
He almost smiled.
“You just woke from surgery.”
“And somehow I woke engaged to organized crime?”
“Not engaged.”
Her eyes widened.
“Oh, that’s reassuring.”
“People were told you were my wife.”
Silence.
Clara stared at him.
“You did what?”
“To protect you.”
“You married me while I was unconscious?”
“No.”
“Then why does everyone think you did?”
“Because the man who ordered those shots knows you survived.”
Clara stopped.
Dominic continued.
“He may try again.”
“And pretending I’m your wife stops him?”
“It makes attacking you extremely expensive.”
Clara looked at the ring.
“You people are insane.”
“Frequently.”
She tried removing it.
Pain shot through her side.
Dominic caught her wrist.
“Stop.”
“Don’t touch me.”
He released her immediately.
That surprised her.
Dominic stepped back.
“The ring comes off whenever you want.”
“Now.”
He carefully removed it.
Clara watched him place it on the table.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Then Dominic asked the question he had been waiting seventeen hours to ask.
“Who was your mother?”
Clara’s expression changed.
“Why?”
“Answer.”
“Elena Evans.”
“Before Evans.”
Clara went still.
“How do you know there was a before?”
“Clara.”
She looked away.
“Costa.”
Dominic felt his suspicion sharpen.
“You knew?”
“That my mother’s maiden name was Costa? Yes.”
“That Victor Costa is your uncle?”
Her head snapped toward him.
“My what?”
Dominic studied her face.
There was no hesitation.
No calculated denial.
Only confusion.
“Victor Costa.”
“I’ve never met anyone named Victor Costa.”
“He’s your mother’s brother.”
“No.”
“He is.”
Clara’s breathing quickened.
“My mother told me she had no family.”
“She lied.”
Clara stared at him.
“My mother died when I was twelve.”
Dominic said nothing.
“She told me her parents were dead. She never mentioned a brother.”
Dominic pulled out his phone and showed her an old photograph.
Elena Costa stood beside Victor.
Clara’s face emptied.
“That’s her.”
“Yes.”
“She looks seventeen.”
“Approximately.”
Clara handed the phone back.
“Why would she hide this?”
Dominic watched her carefully.
“Maybe because she wanted you nowhere near people like us.”
Clara met his eyes.
“Then apparently she had excellent judgment.”
---
That evening, Enzo entered Dominic’s office.
“You believe her?”
“I believe she didn’t recognize Victor.”
“That doesn’t prove anything.”
“No.”
Enzo placed another file down.
“This might.”
Dominic opened it.
Employment records.
Clara had worked three jobs during the previous year.
Coffee shop.
College library.
Catering company.
“She’s studying nursing,” Enzo said. “Scholarship covers tuition. She covers everything else.”
“Why was she at the gala?”
“Someone called in sick.”
“Who?”
“Madison Price.”
“Find her.”
“Already did.”
Enzo hesitated.
“She was paid five thousand dollars yesterday morning.”
Dominic looked up.
“By whom?”
“A shell company tied to Costa.”
The room went silent.
“So Costa arranged for Clara to be there.”
“Yes.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“But why?”
---
At the hospital, Clara woke to Isabella sitting beside her.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Clara said.
“Neither should you.”
Clara smiled weakly.
“Fair.”
Isabella took her hand.
“Thank you.”
“You already thanked me.”
“I’ll probably continue.”
“You don’t owe me anything.”
Isabella studied her.
“Why did you do it?”
Clara frowned.
“What?”
“Jump in front of me.”
Clara considered the question.
“You looked scared.”
Isabella laughed softly.
“That’s all?”
“You were somebody’s mother.”
Isabella’s eyes filled.
Before she could respond, the door opened.
Dominic entered.
His face was cold.
“Everyone out.”
Isabella stood.
“What happened?”
Dominic looked directly at Clara.
“Costa arranged your shift.”
Clara stared.
“What?”
“He paid the employee you replaced.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“But somebody wanted you in that ballroom.”
Clara’s voice dropped.
“And you think it was me?”
Dominic did not answer.
That was answer enough.
Clara reached for the Rossi ring on the bedside table.
She threw it at him.
May you like
“Then get out.”
---
