Chapter 10 - Eighteen Months Without Power
Prison stripped Dominic of everything that once defined him.
No tailored suits.
No drivers.
No men waiting for orders.
No private office overlooking the harbor.
His first week was brutal.
Not physically.
Psychologically.
Nobody cared who he had been.
At first, Dominic hated it.
Then something unexpected happened.
He relaxed.
There was no organization to protect.
No shipments to monitor.
No rivals.
No secret meetings.
No one asking him to solve everything.
He read.
Exercised.
Worked in the library.
Joined a restorative justice program after initially mocking the name.
Then stopped mocking it.
He wrote letters.
To Noah.
To Elena.
To Mara.
Mara visited twice a month.
She never romanticized prison.
Never told him it was good for him.
Never pretended eighteen months was easy.
One visit, Dominic asked:
“Are we still dating?”
Mara smiled.
“Your current restaurant options are terrible.”
“So yes?”
“Yes.”
He leaned toward the glass.
“You could do better.”
“There it is.”
“What?”
“That irritating habit where you insult my judgment while pretending you're being noble.”
Dominic smiled.
“Therapy language?”
“I've been studying.”
“You're terrifying.”
“I know.”
Elena visited with Noah.
Their relationship grew slowly.
Noah began calling her Mom naturally.
The first time it happened, Dominic saw Elena cry for ten minutes in the visitation room.
Gabriel visited once.
He looked deeply uncomfortable.
“Prison suits you.”
Dominic laughed.
“You traveled three hours to say that?”
“Mostly.”
Then Gabriel became serious.
“I should have told you.”
“About Elena?”
“Yes.”
“You should have.”
Gabriel nodded.
No excuses.
Dominic respected that.
“I should have created a life where you could tell me.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“We both failed.”
“Yes.”
That was enough.
Ten months into Dominic's sentence, Mara arrived looking strange.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“You're lying.”
“I don't lie.”
“You're withholding.”
She sighed.
“I got an offer.”
“Where?”
“Seattle.”
Dominic's chest tightened.
“Job?”
“Clinical leadership. Pediatric cardiac program.”
“That's huge.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three months.”
He stared at her.
Mara waited.
Old Dominic wanted to say don't go.
New Dominic asked:
“Do you want it?”
“I don't know.”
“That's not an answer.”
She smiled sadly.
“I learned that from you.”
Dominic looked down.
Then said:
“You should take it if it's the life you want.”
“And us?”
He swallowed.
“I don't know.”
Mara's eyes filled.
“I hate that answer.”
“So do I.”
“But it's honest.”
“Yes.”
She touched the glass.
Dominic placed his hand opposite hers.
“I love you,” he said.
It was the first time.
Mara stopped breathing.
Dominic continued.
“And because I love you, I'm not going to make your world smaller so mine feels safer.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“That's deeply inconvenient.”
“I know.”
She laughed.
Then whispered:
“I love you too.”
Mara accepted the Seattle position.
Dominic supported her.
It hurt.
That mattered too.
Love did not become less real because it couldn't solve geography.
They wrote.
Called.
Argued.
Sometimes Mara considered returning.
Sometimes Dominic considered moving west after release.
Neither made promises.
Three months before Dominic's release, Elena visited alone.
“You look nervous.”
“I need your opinion.”
“That seems dangerous.”
She smiled.
“I'm buying a company.”
Dominic stared.
“What?”
“A logistics company.”
He laughed.
“You hated ours.”
“I hated the criminal part.”
“Important distinction.”
Elena planned to purchase a small piece of Vale Logistics after bankruptcy restructuring.
Legitimate freight operations.
Hundreds of workers had lost jobs because of Victor and Dominic's crimes.
She wanted to rebuild.
Cleanly.
Transparently.
“Why tell me?”
“Because I want you involved eventually.”
Dominic became quiet.
“I can't go back.”
“Not to what it was.”
“No.”
Elena leaned forward.
“But maybe you can help build what it should have been.”
Dominic looked at his sister.
Years ago, he would have heard an opportunity for power.
Now he heard responsibility.
“I'll think about it.”
“Good.”
Then Elena smiled.
“Also, Mara called.”
His head snapped up.
“What?”
“She asked about Baltimore.”
His heart accelerated.
“What about Baltimore?”
Elena stood.
“You'll have to ask her.”
“That's cruel.”
“Family tradition.”
She left laughing.
Dominic sat staring after her.
For the first time in eighteen months, release frightened him.
May you like
Because prison had taught him how to live without power.
Freedom would reveal whether he knew how to live with choice.
