Staring down at the letter for a minute, I know this will not go over well. I’m torn between what’s right and what’s best–they’re not always the same thing. What’s right is not keeping Sophia in the dark. What’s best is that she regains her health to protect herself and the baby. Before I change my mind, she pulls the letter through my fingers and begins to read it.
I know the very second she reaches the last line of the letter. Her mouth drops open, her hand quickly covers it, and her eyes squint to mere slits as the pain stabs through her heart. Her shoulders slump and the wounded look on her face kills me. The paper floats to the floor as she uses both hands to cover her face and her body shakes from her sobs.
Placing my hands on her arms, I begin to pull her into my embrace but she extends her arm, pushing against my chest to keep me at bay. “Sophia, baby, I know what you’re thinking. This letter was a complete shock to me, though. I had almost two years of pure hell before I found you. He tried to fuck that up, too. He deserves to pay.”
“It’s selfish of me, but I can’t say I’m not jealous of what you had with her. I can’t even explain what I feel right now. I’m ashamed that I’m jealous over someone you loved in the past, knowing she’s gone. It comes down to this, really,” she takes a deep breath, “It just seems like she was better for you than I am.”
“I love you, Sophia, more than I’ve ever loved anyone. It was a shock to find out she was pregnant when she died after all this time and it’s wrong that he knew all along. A baby I never knew about was buried with her, but never mourned or even recognized. These are the things I’m battling. But, no matter what, I never want to make you feel like you aren’t the most important person in my life. You are the only one who has ever called me Dom.”
She sniffles, wipes her face off with her hands, and gives me a rueful smile. “These pregnancy hormones are really doing a number on me, Dom. You may have to be more patient with me than ever,” she says on shaky breath. “That was definitely a shock to me, too. It hurts, I won’t lie, but I have to consider how you must feel. Finding out this way and after all this time must be just terrible.
I open my arms and she willingly walks into them. Those walls she put up are coming down and we are growing stronger together. The realist in me can’t help but think, what’s next?
Even though I know there are a million files I need to comb through to figure out what was left in my office, I put it off for another day. Even though every ounce of me wants to leave, hunt Harrison to the far corners of the earth, and beat the ever-loving shit out of him, I wait it out. Even though I want to comb through every detail of this letter until I figure out what the hell is going on, I push it aside. For the rest of the night, my only priority is to ensure Sophia knows she is my priority in every way.
“I have an idea. Let’s just spend some time together doing nothing. We can watch TV or we can put a movie in to watch, make some popcorn, and lay around on the couch,” I offer. She doesn’t look pleased.
“Dom,” she narrows her eyes at me, “a huge weight has just been dropped on your shoulders. Another maddening piece of the puzzle has just been revealed and it makes even less sense than everything else we know. Someone just broke into your office and left something–there’s no telling what that was! But you just want to veg out on the couch and watch movies?”
“Your needs come first with me, Sophia. I want nothing more than to hold you in my arms, shower you with love, and give you all my affection. You’re the one I want to spend my life with, My Angel, and you’re the one who matters the most to me.”
“Everything won’t just go away, you know?”
“You’re right, it won’t. It’ll still be there for us to deal with tomorrow. Even if we stress over it all night, it’ll still be waiting for us tomorrow. I think we’ve both had enough for today and we just need time to decompress.”
“A few minutes ago you were ready to go hunt him down and kill him. What’s changed?”
“My priority.”
Sophia
Dominic and I are stretched out on the couch with a movie playing in the Blu-ray player. The extra wide couch gives us both room to lie down–Dominic is on his side and I’m on my back next to him. His hand is under my shirt and he has been gently stroking my stomach the last couple of hours. He suddenly pushes himself up and hovers above me, with his arms framing my face and caging me beneath him.
“You are so beautiful, Sophia,” he says tenderly before lowering his head to kiss me. His full lips brush against mine before I feel his tongue against the crease in my lips. Opening my mouth, I give him full access to plunder my mouth with his soft caress. My Dom is the best kisser, melting me where I lie and making me instantly wet for him.
Pulling away from me, his sexy smirk tells me he knows that he’s already primed me for whatever he has in mind. Sliding down my body, he skims his mouth across my shirt and I can feel his hot breath through the thin fabric. My hands instinctively rise to run my fingers through his hair. Using one hand to hold his weight, the other lifts my shirt and pushes it up to expose my stomach.
Settling between my legs, Dom splays his hands out across my belly and places loving kisses across my skin. Just the feel of his lips on my skin causes chills to rush across my skin and the need to feel him inside me becomes overwhelming. His warm tongue bathes my quickly heating skin and I moan in pleasure. He unzips my pants and pulls them down off my hips.
Then he completely stills.
Opening my eyes, I see him staring at the area around my navel. His hands frame it and he kisses it softly. He whispers something against my skin but I can’t make out the words. As I raise my head to ask him, I realize that he’s whispering to the baby, carrying on a full conversation without me. I can’t help but smile at him and wonder what they’re talking about.
The words of Carol Ann’s letter return with a vengeance. Dom must be so distraught about what he just found out, but he’s focused on me now. Does this help him work through it? Or does it remind him even more of what he lost? It’s not that I’m exactly jealous of her or the baby she carried. Looking at all the ways that Harrison has hurt him is bad enough. Knowing that I helped bring that pain to Dom kills me.
“What are you two talking about down there?” I ask playfully.
Dom lifts his eyes up at me, mischief shining brightly in them, “That’s for us to know and you to find out.”
“That’s not playing well with others, Daddy,” I jokingly reply. The look of complete shock on his face surprises me. “What?”
“I’m going to be a Daddy,” he says slowly, as if he has only just realized this in spite of already knowing I’m pregnant. “We’re going to have a miniature version of you running around, calling me Daddy, and I’ll be wrapped around her little finger.”
“It could be a miniature version of you running around, calling you Daddy, and I’ll be wrapped around his little finger,” I point out.
“We have to tell my parents,” he says out of the blue.
I’m having a hard time keeping up with his moods tonight.
“Yes, we do. What’s with the urgency and abrupt subject changes?” I laugh.
“It just hit me that there’s a small human growing inside you,” he says in awe. “My mom will want to help. My sisters need to meet you. I need to push the contractor to finish the house so we can fix up a nursery. We have a lot to do.”
His voice is so animated and this is the most excited I’ve ever seen him. Being included in his plans for the future makes me feel more confident in our relationship. The way he shows love and attention makes me feel like the two months apart were just a horrible nightmare. I feel hope for the first time in a long time.
“What are you smiling about?” he asks, drawing my attention back to the here and now.
“I didn’t realize I was smiling. But, I was just thinking about how excited you sound. It feels good,” I admit.
He leans down to my stomach again, cups his hand around
his mouth, and whispers something else to the baby. Then he grins at me, his sexy, mischievous smirk makes me smile in return. “What are you saying to our baby?”
“I just told her that I am excited to be her Daddy, but she better be good to her Mommy,” he smiles as he pulls my pants off the rest of the way. “And, I told her that I’m about to be very good to Mommy.”
Fireworks in every color imaginable ignite behind my eyelids when his tongue presses against my core. His big hands snake under my behind, lifting my behind in the air and leaving my back flat on the couch. His tongue is like a finely tuned instrument, bringing the most exquisite pleasure in powerful, uncontrollable waves that crash over me again and again. His fingers work magic inside me, stroking the single spot that intensifies the feeling, while his warm tongue circles my clit.
The speed of his hand increases as he brings me to climax, my orgasm soaks me and he licks all the evidence of it away. I scream out in ecstasy before my body completely relaxes from sheer exhaustion. “You taste so fucking sweet, baby,” he murmurs against my clit, the timbre of his voice vibrates through me. “Delicious,” he says as he licks my sex from bottom to top.
He quickly sheds his pants and crawls up my body until he’s fully seated between my legs. Pushing into me slowly, he fills me up, stretches me with his girth, and I gasp in delight from the feel of him inside me. He moves slowly at first, keeping my face held in his palms, and keeping his eyes on mine. “Don’t take your eyes off mine, Sophia. I want to see what you’re feeling. I want you to know you’re mine.”
I’ve always been yours, Dom.
Chapter Fifteen
For the last few days, the four of us combed through every file from Dominic’s office. Dominic’s study was full of boxes, stacked chest high and neatly lined along the walls. We each took a wall and started working through the files with a fine-tooth comb.
None of us really knew what we’re even looking for, so it was actually worse than looking for a needle in a haystack. When I asked Shadow what I should keep my eyes peeled for, his reply was simply, “My gut says you will know it when you see it.”
At the time, my sarcastic reply was, “Well, that’s helpful.”
Actually, it turns out that it was indeed helpful. “Oh my god, I think I found it,” I call out to the others. My tone is steeped in worry, even to my own ears.
Shadow and Tucker make a quick move toward me but Dominic stands still, holding the file that he’s been looking through, and waits. His eyes search mine, asking questions that I can’t find the words to answer. He sees it in my eyes, though. Knowing me as well he as he does, he sees the concern, he feels my worry, and he senses my anxiety.
When Shadow and Tucker both read it while looking over my shoulder, Dominic puts his file down and swiftly moves across the room. No doubt that he also sees the shocked look they both wear. The last few days have really been hard on me, alternating between admitting that I’m jealous and angry that Carol Ann was pregnant with Dom’s baby and being upset that she died while pregnant with his baby. The emotional roller coaster has become the very basis of our lives and I’m so ready for the drama to stop.
That’s not happening today, though.
Dominic snatches the paper from my hand and paces in the study as he reads it, and rereads it. “That son of a bitch!” he roars, causing me to jump from being startled.
With his voice thick with sarcasm and anger, he reads the note aloud.
“If you’re reading this note, it’s because I’m dead. I’ve become frightened of Dominic Powers. His abusive and controlling ways have escalated and I fear for my life. If I die under suspicious circumstances, he should be the first person you investigate.
“I’ve tried to leave, but he keeps me prisoner in our condo. I’m afraid of what he’ll do to me if I try to leave again. If I die, just keep him from doing the same to another woman. –Carol Ann Dictman”
Dominic’s face turns multiple shades of red as the anger in him rises. Tucker calmly walks over to him and takes the note from his hand. He studies the handwriting between this note and the other one Dominic has from Carol Ann. “The handwriting is strikingly similar but there are some discrepancies,” Tucker says calmly.
Shadow and Tucker sit at Dominic’s desk and carefully examine every letter of every sentence. Shadow makes a phone call and we only hear the clipped end of the conversation. When he’s finished, he says he has a contact in the Dallas FBI office that is a handwriting analysis expert and will look at the letters. Shadow leaves, taking the letters with him, and Tucker stays behind with us.
The only thing I know to do that may remotely help calm Dominic is to wrap my arms around him. “We’ll get through this together, Dominic,” I whisper to him and his arms tighten around me.
“You know, it’s my job to reassure you,” he murmurs back to me.
“I’m a tough girl. I can support and help my man sometimes, too.”
“You do, love. You do,” he sweetly kisses my hair.
Friday is here and I wonder how the week has flown by so quickly. Today is the day that I’ve both looked forward to and dreaded. We fly to Austin today and meet my brother at Quattro Amore for dinner tonight. At least, I hope it’s my brother. Just in case, we have a whole team of security personnel flying with us that will be positioned all around the restaurant.
“Stop wringing your hands, my love. It’ll be fine. You won’t leave my sight and we have enough manpower to shut the whole place down,” Dominic smiles, reassuring me. I look around the plane and I know he’s right. I have nothing to worry about with all these people helping us.
“I’m nervous either way, Dominic. I love my brother, and I want to see him, but I just don’t see it going well if he starts on me about helping get him out of trouble,” I confess my fear.
“Babe, if he puts his needs before yours, you don’t need him in your life.”
“I know. But he’s my little brother. It’s not so easy to just let him go,” I reply and look into my Dom’s eyes. “He doesn’t come before you, though. If I have to choose, it will always be you.” Pulling my hand to his mouth, I watch his full lips kiss the back of my hand and I want to lean in and capture the kiss with my lips.
It’s a short flight to Austin on his private jet and the landing gear is suddenly touching down on the tarmac. Taking a deep breath, I steel my nerves and face whatever is ahead of me. My pregnancy hormones coupled with my overactive nerves have wreaked havoc on my morning sickness today. I only took half of an anti-nausea pill before we left in hopes that it doesn’t make me too groggy to fully function. So far, so good.
Two black, full-size SUVs with black tinted windows are waiting for our entire entourage. Dominic sits by me and moves in as close as he can get. His hand slides across my waist and covers my stomach, shielding our baby and warming me from the inside out. I glance up at him as he’s talking to the security team and realize that he’s not even aware of the gesture.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” he whispers to me.
I look down at his hand and back up at him. “Oh, no reason.”
The smile he returns is the one that melts me every time. “It just comes naturally, I guess,” he shrugs.
Two blocks from the restaurant, we stop and I take a taxi the rest of the way to the restaurant. This huge security team would definitely draw attention if we all pulled up to the front door at once, so our arrival is staggered. The other SUV went on ahead so the men can get into position at all the exits. The taxi will deliver me next and I will stall before going to the hostess. The second SUV will be immediately behind me. I know I’m well covered, but I still wonder what I’m walking into.
When my driver arrives at the restaurant, I fumble with my purse before giving him my credit card. After waiting a few minutes for him to figure out how to use the credit card reader and print my receipt, I know the second team is already in place and ready for me. I just have to remember, in my nervousness, to keep my hands of
f my necklace that’s really a camera. Shadow also put a tracker inside the hem of my shirt for double safety measure.
Quattro Amore is more than opulent-it is the very definition of debonair. The wait list for reservations is long and exclusive, making me question how Shawn even got on the list. The live performer croons a romantic ballad in her sultry voice on a floor-level stage. There’s a small dance floor immediately in front of the stage and a few couples are swaying to the music. On shaky legs, I approach the hostess and give my brother’s name. “Hi, I’m meeting Shawn Vasco here. Has he arrived yet?”
The hostess checks the list and smiles, “Yes, he has. Follow me.”
The butterflies in my stomach are more like bats flying around. As we turn the corner in the five-star intimate restaurant, I catch a glimpse of Dominic intently watching me. He’s only letting me know where he is for my peace of mind. Once he steps back into the shadows of the dimly lit dining area, he completely disappears from sight.
As we approach the table, I can only see the back of the man that is waiting for me. Walking around to the other side of the table, I crane my neck to get a good look at him. My breath hitches in my chest and I grip the padded, high back of the chair in front of me. His eyes rise to meet mine and he quickly stands.
“Hi, sis,” he says hesitantly.
“Hi, Shawn,” I reply on an exhaled breath. I wasn’t sure what to expect on the way here and now I’m even less sure of why he wants to see me. Drawing on all my strength, I decide to just dive in as I take my seat. “I was surprised to hear from you. Especially now. You made it clear you didn’t want anything to do with me. So, why have I traveled all the way to Austin for dinner?”
His shock turns to shame as my words sink in. He nervously clears his throat and fidgets in his chair as he searches for the words. But I refuse to help him by filling in any of the silence. I’ll sit here and stare at him until he answers me. All this time, I’ve romanticized how close my brother and I were, but the truth is that he betrayed me. He left me and blatantly said I embarrassed him.
Her Dom's Lesson (Dominic Powers Book 2) Page 14
