Bonus Epilogue
Sylvie drew her bow across the strings. Her eyes fluttered closed, as if she were the only one in the room. Dominic understood how she felt. He couldn’t pull his gaze away from her, and she might as well have been the only person in existence as far as he was concerned.
But they were far from alone. They were in the art gallery where he now worked, surrounded by Sylvie’s friends. He’d booked the space tonight for this private event as a gift to her. A recital to show off all her hard work practicing.
Of course, he’d cleared it with Sylvie first. Dominic wasn’t a fan of people staring at him, so something like this was pretty much his worst nightmare.
For his true self, anyway. He would’ve had to pretend to be someone else to get through it.
But these days, he took pride in just being himself, as awkward as that guy was.
He’d invited Maureen tonight, but she’d had other plans. She was dating a handsome older gentleman she’d met on Match. Dominic had met the guy, and he approved.
Sylvie finished her last song, and the audience clapped and cheered. Nearly everyone from Bennett Security had come out tonight to support her. Max and Lana, Tanner and the other bodyguards. Sylvie’s assistant Priyanka, and several people Dominic now recognized as techs or salespeople.
He’d even been to the company headquarters a couple of times to visit Sylvie, along with her friend Faith, who was quickly becoming one of Dominic’s friends as well.
Sylvie had given them both a little tour, and he’d noticed more than one glare as he walked through the work room.
He didn’t blame them. Not too long ago, he’d been the enemy.
Sometimes he even got a little misty-eyed at how far he’d come. How much he’d had to leave behind in order to do it.
But this woman standing in front of him—she made everything worth it. Even if sometimes he doubted himself, he never doubted her.
Sylvie’s eyes met his as she stepped down from the stage.
But immediately, she was swallowed up in hugs and adoration from her friends.
Dominic hung back at the edge of the room, hands in his pants pockets, glancing at the photographs on the walls.
He still didn’t quite fit in here in Sylvie’s world, which was okay.
But having this event at the art gallery made it feel a little more like his world, too.
Tanner walked over and clapped a hand on Dominic’s shoulder. “This is really something,” the bodyguard said. “I didn’t even know Sylvie could play.”
“She’s amazing, isn’t she?”
Tanner grinned at him. “She said you set this whole thing up.”
Dominic shrugged. “I might have wanted to show her off a little.” He didn’t play the cocky asshole anymore, but he was proud of her. He wanted everyone else to see all her different facets, the way he did.
“Can’t blame you. She’s really happy. I’ll be honest, when this whole thing started, this thing between you and her, I was skeptical. But you’re right for each other.” Tanner patted his back. “You’re one of the good guys now, Nic.”
He laughed. “Thanks. High compliment, coming from you.”
“And that’s how I meant it.”
Tonight was the first time Tanner had called him “Nic.” Until now, the guy had seemed to make a point of still calling him “Dominic.” He didn’t mind, of course, because that name still belonged to him, too.
That was what Sylvie called him half the time.
But to the rest of the world, he preferred just to be Nic.
He needed that clean break from who he’d used to be.
Only Sylvie could possibly understand all the ways his old self and his true one overlapped. It was too complicated for even him to unravel.
Someone popped the champagne, and glasses passed around. Dominic finally made his way over to Sylvie and hooked an arm around her waist, enjoying just being next to her around all these people who loved her, like he did.
She gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. Her eyes locked with his, not even needing to say anything. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have her.
Someone clinked a spoon against a champagne glass. They all looked over. It was Max.
The crowd quieted down, and Max spoke. “I know I’m not the only one who’s impressed Sylvie has more talents than we all realized.
Impressed, but not surprised. There’s no way I could get through each day without her.
And although I am still amazed, honestly, that she ended up with Nic”—here, most of the other attendees laughed, including Dominic—“I trust her opinion more than almost anyone. So I hope she won’t mind if I steal her moment a little to make an announcement. ”
He looked over at his girlfriend Lana, who was holding a champagne glass and smirking beside him.
“I asked Lana to marry me yesterday.”
They were gasps and murmurs through the crowd. Max’s sister Aurora squealed, covering her hands with her mouth.
Lana lifted her hand, slipping on a ring she must’ve been hiding in her pocket until this minute. “And I said yes,” Lana shouted.
“Against her better judgment,” Max added. “But I’m a persuasive guy.”
Lana rolled her eyes, then kissed him.
Sylvie ran over to them, hugging them both. Everyone else was surrounding Max and Lana, congratulating them.
Dominic was happy for them, too. He and Max got together for lunch or coffee every month or so, and they had good conversations. Almost like friends. Whenever he spoke to her, Lana asked how he was doing, and genuinely seemed to care about the answer.
Dominic still felt like he was on the sidelines, an outsider looking in. But he was determined to change that. It was slow progress, but each day he got a bit closer.
Sylvie crawled beneath the covers next to her boyfriend. They were back in West Oaks for the night. Sylvie’s friend Faith had needed a ride back here, so they hadn’t stayed at Nic’s place in L.A.
Faith was currently sleeping on the living room couch. Sylvie had no intention of rushing her friend into finding a new place, but her townhouse had been a lot more crowded lately. Sylvie’s life was richer and busier than she ever could’ve imagined, and she was loving every minute.
She ran her fingers through Dominic’s dark hair, admiring his profile.
“Thank you for tonight,” she said. “I never would’ve done that for myself.” She’d been taking violin lessons again for the first time since childhood. She loved having music as an outlet. It was something she did only for herself, something that had nothing to do with work or computers.
It had felt good to stand up in front of her friends and show them this other side of herself. But she still felt a bit self-conscious about having an entire event centered on her performance. Thankfully, Max and Lana had taken some of the spotlight. It had been a great use of all that champagne.
“You were incredible,” he murmured. “You know how much it turns me on when you play.”
To accentuate this point, his long fingers ran along her sleep shirt and down to her bare thigh. He pulled her up against him. The hard length of him poked her into stomach through his pajama pants.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you, too.”
“Mmm. How much?” Dominic leaned over to softly kiss her neck.
“We have to be quiet,” she whispered. “I don’t want to traumatize Faith.”
He sucked her earlobe as his fingers ran up her side beneath her shirt. “You’re the noisy one.”
Sometimes that was true. But he could get awfully carried away.
He rolled her so she was on her back. His erection rocked against her. She felt his heat through their layers of clothing. Fuck, this felt good. His lithe, solid body, pressing her into the mattress.
“You’re really saying no to this?” He gave her his most wicked grin. His curls fell over his forehead.
Sylvie whimpered, and bit her lip to cut off the sound. Dominic bent down to capture her lips with his. His tongue glided into her mouth.
After several blissful seconds of kissing, she pushed on his chest. Nic lifted into his forearms, allowing some space between them.
“Alright,” he said. “I’ll be good.” He was about to go back to his side of the bed. But she didn’t want that. This man turned her on too much. He always made her feel reckless.
Sylvie pushed down the waistband of his pajama pants and grabbed hold of his dick. Her thumb swirled over the wetness at his slit. He dropped his face to her neck, moaning.
“I’ll be silent if you can,” Sylvie whispered.
“A challenge? You’re on.” Suddenly his weight was gone, and he was tucking his erection back into his pants.
Sylvie opened her mouth to protest, but he put his finger to his lips. Silent, he mouthed. Dominic opened the nightstand. Took out a bottle of lube. And a huge, ribbed dildo, which was a recent gift he’d given her.
Smiling, he waved the dildo at her. She fell back against the pillows and folded her arms over her face, trying not to laugh.
Dominic shucked off his clothes. His beautiful was cock red and glistening. But she couldn’t admire him for long.
He grabbed her legs and yanked her across the bed toward him. He reached to hook her panties with his fingers. Roughly pulled the fabric down.
The way his eyes darkened with lust, his tongue traced his lower lip—it sent a lightning bolt of heat through her belly and between her legs. She felt herself getting wet. God, it was really difficult to keep her breathing quiet, and he’d barely even gotten started.
Out in the living room, the floor creaked. Faith was walking around. Maybe going to the kitchen for a glass of water or a snack.
Sylvie kicked her panties the rest of the way off and wiggled her shirt over her head. His fingers dug into her ass, pulling her right to the edge of the mattress. Dominic pushed her thighs open and knelt on the floor.