“Not a sound,” Dominic said, his gaze drifting back down to the sleeping baby. “I was sitting at my desk, looking over shipping manifests. I heard a quiet thump against the wood. I opened the door expecting one of my men with an urgent report. Instead, I found a toddler clutching a rattle, staring up at me like she owned the building.”
A tiny, bitter smile touched the corner of his lips before vanishing just as quickly. “She looked at me, reached up her arms, and grunted. So I picked her up. She was cold. Her socks were thin.”
Dominic reached over to the side table, where a folded cashmere throw blanket lay. He pulled it over Nora’s small body, tucking it neatly around her shoulders.
“Who is Diane?” Dominic asked quietly.
“The… the floor manager,” Lena stammered. “She said if I was late or missed one more shift, she’d fire me on the spot.”
“Diane,” Dominic repeated, as if storing the name away in a filing cabinet inside his head.
Before Lena could speak again, the door behind her swung open.
Vincent Marsh stepped into the room. Vincent was six-foot-four, built like a brick wall, with a sharp crease in his trousers and a silenced pistol hidden beneath his tailored overcoat. He had served as Dominic’s chief of security for over a decade.
“Boss, the shipment from the docks just—” Vincent stopped dead in his tracks.
His jaw practically unhinged. His eyes darted from Lena kneeling on the floor to Dominic sitting on the couch, calmly holding a sleeping infant draped in a ten-thousand-dollar cashmere blanket.
Vincent looked like he had stepped into an alternate dimension. “Boss… what… whose child is that?”
“Vincent,” Dominic said, his voice deadly calm. “Where is the floor manager?”
“Diane? She’s upstairs in the main dining room, checking reservations.”
“Bring her down here,” Dominic said. “Quietly.”
Vincent hesitated, his eyes lingering on the baby for a fraction of a second longer before his training kicked in. “Right away, Boss.”
Vincent vanished, shutting the door behind him.
Dominic slowly shifted his weight and stood up from the couch. He moved with a quiet, fluid grace that belied his massive frame. Holding Nora securely against his shoulder with one arm, supporting her lower back with the practice of someone who had done this before, he walked over to where Lena was kneeling.
He extended a hand down to her.
Lena looked at his long, scarred fingers, then up into his face. She hesitated for a fraction of a second before placing her hand in his. His grip was warm, firm, and surprisingly gentle as he pulled her effortlessly to her feet.
“Sit,” he instructed, gesturing to the heavy armchair near his desk.
“Sir, I shouldn’t—”
“Sit down, Lena,” he said, using her name for the first time. “You’re shaking.”
She sat on the edge of the chair, her hands trembling in her lap. Dominic walked over to his mahogany desk, pulled a warm cup of tea from a thermos he kept there, and set it on the small table beside her.
“Drink,” he commanded.
Before she could touch the cup, the door burst open again.
Diane walked in, looking flustered and annoyed, with Vincent standing like a grim shadow right behind her.
“Mr. Vance, I am so sorry to disturb you,” Diane began, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness as she adjusted her blazer. “Vincent said you needed me urgently? Is everything alright with the VIP tables upstairs?”
Dominic didn’t answer immediately. He stood beside his desk, holding Nora against his chest, watching Diane with an intensity that made the air in the room suddenly feel ten degrees colder.
Diane’s eyes finally fell on Lena sitting in the chair, and then onto the baby in Dominic’s arms. Her face went pale, then flushed a furious crimson.
“Lena?!” Diane snapped, her voice rising an octave. “What on earth are you doing down here?! And why do you have a child in Mr. Vance’s private office?! I told you—”
“You told her what, Diane?” Dominic’s voice was soft, but it cut through the room like a steel blade.
Diane blinked, startled by his tone. “Mr. Vance, this woman is a dishwasher and waitress! She brought a baby into the building! That is a severe violation of restaurant policy! I will fire her immediately and have security throw her out into the street—”
“You won’t fire anyone,” Dominic said.
Diane froze. “I… I beg your pardon, sir?”
Dominic took a step toward her. The sheer presence of the man made Diane instinctively take a step back until her spine hit the heavy doorframe.
