Chapter 4 - The Secret of the Garden
At 11:00 PM, the mansion was dark and quiet.
Unable to sleep, Dominic walked down the polished hardwood hallway of the second floor, dressed in a black sweater and trousers. He stopped outside his daughters' nursery wing.
The door was slightly ajar. A warm, soft light spilled out onto the dark rug.
Dominic peered through the opening.
Inside, sitting on a plush armchair between two white canopy beds, was Elena. She was wearing a cozy wool cardigan over her clothes, holding a worn, leather-bound book in her lap.
Mia was fast asleep in her bed, clutching a stuffed velvet bear. Lucia and Valentina were tucked under their blankets, their eyes wide and attentive as Elena read to them in a soft, soothing whisper.
"...and so, the little wooden bird flew over the dark mountains," Elena read gently, "not because he wasn't afraid of the wind, but because he knew his family was waiting on the other side of the forest."
Valentina spoke up quietly from her bed. "Miss Elena?"
"Yes, my sweet?"
"Is Papa afraid of the dark mountains?"
Elena paused, setting the book down in her lap. She reached out and gently smoothed Valentina’s dark curls away from her forehead. "Why do you ask that, Valentina?"
"Because Papa never laughs anymore," Valentina whispered, her voice laced with heavy, adult sadness. "He looks at us like he's sad. Like he's angry that Mom isn't here."
Dominic felt a cold dagger twist deep in his chest. He pressed his back against the hallway wall, closing his eyes as a wave of intense, crushing agony washed over him. He had spent fourteen months trying to be strong, trying to hide his grief behind a mask of stoic authority, without realizing that his silence was suffocating his children.
"Your father isn't angry at you, Valentina," Elena’s voice drifted through the door, gentle and reassuring. "He loves you more than all the stars in the night sky. But when grown-ups lose someone they love very much, their hearts get bruised. Sometimes, it takes a long time for a bruised heart to learn how to smile again."
"Does your heart have a bruise, Miss Elena?" Lucia asked softly from the second bed.
A long, heavy silence settled over the room.
Dominic leaned back toward the door frame, watching Elena’s face through the narrow gap.
Elena looked down at her hands, her expression clouding over with a profound, hidden sorrow that Dominic had never noticed before.
"Yes, Lucia," Elena whispered softly. "A very big one."
"Did someone fly to heaven from your family, too?" Lucia asked.
"My little brother, Mateo," Elena revealed, her voice trembling slightly before she forced a gentle smile back onto her lips. "He was six years old. A long time ago, in Spain."
"Is that why you know how to fix bruised hearts?" Valentina asked.
Elena leaned over and kissed both girls on their foreheads, tucking their blankets snugly around their shoulders. "Hearts fix themselves when we love each other. Now, close your eyes. Sleep."
Dominic backed away silently into the darkness of the hallway as Elena turned off the small bedside lamp.
He stood in the shadows near the grand staircase, waiting. A few minutes later, the nursery door opened softly, and Elena stepped out into the corridor.
When she saw Dominic standing in the dark, she flinched slightly, her hand going to her heart. "Mr. Russo... you scared me."
"Who was Mateo?" Dominic asked softly, stepping out of the shadows.
Elena froze, her posture immediately growing defensive. "You were listening at the door?"
"I was," Dominic admitted without apology. "I heard what you told my daughters. Who was Mateo, Elena? Why is a woman with a story like yours working as a housekeeper in Long Island?"
Elena looked at him for a long moment, her dark eyes filled with a mixture of pride, sorrow, and exhaustion.
"My brother died in a crossfire between rival gangs in Valencia twelve years ago," Elena said quietly, her voice cold and flat. "My father was an honest cobbler who refused to pay protection money to the local cartel. I came to America to escape men like them, Mr. Russo. I came here to build a quiet life far away from guns, syndicate bosses, and men who think violence solves problems."
She stepped closer to him, her chin held high, looking directly into the eyes of the most dangerous man in New York.
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"I took this job because those three motherless girls needed someone who understood what it feels like to have your world torn apart in one night," Elena added fiercely. "Not because I respect your world, Mr. Russo. I despise it."
Before Dominic could utter a single word, Elena turned on her heel and walked down the hallway toward the staff quarters, leaving the mafia don standing alone in the dark.
