I didn’t know how to answer a question like that.

Especially when the man asking could fire me before breakfast.

“I don’t know.”

Dominic leaned back.

“That’s not true.”

“Mr. Moretti—”

“You spend more time around Leo than I do.”

That surprised me.

Not because it was false.

Because he admitted it.

Dominic looked toward the window.

“Tell me.”

I chose my words carefully.

“Leo isn’t afraid that you’ll hurt him.”

Dominic’s jaw tightened.

“But?”

“He’s afraid of disappointing you.”

Silence.

“He watches you constantly,” I continued. “He checks your face before he speaks. He asks whether you’re busy before showing you anything.”

Dominic looked down.

“He knows I work.”

“He’s six.”

His eyes lifted.

I immediately regretted my tone.

But Dominic only said, “Continue.”

I swallowed.

“When he draws something, he asks whether you’ll think it’s good.”

“He draws?”

I stared at him.

That answer told me everything.

“Yes.”

“What?”

“Mostly houses.”

Dominic frowned.

“Houses?”

“With three people standing outside.”

His face changed.

I knew I had gone too far.

Then someone knocked.

The door opened before Dominic answered.

Leo stood there.

Lily was beside him.

Of course she was.

She held something behind her back.

“Lily,” I said. “We’re going home.”

“But we made something.”

Dominic looked at them.

“What?”

Lily produced a piece of paper.

It was soaked around the edges.

Three stick figures stood beneath a crooked blue roof.

One was small.

One was smaller.

The third was enormous and wore what appeared to be a black rectangle.

“That’s you,” Lily told Dominic.

He stared at the picture.

“And that’s Leo. And that’s me.”

“Why are you there?”

Lily considered the question.

“Because Leo needs somebody.”

Leo’s face turned red.

Dominic slowly looked at his son.

“Do you?”

Leo shrugged.

“Leo.”

The boy’s voice became tiny.

“Sometimes.”

Dominic stood.

Leo immediately straightened.

Again.

That instinctive reaction.

Dominic noticed it.

This time, instead of approaching, he remained behind the desk.

“What do you need?”

Leo stared at him.

“I don’t know.”

“Try.”

Leo glanced at Lily.

She whispered loudly, “Tell him.”

Dominic almost smiled.

Almost.

Leo took a breath.

“I want you to eat dinner with me.”

Dominic’s expression hardened with surprise.

“That’s all?”

“Not business dinner.”

Something shifted behind Dominic’s eyes.

“Then what kind?”

“Just dinner.”

“When?”

“Tonight.”

Dominic hesitated.

I knew his schedule. Three men were arriving from New York at seven.

Leo knew it too.

Children understood more than adults realized.

“Dad?”

Dominic reached into his jacket.

He removed his phone.

Leo’s face fell.

Then Dominic dialed.

“Anthony.”

A pause.

“Cancel tonight.”

Another pause.

“I said cancel it.”

He ended the call.

Leo stared at him.

“Seven o’clock,” Dominic said.

Leo smiled.

A real smile.

Dominic seemed almost startled by it.

Then Lily raised her hand.

“Yes?” he asked.

“Can I come?”

“Lily!”

Dominic looked at me.

Then at Lily.

Then at his son.

Leo’s smile was already disappearing.

Dominic sighed.

“Seven.”

Lily clapped.

“Can we have pancakes?”

“For dinner?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because pancakes are breakfast.”

Lily frowned.

“That sounds like a made-up rule.”

I covered my mouth.

Leo burst out laughing.

Dominic looked at him.

And for the first time since I had entered that house, Dominic Moretti laughed too.

It lasted barely two seconds.

But it happened.

That evening, four people sat around a table built for fourteen.

And nobody knew there was a fifth person watching from outside the windows.

A man sitting inside a parked sedan across the street.

Photographing every moment.

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