Chapter 5 - The Web of Dominic
While Gregory Wallace was being physically dragged out of Lakecrest Medical Center through a throng of whispering colleagues and glaring orderlies, Dominic Rossi was standing in a sunny kitchen in Lincoln Park.
He wore a simple gray cashmere sweater with his sleeves pushed up, gently stirring a pot of chicken broth on Clara’s stove.
Clara sat at the breakfast bar, wrapped in a plush wool blanket, holding a warm mug of chamomile tea. The swelling on her cheek had subsided slightly thanks to Maria’s herbal compresses, but the purple bruise remained—a stark, ugly reminder of the night before.
""Dom,"" Clara said softly, watching her brother carefully taste the soup. ""You haven't checked your phone once in two hours. That’s not normal for you.""
""I took the day off,"" Dominic said easily, turning with a warm smile. ""A man is allowed to make lunch for his sister and his future niece, isn't he?""
Clara narrowed her eyes, studying his calm, handsome face. ""My union representative called me an hour ago, Dom. She was crying. She said the hospital’s CEO personally called her to offer me a formal, written apology, a promotion to head clinical supervisor of the maternal wing, and six months of paid administrative leave starting today.""
""That sounds like appropriate customer service from a modern healthcare facility,"" Dominic remarked, ladling soup into a porcelain bowl.
""Dom! Don't play dumb with me!"" Clara set her mug down with a small clatter. ""My union rep said the entire executive board of Vanguard Health Holdings is flying in from New York to hand-deliver my settlement check! She said the night operations manager, Wallace, was escorted out in handcuffs by Cook County sheriff’s deputies! They found financial fraud, illegal kickbacks, and they reopened two old criminal files against him!""
Dominic placed the bowl in front of her, setting a silver spoon beside it. ""Eat your soup, Clara. The baby needs nutrition.""
""Who are you, Dominic?"" Clara whispered, her voice cracking with a sudden, overwhelming realization that had been building inside her for a decade. ""You told me you ran logistics. You told me you owned trucking depots and commercial real estate. But trucking companies don't make multibillion-dollar healthcare conglomerates bow their heads in less than twelve hours.""
Dominic pulled out the barstool next to her and sat down. His demeanor shifted; the playful older brother softened, revealing the weathered, iron-willed protector underneath.
""Our father died when you were eight, Clara,"" Dominic said quietly, looking down at his own calloused knuckles. ""He died in debt to men who took the shoes off our porch and threatened to burn our apartment down while you were sleeping in your crib. Mom spent her nights cleaning office buildings until her knees bled, just so we wouldn't end up in foster care.""
Clara reached out, covering his hand with her own.
""I swore to Mom on her deathbed that you would grow up in the light,"" Dominic continued, meeting her eyes. ""I swore you would never know what it felt like to be powerless, to be cornered by arrogant men who think the world belongs to them because they wear a suit. To build that kind of shield around you in a city like Chicago, Clara... I had to walk into the dark. I had to become the man that other powerful men are terrified of meeting.""
Clara looked at him, tears slipping quietly down her cheeks. ""Are you a criminal, Dom?""
""I am a brother,"" Dominic answered without hesitation. ""Everything I own, everything I built, every connection I forged, exists for one singular purpose: to ensure that no one ever touches you with impunity. Gregory Wallace made a mistake. He thought you were an isolated, exhausted woman with no one to stand behind her. I merely reminded him that you have an army.""
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Clara wiped her eyes, looking at her brother with a mixture of awe, fear, and profound love. ""What is going to happen to him?""
Dominic smiled gently, standing up and kissing the top of her head. ""The law will take its share, Clara. And what the law leaves behind... will be handled.""
