Chapter 7
The doctor packed up his portable equipment and quietly excused himself from the study, leaving Dominic and Elena alone. The heavy, soundproof door clicked shut, sealing them in a cocoon of quiet, golden light.
Elena remained perched on the edge of the leather sofa, her freshly bandaged hand resting delicately in her lap. The pain medication the doctor had administered was beginning to dull the sharp agony, replacing it with a heavy, throbbing ache and a creeping, disorienting exhaustion. She looked incredibly small against the massive, masculine furniture of the mafia boss's sanctuary.
Dominic walked over to a crystal decanter resting on a side table. He poured two fingers of amber liquid into a heavy glass, the clinking sound loud in the quiet room. He didn't drink it. He simply held the glass, the artistic tattoos on his hand stark against the crystal, and leaned against the edge of his massive oak desk, watching her.
"Why did you do it, Elena?" Dominic asked. His deep voice was a low rumble, stripped of its usual commanding edge. It was a genuine question.
Elena swallowed hard, her heart fluttering nervously. "Sir?"
"Audrey is a violent, vindictive woman," Dominic stated matter-of-factly, taking a slow sip of his drink. "You are a housemaid. You rely on this job for your livelihood. Putting your hand in a heavy oak door to stop her from locking my daughter in a dark room... it was incredibly brave. But it was also incredibly dangerous. You could have lost your fingers entirely."
Elena looked down at her bulky white bandage. The bright light of the study highlighted the exhaustion in her beautiful, heart-shaped face.
"I have a younger sister, Mr. Vale," Elena whispered, her American accent soft and trembling. "She was terrified of the dark when we were growing up. Our father... he wasn't a kind man. He used to lock her in the closet when she cried. I used to put my foot in the door to stop it."
She looked up, meeting his perceptive, cold eyes with a defiant, raw honesty. "When Miss Sinclair grabbed Lily’s arm and tried to shove her into that room... Lily was screaming. I didn't think about the job. I didn't think about my hand. I just heard a little girl begging not to be locked in the dark. I couldn't just stand there and serve bread while it happened."
Dominic stared at her. The profound, selfless courage of this young woman—a woman who scrubbed floors and served meals to criminals—was staggering. She had risked permanent mutilation and the wrath of a vicious socialite simply to protect a child that wasn't hers.
"You saved my daughter from a trauma she would have carried for years," Dominic said slowly, setting his glass down on the desk. He walked over to the sofa and sat down beside her, leaving a respectful distance between them.
"I owe you a debt that cannot be repaid with surgery and a severance package," Dominic continued, his tone absolute.
Panic flared in Elena’s eyes. "Severance? You... you are firing me?"
"You have a crushed hand, Elena," Dominic pointed out gently. "You cannot perform the duties of a housemaid. But more importantly, you are too valuable to this family to be scrubbing floors."
Elena stared at him, completely bewildered. "I don't understand."
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"Audrey is gone," Dominic stated, looking directly into her eyes. "The engagement is broken. But Lily needs someone. She needs someone who will protect her when I am not in the room. Someone brave enough to put their hand in the door."
Dominic leaned forward slightly, his broad shoulders casting a shadow over her. "I want you to stay, Elena. Not as a maid. But as Lily’s personal guardian. You will live in the main house, you will oversee her care, and you will answer only to me."
