Epilogue – Dominic #2
I pulled myself together quickly. He could turn and see me at any moment. I couldn’t ruin everything. I had a plan. It had to work.
It had to.
Whatever Max had just said to his twin had him stiffening. My heart clenched as I drew near enough to hear his whispered response. “Max, I swear to god. You can’t let him?—”
I didn’t need to wonder who he was talking about. I knew.
I stopped right behind him. Fuck, I could almost feel the heat of him. He was so damn close. God, how I wanted to see his face. I had to curl my hands into fists to stop myself from touching him. “Let me do what? Since when do I let anyone tell me what to do?”
Ryan froze but didn’t turn. Because he didn’t want to see me? Or because he couldn’t bring himself to?
Look at me, I wanted to scream. Look at me, Shadow.
But he didn’t. He stayed facing away.
“Daily, I’d assume, given you’re in the army.”
I reached for him automatically, but I managed to stop myself at the last moment. Instead of spinning him, of forcing him to look at me, I reached around and plucked the glass from his hands.
I blinked in surprise at the sight of the amber liquid. Since when does Ryan drink whisky?
When I spoke, my voice was surprisingly smooth. There was no hint of the trembling chaos erupting within me. “Not anymore. Finished my last tour a week ago. Just in time, wouldn’t you say?”
I hadn’t thought it was possible for Ryan’s spine to get straighter, but it did. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”
I gave a dark chuckle. He knew as well as I did why I was here. I might not have followed through on the other promises I’d made him, but that last one?
That one I’d never fail him on.
“So it’s going to be like that.”
Max turned to the nearest table, distracting them all from the drama unfolding. Ryan’s shoulders rose and fell a few times. I watched, captivated. There were only inches between us, but it might as well have been the miles I was used to.
I could look, but I couldn’t touch. He wouldn’t allow it.
I hated that more than anything else.
Without saying a word, Ryan marched towards the bar. He leaned on the counter, gesturing at the bartender for another drink.
I took up a spot at his side. Right where I belonged.
I could see his face in profile now. God, it hurt so much.
Ryan wasn’t one to upload photos of himself to social media often, but I’d hoarded each and every one of them.
They’d kept me warm during many cold and lonely nights overseas.
Nights when I wasn’t certain if they’d be my last. If I’d ever get a chance to do this very thing.
Talk to my Shadow again.
The bartender placed a glass in front of Ryan. He picked it up swiftly and drained half the contents in one go.
I winced internally. Of all the probable scenarios I’d played out in my mind over the years, this was one of the worst. Ryan hated me so much he couldn’t even look at me. But maybe that was okay.
We all knew what they said about the line between love and hate.
“I didn’t know you drank whisky.”
He lowered the glass to the wood, keeping his eyes forward. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me now.”
“Evidently.” My gaze swept over him, noting every change that had happened over the past few years. The few inches he’d gained. How his frame had filled out. There was one thing that hadn’t changed though. That would never change.
I loved him just the same.
“You’re like a whole new person,” I continued.
“I am.”
“And you’re going to be married, apparently.” I was amazed I didn’t choke on the word.
Ryan’s nostrils flared as his fingernails dug into the bar. “There’s no apparently about it, Dominic. I’m engaged. I’m getting married. I’m very happy.”
There’s my Shadow. I chuckled again, feeling hope for the first time since I’d walked through the doors. Ryan might’ve changed, but not that much. I could still read him like a book, and this page said I’m lying through my teeth. “If that’s the case, why can’t you even look at me?”
I knew he’d take it as the challenge it was. And Ryan was never one to back down from a challenge from me.
I mean, just look how we’d started.
Sure enough, he turned to face me, mimicking my position leaning on the bar. His gaze swept over me coolly. Dismissively.
I might’ve bought it if not for how his eyes lingered on my neck. On the scar that had nearly cost me my life.
I thanked god every day it hadn’t. I hadn’t made it through three fucking tours just to die two years before being reunited with Ryan.
Seeing him head-on was almost my undoing. I had to call on every second of my military training to keep my expression impassive. To stop myself cradling his beautiful face and begging for his forgiveness.
That wasn’t the approach to take here. Not with Ryan. I knew better than that.
He turned away abruptly, his stare dropping to his drink. “Why are you here, Dominic?”
“I would’ve thought that was obvious.”
A muscle jumped in his jaw. “Cut the bullshit and tell me.”
I risked a step closer. “I’m here to claim what’s mine, Ry. Just like I said I would.”
Ryan squeezed his eyes shut and I almost fist-pumped at his reaction. This right here was how I’d get him back. By reminding him what we were. How well we played together. “You think you can just rock up in my life after a decade of silence and make demands of me? Fuck you, Dominic.”
“I’m not making demands.” I kept my voice calm. Even. “I’m just telling you what’s going to happen.”
Colour flooded his cheeks as he spun to face me. All my breath left me as he grabbed my collar and hauled me to him. As his face pushed close to mine, my heart stopped in my chest and a desperate need overcame me. Kiss me. Fucking kiss me, Shadow.
“Fuck. You,” Ryan spat. Oh. So no kissing. But this was progress. He was both looking and talking to me now. Touching me too, if we counted the hold he had on my collar. Which, for the record, I absolutely did. “The days of you telling me what to do or intimidating me are long fucking gone.”
Intimidating him was the last thing I wanted to do, but before I could say that very thing, Max was beside us. “Um, guys? People are staring.”
Ryan released me with a bitter laugh. The sound had my stomach flipping. Fuck, I hated that I’d made him this way. “Time to go. You’re not welcome here, Dominic. Now fuck off before I throw you out.”
For a split second, I considered making him do just that, if for no reason other than to feel his hands on me again.
But that wasn’t the way forward. Ryan needed to see that I’d changed. That I’d become a better man for him. So I just smiled pleasantly. “I’ll leave, Ry, but we both know this isn’t over.”
As I stepped forwards, I couldn’t help but remind him that I hadn’t changed where it mattered. “I haven’t forgotten my promise, and I know damn well you haven’t either, Ry. You walked away from me once, but I’m not letting it happen again.”
“I walked away, but you fucking ran, ” Ryan snarled back. His hands hit my chest and I savoured the feel of them, even if he was shoving me away. “Don’t give me any of that sanctimonious bullshit when we were both there. When we both know what happened.”
The darkness I’d become familiar with rolled through me. Ryan might have believed he knew everything, but he didn’t.
Because I’d never told him. That was going to change though.
Assuming I could wear down his walls enough to get him to listen to me.
I smoothed the darkness away. “Regardless, I meant what I said. I’ll be seeing you, Shadow.”
Ryan didn’t so much as blink at my name for him. My lip curled.
I always did love a challenge.
This was enough for now. It had to be. I had to leave before I did something stupid, like throw Ryan over my shoulder and lock him in a room until he agreed to give me another chance.
As no solid foundation was built that way, I did the only thing left to me.
I turned on my heel and left.
But this time, it wasn’t for good.
I’d be back in Ryan’s life before he knew it.
This was just step one of my plan; a plan I intended to see through to the end. Until I fulfilled the vow I’d made to him all those years ago.
“Walk away if you want, Shadow, but I’ll get you back. I don’t give a shit how many years pass, or who you give yourself to in the meantime. It means fuck all. You’re mine, and I’ll be back to claim you. Just you fucking wait and see.”
Thank you for reading Shadows Never Lie.
Dominic and Ryan’s story concludes with a (very) HEA in Shadows Never Leave.
Preorder here .