Chapter 12 - THE FIRST DATE WITHOUT SECRETS
Dante took Elena to a small Italian restaurant in Brooklyn.
No private dining room.
No armed men at the table.
No expensive champagne.
They sat near the window.
Ordered pasta.
Shared bread.
Elena looked around.
“You chose somewhere normal.”
Dante smiled.
“I thought you might prefer it.”
She laughed.
“I do.”
For a while, they talked about ordinary things.
Her work.
Her mother's recovery.
Margaret's obsession with crossword puzzles.
Then Elena grew serious.
“Dante.”
He looked up.
“Why did you agree to marry Vanessa?”
He set down his fork.
“Because I thought marriage was another business decision.”
Elena stared.
“I'd spent my life watching powerful men treat relationships like contracts.”
He looked down.
“I told myself love wasn't necessary.”
She swallowed.
“And then?”
Dante smiled faintly.
“Then a woman carrying laundry told me I needed a bandage.”
Elena laughed through tears.
He reached across the table.
“May I?”
She looked at his hand.
Then placed hers in it.
“Yes.”
Dante held her fingers gently.
“I don't know what our future looks like.”
His voice softened.
“But I want to find out with you.”
Elena smiled.
“So do I.”
May you like
Outside, snow began falling.
And for the first time, the man who had once controlled everything was happy to let love unfold without a plan.
