Chapter Twenty-Eight
Stepping inside the temporary office of Major Dominic Mitchell of the National Guard, I bite my lip when raised voices reach me before I see anyone.
An officer I've never seen before spots me and immediately starts heading my way. Judging by the eager expression on his face, he's probably one of the many people who want to know why I smacked their major in a bar.
I glance toward the exit.
Would it make me a coward if I made a run for it?
Right as the guy reaches me and opens his mouth, a familiar voice cuts through the room.
"Hawkins, you're needed in R4."
The officer immediately stops.
Turning, I find Gemma standing a few feet away, completely expressionless.
To his credit, Hawkins doesn't even groan. He just flashes me a smile and changes direction.
The second he's gone, I let out a breath.
"Thank you," I whisper, leaning toward Gemma. "What's going on?"
"There was a leak."
I raise a brow. "Like... state secrets?"
Gemma stares at me. "A water pipe."
"Oh."
"It burst in the middle of the night and flooded half the building before anyone noticed."
I wince. "That sounds inconvenient."
"It is." She folds her arms. "A bunch of offices are unusable, so personnel got shuffled around and now we’re working out of temporary spaces."
I glance toward the closed office door at the end of the hallway.
"And Dom's unhappy about this?"
Gemma gives me a look. "I’m unhappy, he’s… more."
"Maybe I should go." I say not wanting to intrude.
"Please don't." The phrase bursts out of her.
"Dom said it was fine, but now I'm guessing-"
"Bronwyn." Gemma cuts me off. "Stay."
Something in her tone makes me pause. "Why?"
She sighs dramatically. "Because he's significantly nicer when you're around."
I gape at her. "When have you ever even seen him around me?"
Gemma laughs. "Oh honey."
The endearment feels a lot less endearing and a lot more condescending.
"I would never be so crude," she says, completely failing to sound sincere, "but a lot of people are saying whatever you're doing seems to be... uplifting his spirits."
My mouth drops open. "Gemma."
"What?" She shrugs. "You smacked my boss. The least you could do is… improve his mood by-"
"I am not having this conversation." I cut her off mid-sentence.
Unfortunately, the way I'm reacting probably makes it sound like she hit a little too close to home.
Not that Dom and I are sleeping together.
We aren't.
That said...
We do have some experience doing everything except the final act.
A lot of experience.
Enough that my face is suddenly getting hot just thinking about it.
Believe me, if anyone is suffering from the lack of progress, it's probably me.
Not today though.
Today I came here to deliver some genuinely good news.
"Can I see him now?" I ask firmly.
Gemma's grin somehow widens. "End of the hall."
I widen my eyes at her. "Not. One. Word."
She raises both hands innocently. "I said nothing."
Rolling my eyes, I turn and start walking toward the office I'd already guessed was his.
On the way, I'm suddenly far more aware of the looks than I was a few minutes ago.
Before talking to Gemma, I would've written them off as simple curiosity.
Now every glance feels loaded.
It's hard to decide whether the attention feels degrading or empowering.
I'm so focused on my power-woman walk that I completely forget to knock and just walk in, closing the door behind me.
The blinds beside it are open, so if someone really wanted to press their face against the glass, they could probably see inside, but we're not exactly on display.
Good.
Dom doesn't even glance up when I close the door behind me.
"I hope you're aware of the drills you're gonna be doing for that," he mutters, still focused on whatever paperwork is currently ruining his day.
A smirk tugs at my lips.
"Can I make a counteroffer?"
His head snaps up at the sound of my voice. Gone is the irritated expression from before, replaced by genuine excitement.
Not gonna lie, it makes me happy.
"I thought you weren't getting in until this evening," he says, already standing and walking toward me.
"I wanted to see you so I dr-"
The rest of my words disappear against his lips.
Immediately forgetting everything that came before, I lean into him. All of it disappears for a few blissful seconds until he pulls back.
Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, he smiles.
"I missed you too."
"Mmm," I reply intelligently.
"Benny," he laughs.
Right.
Reluctantly, I drop my hands from his hair and take several appropriate steps backward. Dom watches me with obvious confusion.
"What are you doing?"
Glancing toward the blinds out of the corner of my eye, I lower my voice.
"Were you aware people think I… improve your mood?"
"No," he answers smiling down at me. "But that is true."
I groan. "No, don't you get it?"
When he still looks confused, I widen my eyes so much they start watering.
"Improve your mood."
Nothing.
Seriously?
Finally I make an extremely obvious gesture with my fist.
Dom sputters. Then immediately doubles over laughing.
Deep belly laughs that can absolutely be heard outside this office.
"Stop it," I hiss, trying not to laugh myself. "They're gonna think I'm wanking you in here."
"Wanking?" he repeats before laughing even harder. "Oh God, Benny." Taking deep breaths to get himself under control, he chuckles out. "You definitely improve my mood."
I narrow my eyes at him.
"What happened to 'I'm worried about my career if this becomes a thing'?" I ask, pointing between us.
"Yeah..." He shakes his head. "That doesn't really happen."
"What doesn't?"
"The military caring who I date. Unless I start commandeering military aircrafts to fly you to Tuscany, nobody cares."
"Tuscany?" I ask immediately, interest piqued.
"You hate flying."
"I'll deal with it if it means spending the holidays with you."
His smile softens.
"I’d love it too? But Los Angeles…" He trails off.
Immediately, I grin again. It’s wonderful that the first time he brings up me leaving, I have great news about it.
"Remember how my lawyer was gonna contact that law firm because they thought there might be fraud or something?"
Dom nods.
"Well." I pause dramatically. "Turns out they were right."
"Fuck." He breathes out.
"Yup."
"What did they say?"
"The guy Brad hired wasn't actually a lawyer. He was a paralegal." I shake my head. "They still don't know if Brad knew, but supposedly it gives me a ton of leverage."
"A ton?"
"A ridiculous amount." I bounce slightly on my feet. "Apparently if Brad knew what was happening, he's technically part of the conspiracy or misconduct or whatever the legal term is."
Dom snorts.
"The important part is that Alan says any lawyer worth his salt is gonna tell Brad to settle out of court."
A grin spreads across Dom's face. "Which means?"
"Which means I could ask for one of his kidneys and he'd have to seriously consider it."
"What exactly would you do with a spare kidney?" he asks dryly.
I let out a squeak unable to contain it any longer and launch myself into his arms.
Dom catches me easily and spins me as much as the cramped office allows.
"I'm gonna ask to stay in Austin," I whisper into his ear.
The movement immediately stops.
He sets me down slowly and studies my face. "What?"
"Not full-time," I clarify quickly. "But I'm gonna ask that Sophie and I stay in Austin during the school year. Then some weekends and summers I can fly her out to LA so she can see Brad."
Dom just stares at me.
"I thought you wanted him heavily involved."
"I did." The words come out followed by an eye roll. "Then I found out his version of involved actually looked like a full-time nanny and no other financial obligation."
Dom's brows pull together.
In the settlement, once Alan translated everything into normal English, it basically said that Brad would have to hire a live-in nanny during his custody weeks, so he couldn’t afford to pay child support to me.
And I know exactly what that means.
He'd work all day, go out with friends, network, socialize, maybe visit that sex club he swears he isn't part of, then come home and spend ten minutes with Sophie before bed then pat himself on the back for being Father of the Year.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
"When I realized that asshole would rather pay a stranger to basically raise her for him than me, after I already agreed to move for him..." I bitterly shake my head. "Yeah, I'm understanding, not a pushover."
Dom stays quiet.
When I look up, he's watching me with an unreadable expression.
"I'm not gonna stand in the way of their relationship," I continue, softer this time. "He can visit here and I'll take her to LA myself if he wants to see her. But it's not exactly like he's been interested in her lately."
I can't hide the bitterness in my voice.
"I never thought he'd be the kind of father who gets a new girlfriend and forgets his kid." I shrug, trying to sound unaffected and failing miserably. "Then again, I also thought he'd never cheat, so apparently my judgment isn't exactly stellar."
The second the words leave my mouth, Dom's expression changes.
"You know this isn't on you, right?" he says softly.
I look away.
"I don't-" Closing my eyes, I lean forward until my forehead rests against his chest. "It's just... I'm staying here for my family, but what if Sophie grows up without a dad and blames me for it?" I press even closer. "His parents do."
For a moment, I feel guilty for dumping all this on him then his hands slide up and cup my cheeks. Reluctantly, I lift my head.
I'm not pouting exactly, but it's close.
"What'd they say?"
I roll my eyes.
"Basically that they were right. I'm a horrible wife, a horrible mother, and I'm going to hell for putting my needs before my daughter’s."
"Okay," he says suddenly.
The agreement catches me off guard.
"Tell me this.” He demands. “Who do you have in LA? Apart from that asshole."
I blink, actually thinking about it. "Claire."
"The Claire that's moving?"
I wince. "Right."
"So who do you have?"
"...No one."
"And LA isn't exactly cheap, is it?"
I let out a humorless laugh. "Oh boy."
"Could you afford to live there with a baby on what he's offering?"
I shake my head in response. "Never. Not even in one of those shared living places."
"And he's already said he'll be hiring a nanny during his custody weeks."
Scowling, I nod.
"Then what exactly would be the point of you living in a city where you have no support system, can't afford to live, and your daughter would still be spending half her time with a nanny?" He raises a brow. "Explain it to me."
"When you put it like that..." I mutter.
"Having family support shouldn't be a disadvantage just because his family feels jealous," Dom points out. "Would they support you the same way your parents will?"
I don't even have to think about it before shaking my head.
"Brad's parents travel constantly. They already have grandkids they refuse to babysit more than a few times a month."
The words leave my mouth and I immediately realize how ridiculous this whole thing sounds. My parents practically fight over who gets Sophie. Mom would probably move into my guest room if I let her. Dad definitely would if Mom didn't stop him.
Dom's thumbs brush lightly across my cheeks. "Benny, wanting Sophie to have a relationship with her father is a good thing. But there's a difference between helping that happen and setting yourself on fire to make everyone else comfortable."
I let out a slow breath, my eyes dropping to his chest.
The thing is, I know he's right.
If the situation were reversed and Brad had moved closer to his family, nobody would've expected him to leave them behind just because my parents felt left out.
Nobody would've called him selfish. Or questioned whether he loved Sophie enough.
Somehow, I'd let everyone convince me the rules were different just because I was her mother.
"You know, you're very wise at your age," I mumble.
He chuckles.
"I'm glad, but let's get to lunch before people think I'm having my mood improved in here."
And just my luck, my smack lands on his arm just after he throws the door open.
Judging by the dropped mouth of the woman walking by, she saw.
"I'm gonna be labeled an abuser at this point."